INTENSIFYING SKILLS ACQUISITION AMONG THE YOUTH AS THE 2017 WORLD YOUTH SKILLS DAY IS MARKED ON SATURDAY JULY 15
Today
July 15, the world over is celebrating the third edition of the World Youth
Skills Day. The day, which is aimed at enhancing the youth’s ability in order
to make informed life and work choices, was established by the United Nations
(UN) General Assembly on November 11, 2014. World Youth Skills Day was
initiated in the UN by the effort of the Sri Lanka Representative. The UN
General Assembly calls on Member States to observe the day in an appropriate
manner.
A skill can simply be defined
as the ability to do something well. It can also be referred to as ability and
capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort in order
to smoothly and adaptively carryout complex activities or job functions
involving ideas, things, and/or people.
Similarly, skill acquisition is the process of acquiring a certain skill
by an individual through a thorough intensive training over a given period of
time. Skill acquisition involves both theoretical and practical training
regardless of its duration.
Skill can be classified into
three major parts including cognitive skills, technical skills and
interpersonal skills. A cognitive skill deals with ideas; technical skill is
the ability to handle things or a certain human endeavour effectively and
efficiency. Whilst, interpersonal skill is the ability to relate with people
around you usually in business or work places. There are hundreds of thousands
of skills in existence such as sporting skill, cultural skill, installation
skill, maintenance skill, manufacturing skill, management skill and what have
you.
Skill is required in every area
of human endeavour and it enables the entrepreneurship drive of any nation to
be actualized. The most important aspect of skill acquisition is that it
benefits all classes in any society involved especially the masses.
A small or medium scale
entrepreneur is expected to hire many skilled people to take on tasks that are
outside of his/her skill set. However, every individual either a prospective
leader or business personnel, must relentlessly strive to acquire the skills
that will make him/her a great leader or a successful businessperson as the
case may be.
Someone who has commenced a
business or trade venture owing to his specialized skills and knowledge related
to a particular service or product is required to expand his skills to be a
successful entrepreneur. Such measure is referred to as ‘Skill enhancement’. No
doubt, improving skills related to acquiring money or raising capital for a
business boost represents the difference between success and failure of the
venture in question.
Unequivocally, being good at
starting a business does not automatically make one good at planning for
growth. He/she must acquire planning skills that tie his/her vision to
practical steps, which the business can take to realize that vision. The
acquisition of the aforementioned skill is important because without it, your
firm or business venture can stagnate and lose out to the competition.
One may have envisioned a smooth rise to the
top when he commenced his business, but the truth is that he will surely
encounter crisis or challenging situations. Whether it has to do with shortage
of money or the loss of his facilities to a fire disaster, he must acquire the
skills that would enable him to remain calm in times of turmoil and maintain
his ability to make adequate decisions. This step is very vital because the
affected person can learn to triumph when it looks like he could be defeated.
Needless to say that skill acquisition in decision making remains an inevitable
tool while carrying out a business strategy.
On the other hand, the
importance of acquiring strong communication skills will be evident in all of
one’s entrepreneurial activities. From networking to leadership, one needs to
constantly and consistently update his communication skills to enable him form
alliances and encourage consensus.
Taking Nigeria as a case study,
you would notice that most of our young ones or the youth are potentially
preoccupied with variety of skills in various areas of human endeavour ranging
from culture to sports, engineering/sciences, art works, and leadership, that
need to be develop with a view to strengthening their respective
entrepreneurship prowess towards nation-building.
To this end, there is need to
encourage our young ones to be acquainted as well as acquire proficiency in one
skill or the other within their reach. The schools can help in this regard by
ensuring that the pupils or students regularly create time for guidance and
counselling during their school hours. A good counselling would enable each of
them to discover their potential skills or abilities thereby making them
develop an interest in that area. The parents and guardians on their part
should not hesitate to boost the morale of their children or wards in any skill
they are fit in by providing all the needed materials or facilities for them to
excel.
Inter alia, there is an urgent
need to revive the various technical colleges and commercial schools situated across
the federation that are currently moribund. And at the tertiary level, the Entrepreneurship
Studies, which are usually done by the undergraduates as General studies, ought
to be taken more seriously by the various school managements. More so, the
ongoing Industrial Training (IT) and Teaching Practice (TP) schemes being
observed by the Universities/Polytechnics and Colleges of Education
respectively must be intensified by the concerned authorities. Above all, the
various cultural heritages across the country need to be revisited with the aim
of harnessing the required ones; this will go a long way to discover and reawaken
thousands of skills among the youth.
As Nigeria joins the rest of
the world to commemorate the annual World Youth Skills Day, it’s imperative for
governments at all levels, the civil society, religious bodies, corporate
organizations, and well-meaning individuals to intensify awareness on the
importance of skills acquisition as well as look for a way they can contribute
their respective quotas in the crusade with a view to eradicating the socio-economic
crisis currently ravaging the country. Think about it!
Comrade FDN Nwaozor
Executive Director,Docfred Resource Clinic -
Owerri
_______________________________
Twitter:
@mediambassador
http://facebook.com/theMediaAmbassador
No comments:
Post a Comment