Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has described the Samsung Engineering Academy as a knowledge hub that will also open up job opportunities for the people of Lagos.
Fashola who spoke at the commissioning of the academy in Lagos also said that there is an urgent need to develop technical skills in students adding that existing technicians are ill- equipped to repair new appliances because they lack access to modern technology.
According to him, “Upcoming technicians must be exposed to cutting edge technology if they are to remain competitive. The ability to repair the latest technology is key to wealth creation for technicians”.
Governor Fashola commended Samsung for partnering with the Lagos State Government on the Academy.
He said that the stressing that the Samsung Engineering Academy is in line with his administration’s drive to create jobs, especially for young citizens.
Nicholas Shin, managing director of Samsung Electronics West Africa, said: “Our aim is to promote co-operation, innovation, wealth creation and to facilitate thought leadership in the communities in which we operate in response to their real needs and conditions.”
Shin said that “The Samsung Engineering Academy programme is our flagship CSR initiative undertaken in response of the need to develop a skilled workforce of technicians who will become service experts empowered to create wealth. Samsung, as a quality service-oriented company, aims to link CSR activities with our business goal of sustaining our level of innovation. This can only be achieved if we invest in quality education to empower the youth”
The Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy located Agidimgbi Technical College, Ikeja is in partnership with the Eko Project, a World Bank assisted initiative aimed at improving the quality of public secondary education.
The new Academy is equipped with the latest electronics is aimed at addressing the dearth of technical and engineering skills in Nigeria by providing hands-on, vocational skills training for secondary school students.
It is the third Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy in Lagos as part of its goal to develop 10 000 electronics engineers across Africa by 2015.
Students will go through a year’s program in engineering skills, aligned to their technical school’s curriculum.
The Academy will initially admit 60 students. Upon completion of the programme, graduating students are automatically eligible for an internship at Samsung's channel partners.
Outstanding performers will have the opportunity to work as independent service technicians or employees in the company’s retail channel outlets.
They also stand a chance of being selected to participate in a year-long leadership opportunity at Samsung Electronics’ headquarters in South Korea as part of the 100 African Young Leaders program.
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