OKOWA And SKILLS ACQUISITION: THE YAGEP, STEP STORY AND AGRICULTURE

OKOWA And SKILLS ACQUISITION: THE YAGEP, STEP STORY AND AGRICULTURE

LONG before the dawn of modern civilisation, sages held that while the man who deploys only his head to the development of the society is worthy of commendation, the one who, in addition to that, effectively consistently utilises his hands and feet (skills) for that same purpose, deserves commemoration.
The above wise saying is stoic and relevant in the light of today’s dire reality: Skills development is vital to the success of the individual as it is to the corporate organisation in the world of today. And the reason is this-the reality of the times is that formal academic training alone is no longer adequate to meet the daily needs of services of man, at both the individual and corporate levels.
In the formal sector, the search for readily effective answer to the question of the inadequacy of formal academics alone has been expressly defined in the establishment of technical and vocational educational institutions for the training of manpower at that level for the need so highlighted. These formal institutions so established-called technical and vocational colleges and polytechnics/colleges of technology- have, in the main, helped to respond to the manpower demands of the times.
However, not all of the technical/vocational education needs of man have been met from the formal mains of the colleges/polytechnics. The need to remedy this shortfall or deficiency has led to the establishment of informal training centres for the impartation/transmission of vital, viable life-long skills for the raising of a pool of truly competent man and women, who, in the face of the high-heel competition that has come to signpost today’s global economy, can consistently hold their own.
In Delta State, while the necessity for the raising of a truly competent pool of technically-competent persons had always been there , there was never the sufficiency of the political will to fully pull it through, until recently when the Okowa administration, shortly after its inauguration into office on May 29, 2015, unfolded its operational code of SMART Agenda, under the aegis of which it has since set up a two-prong new initiatives in the education sector via the due slant on technical and vocational education and the inauguration of a Job Creation Office under which youths-thousands of them-have since been enabled with viable life-long skills and the enabling starter packs.
YAGEP & STEP RANGE: THE OKOWA SKILL IMPARTATION & JOB CREATION STORY
Once inaugurated into office on May 29, 2015, the administration of Senator (Dr)Ifeanyi Okowa moved fast to tackle a major challenge facing the public education sector in the state- the inadequacy of attention to technical/vocational education and their essences. This was in deference to the realisation that, unless and until it is effectively dealt with, the matters related to the wholesome development dream of the state and its people would remain what it should not be –a distraught, forlorn hope.
In order to reverse the situation and remedy its effects, the administration, strong on the heels of its inauguration, set up the Delta State Technical and Vocational Education Board (DSTVEB), headed by an ensemble that can, in all matters of honest assessment, be described as seasoned. The board, in concert with relevant stakeholders, has since swung into action and re-kitted, on behalf of the state government, three technical colleges in Agbor, Sapele and Ofagbe and enabled them to resume-on a scale of efficiency and, hopefully, consistency, the worthwhile training of students in technical and business education over the three-year programme. And, encouraged by what its efforts in the first phase of rehabilitation has attained for the state and its people, it has set in motion the second phase of the rehabilitation of three other colleges as part of efforts to live out its slant to such genre of education and its missionary commitment to the accelerated r