SPECIAL REPORT: UI Students, ASUU Strike and The Scramble for IT placements

By: Uthman Abdulrahman

It is already six weeks since Adio AbdulHamid, now a 400 level student of Agric Engineering, last set his feet in the organization of his industrial placement. Adio had discontinued the compulsory scheme in compliance with a directive from the Industrial Training Coordinating Centre (ITCC) that all students on IT/SIWES should end the 2020/2021 Student Industrial Work Experience (SIWES) by February 4th, 2022. The directive was premature, but necessary following the earlier released academic calendar of the university which stated that the new session would begin on January 31st.

The Students Industrial Work and Experience Scheme (SIWES), otherwise known as Industrial Training (IT), was established in 1973 as a subsidiary to the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), in order to prepare students of tertiary institutions for employment opportunities after graduation. The scheme is aimed at reposing practical knowledge in students and getting them acquainted with the labour market they would be going into after graduation.

Before the establishment of the scheme, there were concerns among industrialists that graduates of institutions of higher learning lacked adequate practical knowledge preparatory for employment. Thus, employers were of the opinion that the theoretical education going on in higher institutions was not responsive to the needs of the employers of labour. Hence, the inclusion of a 3-month industrial experience for students in certain courses of study. In UI, it is compulsory for all 300 level students of Faculties of Science, Technology, Public Health and Pharmacy, which is to be carried out after second semester break in the same level. Equally, all 200 level students of the Faculty of Technology and a fraction from departments in the Faculty of Science are not left behind. In addition, 400 level students of the Faculty of Technology are required to also undergo a 6-month industrial experience which spans across the second semester of the same level.

Unlike many others of his level whose initial scramble for their intended SIWES company caught them in a dicey situation, Adio was prepared and had submitted his Letter of Introduction since 18th December, 2022, addressed to the Ministry of Establishment and Training, Federal Secretariat Ibadan.

“The Secretariat is quite generous with the acceptance of IT students. The search for a desired IT place could be really hard. But then, what is the point in troubling oneself in endless search when you most likely won’t get paid eventually? Besides, there is hardly a department you are looking for to fit in that you would not find in the Secretariat,” Adio explained his choice of the Oyo state Secretariat to UCJ UI.

Upon submission of the letter addressed to the Ministry of Establishment and Training, according to the protocol, Adio, and his colleagues were given slips to fill-in their details so they could get allocated to suitable departments.

Eventually, after a series of back and forth with the submissions of correspondences, Adio, a student of Agricultural Engineering started his work-experience by the second week of January where he, and nine of his classmates were trained to repair radio, heater, fans and other electrical appliances in the Ministry of Agriculture section for five weeks.

Adah-Sunday, on the other hand, currently a 400 level student of Statistics, started quite early after the new-year buzz. After exploring all the options of companies she applied to for internship placement and didn’t get a ‘yes’ from any. She had to return to an organization where she once worked during the COVID-19 lockdown, in 2020.

After completing the process of submitting a Letter of Introduction, and collecting an Acceptance Letter, and a log book, a week before Christmas, she finally settled to start internship on 4th January, 2022, at Crownbondis HSE Global Resources, Mushin, Lagos – an environmental health-safety company which makes research, analysis and approval on safe practices in relation to the environment.

“That was the last option for me, I submitted letters to different companies initially, they all promised to get back to me but no one did,” she said.

How Related are the Work-Experience to their Courses of Study

In a survey carried out by UCJ UI, among 63 students  from the Faculty of Science and Technology on the relation of their SIWES programme to their course of study, while 14 and 8 students were either ‘somewhat confident’ or ‘not confident’ at all that their work-experience is related to their course — which accounts for about 35% of the respondents, 41 students are confident that their SIWES programme have a lot in relation with their course of study which accounts for 65%.

In the end, at least one(1) out of five (5) Science and Technology students would  undergo the SIWES programme as a school requirement regardless of whether it is applicable to their course of study or not.

“I worked in the socio-economic department where we do research. If after our analysis of data collected through questionnaire, oral interview, soil and environmental parameters, we discover that the project won’t benefit the community, we then involve the necessary government agencies,” Susan responded in a positive tone when asked if her work-experience is related to her chosen course of study.

When asked about the relation of radio, fans and heaters to Agricultural Engineering, Adio conceded that the experience is not related to his course. He however presented a defense, saying “engines could be complex and its basic components could be fans, thermostats as in heaters or even rotors as in radios. Farm machines aren’t always tractors and bulldozers.”

Industrial Training  Prematurely Cut Short due to ‘Peculiar’ situation

Sequel to the announcement made by the Director, Industrial Training Coordinating Centre (ITCC), Dr. A. O. Ojelabi, which stated that students who were undergoing SIWES must begin to round up their IT by February 4th, many students heeded to this directive and bade farewell to their respective employers.

Speaking on why the supposed three months of industrial training was suspended in the fifth week, the Director, ITCC, Dr. Ojelabi explained to UCJ UI, “what informed the information I sent out was because the school resumed. The information states that anybody, whether you’ve started anywhere — before you can be welcomed that you have done IT, you must spend at least 5 weeks.” 

“Some who came later, when I knew the date had been announced, we’d have asked them to come back next year and in doing so, lose one year. What I did was to ask them to write an undertaking that you will complete five weeks. Within those five weeks, they should have been able to do something. Just like sometimes, because of situation, the lecture that is supposed to last for 13 weeks will last for seven weeks or eight weeks because of peculiar situation. This is also a peculiar situation,” he continued.

However, in an analysis carried out on the 63 IT students surveyed, about 24 (34%)  of the students spent more than six weeks; 13 (20.1%) spent exactly six weeks; 21 (33.3%) of the students spent exactly five weeks; while five (8%) of the students spent less than five weeks. In other words, given that a supposed three-month IT was pegged at a minimum of five weeks’, over 41% of the students surveyed spent, at most, five weeks for their Industrial Training due to the announced school resumption date.

In spite of ASUU Strike,  students shun Director’s advice, refuse to resume their internship

Recall the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had initially embarked on a two-week warning strike on February 14, 2022, before extending it by two months.

The Director of ITCC, Dr A.O.Ojelabi, regretted the decision to direct IT students to round up by Febuary 4th. He expressed this in an interview with UCJ UI at his office.

“If I knew ASUU was going to start a strike, I would have asked them (IT students)  not to stop. Because most employers from Lagos had to call me that,” did I ask them to stop?” before this ASUU strike. I had to say “yes”! If I knew ASUU strike would commence, I would have asked them to continue, so any student that is wise would have just continued because it is for your own good. You are learning something practical. Anyone who is wise is free to continue,” he submitted.

For many, the initial announcement of the Industrial Training round-up on February 4th was a clarion’s call waiting to be obeyed by students.

As at the time this survey was carried out, between February 23rd through March 3rd, about 95% of the students surveyed  answered in the negative when asked if they were still on their IT while around 5% said they were still undergoing their internship.

For the few who continued their internship despite the ASUU strike, their decision to continue was mainly due to their passion for the job or monetary rewards.

“When I heard the announcement, I wasn’t bothered. I love what I am doing and also I don’t resume immediately after resumption. I would wait for like 3 weeks. What I planned doing then was that I would stop filling my log book but I won’t stop working till I was ready to go back to school,” Joy in Statistics, asserted as part of reasons she still continued her IT amidst ASUU strike.

When asked if she got paid; “Yeah I was getting paid, around 30k monthly, but the exposure is what matters to me. I work from Monday to Friday. The oil and gas industry is one that I really like and who knows I might pick up a career in it. So I really need the experience.”

Given the short-span; Effects of SIWES on Students’ Skill Acquisition. 

One of the core aims and objectives of the scheme is to provide students with needed work experience across engineering, science, agriculture, pharmacy and other professional programmes in the Nigerian education system. It aims at preparing students for practical experience in the outside world, beyond the University classroom, workshop or laboratory.

It is a trite principle that in an emerging knowledge economy where more respect is paid to skills rather than mere certificates, an employable graduate is one that has undergone an effective Industrial Training and different phases of personal development.

However, given the short-span of industrial training the students observed, a question of whether the aims and objectives of SIWES for Science and Technology students  in the 2020/2021 session is met,  raises concerns.

This is the first part of a series, looking into the effectiveness of the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme, and circumstances surrounding the scheme.

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