The initiative by the government, may not be unconnected with some of its electoral promises at the last general elections where it pledged to provide jobs for teaming Nigerians.
It is also to enable the Federal Government to evaluate the employability of graduates in Nigeria, particularly disciplines relating to science and engineering.
About 36 universities in Nigeria have been selected to commence the pilot tracer study, which would also seek to resolve skills gaps, believed to be prevalent among undergraduates and graduates.
Recent unemployment statistics in Nigeria was estimated to be growing at an unprecedented rate of 50 percent, with most of the university graduates said to be deficient in appropriate skills to fit into industrial needs.
Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who declared a one day workshop open to brainstorm on how to go about the project in Abuja on Thursday, said beyond providing useful data, it will fashion parents, career guidance professionals and policy makers tips on employment generation and help university administrators improve on curriculum and programmes.
Executive Secretary of the NUC, Julius Okojie also explained that the study will focus on gathering necessary information required to improve the curriculum, teaching and research in the Nigerian university system.
“There is no doubt that tracing our graduates will assist the Nigerian university system in measuring the extent of professional and academic careers pursued by our graduates after gaining the necessary skills and knowledge.
“We should know the whereabouts of our graduates, whom they work for and what the employers think of them, that’s employer feedback,” he said
Professor Okojie who was represented at the workshop by the Deputy Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Chiedu Mafiana further stated that the tracer studies would assist in ascertaining the effectiveness and relevance of the degrees obtained from the universities to the labour market.
He said the study would help to ascertain the relevance of Nigerian university system curricula to the job functions of the graduates in their various places of work, as well as their professional development the various fields.
“The contributions of the Nigerian university system graduates in public and private sectors to the development of the Nigerian economy would also be ascertained” Professor Okojie said
The study, according to him, is focused on important sub-sectors which are the petro-chemical and steel industries stressing that the choice of the areas was in line with the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) of the federal government.
“The outcome of the pilot study would assist students, parents, career guidance professionals and policy makers in making informed policy and career decision as well as assisting the institutions of higher learning in reviewing their curricula in order to equip subsequent graduate with the skills and knowledge needed in the labour market” he explained.
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