March 09, (THEWILL) – The Industrial Training Fund (ITF), has said it will continue to give utmost priority to the management of the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), saying the Fund has paid a total of over N1 billion as SIWES students and supervisory allowances.
The Director-General and Chief Executive of the Fund, Sir Joseph Ari, made the disclosure and assurance on Tuesday, during the 2021 Annual Merit Award Ceremony of the organisation. Noting that the ITF will continue to support the training of Students of engineering, technology and other allied disciplines in Nigerian tertiary Institutions.
He said, “As our brainchild and given its integral role in the training of Students of Engineering, Technology and other allied disciplines in our tertiary Institutions, the ITF accords priority attention to the management of the Scheme.
“In the year under review, the Fund paid a total of One Billion,One Hundred and Ninety-Five Million, Nine Hundred and Ninety Thousand (N1,195,990,000.00) as SIWES students and supervisory allowances.”
A breakdown of the figure, he said, showed that the sum of N961,860,000.00 was paid to 64,124 university students; N162,920,000.00, was paid to 16,292 Polytechnic students, while the sum of N71,210,000 was paid to 7,121 students of Colleges of Education.
Sir Ari further assured Nigerian students of the ITF’s continuous commitment to prompt payment of students and supervisors’ allowances as soon as money is received by the Fund from the Federal Government.
On reimbursement, the Director General disclosed that the Fund reimbursed contributing employers up to fifty percent of the statutory annual training contribution by them, if the Fund’s Governing Council is satisfied that training programmes of the employers among other things are in accordance with the Fund’s Reimbursement Scheme.
The Director-General said the Fund had equally paid a total sum of Four Billion, Six Hundred and Thirteen Million, Five Hundred and Ninety-Nine Thousand, Five Hundred and Eight Naira, Seventy Two Kobo (N4,613,599,508.72), to 448 companies as reimbursement in the year under review.
“In addition, the Fund organised several reimbursement workshops to apprise employers of labour on the processes involved in the Reimbursement Scheme. It is our commitment to ensure that all employers of labour are reimbursed if they meet the requirement for such reimbursement”, he concluded.
