The Sierra Leone Opportunities Industrialization Centre (OIC) has commenced its implementation of the Skills Development Fund (SDF) training project. Youths are being given skills training at the SLOIC sites in Bo, Makeni and Mattru Jong through funds provided by the World Bank.
650 youths are presently benefiting from the training which is to last for nine months, with the last three months to include on the job training.
The center will offer courses on information technology, welding, agriculture, extension work and auto and electrical training.
A standardized syllabus has been developed that targets scientifically and technically-gifted students with tutors paid by the government. According to SLOIC officials, attracting the right tutors for their respective courses has been a challenge. The institution qualified for the grant because it offers practical-oriented hands-on skills to young people. They say there there has been a"perception problem or communication gap" about the relevance of the institution which has gradually changed over the years and that the populace has bought into the notion that the institution is no longer about drop-outs but livelihood skills that are changing the lives of graduates and their communities.
Once this first phase of the project is successfully implemented, they stand the chance of being granted another project. Enrolled students in the SDF project each get a stipend of two hundred and fifty thousand Leones while they are on their job-training experience.
The admission rate has been shooting up over the years as electricians, plumbers, welders, motor-mechanics, agriculturists, IT specialists, and masons are graduating from the institution and have been of immense relevance to society.
SL OIC was founded in 1975 and has targeted youths who have not made it to university or other higher institutions of learning. The idea of its formation was conceived by a German, L.H. Sullivan and some Sierra Leoneans to create meaningful livelihoods for young people through technical training.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online 26/04/21
