The NGO conducts a Career Conference for FCT students

Global Scholarship Trust (GST), a non-governmental organization dedicated to the educational success and advancement of students, has organized a career conference for undergraduate students in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to inform them of opportunities in their chosen career paths.

The event with the theme; “I Am University-bound Material” featured a career talk; course combination; choosing the institution; screening of credentials; instant tickets; scholarship opportunities etc.

In his speech, the Chairman of Global Scholarship Trust, Dr. John Adeniyi said the GST Student Career Conference is aimed at banning access to education for basic prosperity.

“We are in this environment to bring young people together to tell their story now, and to tell their future story. Since we are a scholarship organization, we also mean scholarships at home and abroad,” he added.

Adeniyi said the aim is not only to help students seek admission abroad, but to expose them to opportunities abroad through the scholarship.

While speaking on the impact of the initiative on the education system in Nigeria, he said; “We have been able to engage with government agencies like NCC, NUC, Federal Ministry of Education to improve the standard of education through our curriculum evaluation and to ensure that the quality assurance of our education system improves.

“In my capacity as the director of accreditation of the international curriculum and assessment network, we visited 16 Schools of Health Sciences and Technology in 2020 to see how we can evaluate quality assurances to meet international standards. We are doing our best to ensure that our young people and students are employable while they are on campus to make sure they are,” he said.

Speaking about the level of education in the country, he said Nigeria is trying but not where it should be. “In the classification system of the World’s Best Education, Nigeria is nowhere. Our public university system needs to be improved. It should be completely reformed. Likewise, the development of teachers’ and teachers’ skills at all levels should be done regularly”, he stated.

He said: “You see our teachers moving in exodus to other countries in search of greener pastures. More research centers are needed to support development. The education system is dragging, our curriculum needs to be revised because we are in the knowledge economy. What our children are learning can no longer sustain them after school. We must renew the system and put the right people in the jobs, starting with the Minister of Education.”

On strategies for the youth to build their careers, Adeniyi maintained that; “Guidance and Counseling in schools should be very effective, because that’s what we lack. Many young Nigerians go to school without anyone guiding them on what to do and what courses to choose”.

Also speaking, Nwaogu, the Zonal Coordinator, Department of Mass Education, Victoria Municipal Area Council, who deputized the director, commended the organizers for the initiative, saying the program is in line with the mandate of mass education.

He said the FCT Department of Mass Education is involved in providing mass education for all. “In the FCT we are concerned with what I will call second-choice education. Our mandate and goal is to ensure that everyone has a skill by 2030.

“We offer free skills programs. For example, on International Women’s Day, we trained over 131 FCT women in different skills to market their products digitally. In terms of literacy, we offer basic and post-literacy programs where people get free education,” he said.

He disclosed that the FCT has the highest number of out-of-school children who have migrated from various states and that the department is constantly working to reduce the numbers.