Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES)

Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES)

SIWES was established by Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in 1973 to solve the problem of lack of adequate practical skills preparatory for employment in industries by Nigerian graduates of tertiary institutions.
The Scheme exposes students to industry based skills necessary for a smooth transition from the classroom to the world of work. It affords students of tertiary institutions the opportunity of being familiarized and exposed to the needed experience in handling machinery and equipment which are usually not available in the educational institutions.
Before the establishment of the scheme, there was a growing concern among our Industrialists that graduates of our Institutions of Higher learning lacked adequate practical background studies preparatory for employment in Industries. Thus, the employers were of the opinion that the theoretical education going on in higher institutions was not responsive to the needs of the employers of labour.

It is against this background that the rationale for initiating and designing the scheme by the Fund during its formative years – 1973/74 was introduced to acquaint students with the skills of handling employers’ equipment and machinery.

Therefore participation in SIWES has become a necessary pre-condition for the award of Diploma and Degree certificates in specific disciplines in most institutions of higher learning in the country, in accordance with the education policy of government.

Operators of the programme includes ITF, the coordinating agencies (NUC, NCCE, NBTE), employers of labour and the institutions.
Funding - The Federal Government of Nigeria
Duration - Six months

Specifically, the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is responsible for:

• Provide an avenue for students in institutions of higher learning to acquire industrial skills and experience in their course of study, which are restricted to Engineering and Technology including Environmental studies and other courses that may be approved. Courses of NCE (Technical), NCE Agriculture, NCE (Business), NCE (Fine and Applied Arts) and NCE (Home Economics) in Colleges of Education are also included.
• Prepare students for the industrial work situation they are to meet after graduation;
• Expose students to work methods and techniques in handling equipment and machinery that may not be available in their institutions.
• Make the transition from school to the world of work easier, and enhance students contacts for later job placement;
• Provide students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge in real work situation thereby bridging the gap between theory and practice; and
• Enlist and strengthen employers, involvement in the entire educational process and prepare students for employment in Industry and Commerce.

Basic Services Offered

SIWES FORMS:

• SPE – 1 FORM : To be given to all students before the attachments commence. Students are to ensure that their employers complete these forms and forward it to the nearest ITF Area Offices.
• ITF FORM8 : This is the End–of-Programme report Form to be completed by the students, employers and the institutions before the Forms are sent to ITF headquarters through the Area Offices. The completion of this Form is evidence of students’ participation and supervision in the programme.

What the portal should achieve

• Generate a list of students eligible for SIWES from participated department. Note each participating department have SIWES coordinators, each coordinator should be able to log in to verify the list
• Student should be able to log in and fill in their Details not provides from the generated list in 1(These details include account number, Bank and sort code, placement). This will be used for the generation of a master list (see attached titled master list SIWES and another titled Placement list SIWES). This list is generated and submitted to toe NUC in form of a spreadsheet.
• Admin can assign lecturers to students for supervision
• Students can correspond with the directorate in case of emergency

What each person can do on portal

1. student
   1. Enter details- Bank details, sort code, placement industry, email, phone number
   2. Send and receive messages and news specific to SIWES
   3. Upload a monthly summary of activities and lessons
2. SIWES coordinator
   1. Send messages/news
   2. View monthly report of student summary
   3. Assign supervisors to students
3. SIWES Departmental coordinator
   1. Validate student details
   2. Raise red flag on any student
   3. View monthly report of student summary