Industrial Training Fund threatens sanction for firms rejecting SIWES students

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has warned organisations and employers nationwide against rejecting students seeking attachment for their industrial training (IT) exercises.

Ashore Paul, ITF’s Bauchi area manager, spoke on Thursday during the orientation exercise for prospective IT students of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi.

Nanzem Yilshuut, head of training at the ITF Bauchi area office who represented Paul, said “the act establishing the fund mandates every organisation to accept students for industrial attachment.”

Paul stated that any employer or organisation found in breach of these provisions was liable to conviction and sanctions.

He urged the prospective IT students to adhere to the rules and regulations of any organisation they joined and to be willing to learn and fulfill their responsibilities.

“When these students come back, we expect that there is a difference,” the area manager said.

“They should have learned something new because, definitely, what they learned in school would be expected to be put into practice.

“This will help them in their academics and also assist them in their future endeavours.

“They must participate 100 per cent, they must be disciplined, and they must be willing to learn.

“We go round to ensure that they are doing what they are expected to do at their places of attachment.

“When we go for supervision, we ensure that what they are learning is in line with their courses.”

Sani Usman, the rector of the institution, said the industrial attachment was an activity that enabled polytechnics to fulfill their mandate as technology and skill-driven institutions.

“Our students are given industrial experience during their first year so as to be registered in their minds that all of them are meant to be skilled class men and women, and that is why the industrial attachment is very important.

“It enables them to build on what they have learned in their respective classrooms and practicals during the year,” he said.

Usman emphasised the importance of proper supervision during industrial training.

He said ITF will ensure students not only attend their placements but also carry out their assigned tasks effectively.

“The supervision is also to see that the employers or the places they have been sent to do their Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) do not exploit them to the level that is not required by the institution”, he said.

He further revealed that 3,000 students across all departments in the institution were going for the 2025 SIWES programme.