History of Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme(SIWES)

SIWES was founded in 1973 by ITF (Industrial Training Funds) to address the problem of tertiary institution graduates’ lack of appropriate skills for employment in Nigerian industries. The Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) was founded to be a skill training programme to help expose and prepare students of universities, Polytechnics and colleges of education for the industrial work situation to be met after graduation.

This system facilitates the transfer from the classroom to the workplace and aids in the application of knowledge. The program allows students to become acquainted with and exposed to the experience required in handling and operating equipment and machinery that are typically not available at their schools.

Prior to the establishment of this scheme, there was a rising concern and trend among industrialists that graduates from higher education institutions lacked appropriate practical experience for employment. Students who entered Nigerian universities to study science and technology were not previously trained in the practical aspects of their chosen fields. As a result of their lack of work experience, they had difficulty finding work.

As a result, employers believed that theoretical education in higher education was unresponsive to the needs of labor employers. Thousands of Nigerians faced this difficulty till 1973. The fund’s main motivation for establishing and designing the scheme in 1973/74 was launched against this context.

The ITF (Industrial Training Fund) organization decided to aid all interested Nigerian students and created the SIWES program. The federal government officially approved and presented it in 1974. During its early years, the scheme was entirely supported by the ITF, but as the financial commitment became too much for the fund, it withdrew in 1978. The National Universities Commission (NUC) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) were given control of the scheme by the federal government in 1979. The federal government handed over supervision and implementation of the scheme to ITF in November 1984. It was taken over by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in July 1985, with the federal government bearing entire responsibility for funding.

Source: mtu.edu.ng