By Abdulquddus OKELE InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-LEAP Africa, Citibank Nigeria and Citi Foundation, through Citi’s Pathways to Progress initiative; Be the Change (BTC) has projected to empower 450 Nigerian students and teachers in public schools in Lagos State from 2018 to 2019.
This is coming on the heels of LEAP’s collaboration with Citibank Nigeria and the Citi Foundation who hosted a one-day roundtable meeting with stakeholders from the educational sector. “The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the needs and challenges/opportunities in the Nigerian education sector with specific focus on low-income communities,” a statement from Citibank Nigeria said.
Funded with an $80,000 grant from the Citi Foundation, BTC is designed to equip youth between the ages of 13 – 18 years with the leadership, life and employability skills required to achieve personal excellence, build and stretch their career ambition and help them transition into higher education, paid employment or profitable self-employment, according to Citi
Stakeholders from the government, Education and Youth Ministries, as well as youth focused NGOs deliberated and shared innovative solutions and intervention programmes including the partnership between LEAP and the Citi Foundation under the Pathways to Progress initiative. Discussions highlighted the significance of inculcating leadership and life skills into the Nigerian curriculum particularly for secondary schools and discussing the dynamics of its adoption.
According to Citi, there is a growing understanding that the purpose of education goes beyond acquiring technical skills, and that it is a powerful tool for changing the mind-set of children to live productively and ethically. Given the structural conditions that limit opportunities for social mobility, more can be done within educational systems to help the youth navigate around existing limitations and contribute meaningfully to society and communities.
It said the learnings from the discussion will be deployed to improve the learning outcomes of young people in Nigerian secondary schools through the BTC programme a part of Citi and the Citi Foundation’s Pathways to Progress initiative to prepare urban youth to thrive in today’s economy.
Led by the philanthropic efforts of the Citi Foundation, and strengthened by the active involvement of dedicated Citi volunteers, the Pathways to Progress initiative supports programs that help young people build an entrepreneurial mind-set, acquire leadership, financial and workplace skills, and begin to engage in the formal economy through a first job.
Pathways to Progress and BTC also support the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal No. 8 – Reducing Youth Unemployment – the next generation of global leaders faces an enormous challenge: The unemployment rate for young people ages 16–24 is three times higher than it is for adults, with an estimated 71 million youth around the world looking for work in 2017.The needs are even greater among low-income youth who encounter even bigger hurdles accessing education, skills training opportunities and jobs.
According to Akin Dawodu Citi Nigeria CEO, “If we are to grow our economy and safeguard our communities, we must invest in the development of Nigeria’s youth during their formative years and ensure they are on the right economic path. Citi and the Citi Foundation have leveraged their global footprint in developing tried and tested solutions to tackle youth unemployment across. Our partnership with LEAP will ensure the students experience tailored interventions and first-class teaching, which will impact many more students in the years to come.”