Chuks Uzor
Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), on Wednesday, started a three-day training on entrepreneurship for 100 primary and secondary school teachers and education officers in Abia.
Dikko Radda, Director-General of SMEDAN, who declared the training open in Umuahia, said it was organised in collaboration with Abia government.
The director-general who was represented by Victor Ugwu, the South-East Zonal Coordinator of SMEDAN, explained that the training was aimed at building the capacity of the teachers.
According to him, it will arm them with the requisite knowledge needed to inculcate in their pupils and students the passion for entrepreneurship development and community service.
He said the training programme tagged: “Mind-Shift: National School Entrepreneurship Programme (NSEP) 2021,’’ was designed to also inculcate the culture of entrepreneurship into the students of young age.
Radda said, “This phase is designed to enhance the capacity of the teachers who will, in turn, prepare the pupils and students and convert them into entrepreneurs.
“After the training, all participating schools are expected to create entrepreneurship clubs/school enterprises to compete at the National School Entrepreneurship Competition and Award Ceremony in Abuja.”
The SMEDAN boss disclosed that over 300 primary and secondary schools in 15 states had been engaged and benefitted from the programme since 2018.
He said the programme had so far improved the entrepreneurial capacities of 600 teachers and 300 mentors.
These teachers and mentors, he said, in turn, stepped down the training to pupils and students in their various schools.
