Students in the Ready.Set.Work initiative of the Lagos State Government will vie for the N15.5 million approved by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for the programme at a business pitch competition on Saturday, September 3, 2016 at the Lagos State University, Ojo campus.
This is as the Lagos State Ministry of Education has directed all students promoted to SS3 to resume on Monday, September 5, 2016 for a week’s extra coaching classes slated for September 5 – 9, 2016 as part of efforts to improve on the performance of students in both internal and external examinations in the state’s public schools. .
It was announced last week that Governor Ambode approved the grant N15.5 million as seed funding and apprenticeship stipend for 80 students in the entrepreneurship track of the programme.
The RSW pitch competition is one of the activities outlined in the Ready.Set.Work programme where the 24 teams that scaled the semi-finals held last Saturday, will be given the opportunity to pitch their business ideas before a panel of judges.
The business ideas will be judged by a panel comprising of the Commissioners for Wealth Creation, Mr. Babatunde Durosinmi-Etti; Energy & Mineral Resources, Mr. Olawale Oluwo; Information and Strategy, Mr. Steve Ayorinde and the Special Adviser on Education, Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh. Also on the panel is the Senior Country Manager for PwC – Mr. Uyi Akpata, the Founder and CEO of SystemSpecs – Mr. John Obaro and Managing Director of Etisalat – Mr. Matthew Willsher among others.
In addition, Saturday, September 3, 2016 students in the Employability module of the programme will undergo interview sessions with partner organizations for a chance to be placed in 6-month paid internship slots. HR managers from PwC, SystemSpecs, GTBank, Access Bank, FCMB, Total and Jobberman will be on ground to conduct interviews and select students for their respective organizations.
A mock interview exercise to assess students was conducted two weeks ago.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Mr. Obafela Bank-Olemoh said during the interview that “Lagos State is committed to providing our students with the tools, knowledge, know-how and the platform to become effective employees or job creators. With the secured internship slots for students in the employability track and N15.5 million approved by the government, Lagos State has positioned these students to become productive members of the labour market.”
The top three business ideas as well as those who have been selected to internship positions by the partner organizations will be announced at the RSW Graduation Ceremony slated for Thursday, September 15, 2016 at Landmark Centre, Victoria Island.
The Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mr. Adesina Odeyemi, who disclosed the resumption of SS3 students on Monday, September 5, 2016, noted that the resumption ahead of the 19th September, general resumption date, was to prepare the students for the Mock Examination which will determine the students who will be registered for the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) in 2017.
The mock examinations will start with practical papers from Wednesday, September 14 to Friday, September16, while the theory aspect will commence on Monday, September 19, 2016.
The Permanent Secretary urged the students to attend the extra coaching and be punctual as attendance will be strictly monitored, adding that this was the only way they could appreciate the commitment of the State public school teachers who brave all odds to embrace a better future for the children and encourage them to achieve more in the sector.
He also appealed to parents to assist government by providing basic needs to their children/wards such as books, school uniforms and all learning materials, as well as counsel their wards to ensure good upbringing while urging them to also set aside their time to show interest in their children/wards academic activities.
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