The Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa, has proposed extending the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme from one year to two years. This announcement was made during a courtesy visit from the NYSC Director-General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, in Abuja.
Alausa emphasized the need to enhance the Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Training Programme for corps members, believing this expansion will better equip young graduates for future employment opportunities.
In addition to the NYSC extension, the minister highlighted the importance of deploying more graduate teachers to rural schools, aiming to fill existing manpower gaps.
The Minister praised the NYSC for its innovative and digitalized approach to mobilization, which aims to combat certificate racketeering among foreign-trained graduates in West Africa.
Alausa also mentioned that efforts are underway to digitize the verification process for foreign-trained Nigerian graduates. He expressed a commitment to strengthen collaboration between the Ministry and NYSC to improve educational standards for national development.
Brigadier General Nafiu acknowledged the Ministry’s strides in the education sector and called for the establishment of a database for Nigerian youths studying abroad. This initiative aims to help identify fraudulent graduates.
Nafiu assured that the NYSC is ready to adapt to policy changes as directed by the Federal Government, stressing the importance of reforming the scheme to align with national needs.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Abel Olumuyiwa Enitan, affirmed the Ministry’s readiness to collaborate more effectively with the NYSC to enhance the educational standards in Nigeria.
