About 759 graduates are currently jostling for the sholarship scheme instituted by the National Information Technology Development Agency ( NITDA), comprising 165 post-graduate and 594 graduate applicants from the 36 states and FCT. Successful beneficiaries an study for their doctorate and masters degree programmes in any university in any part of the world.
Applicants are expected to take a test, after which they face a panel of experts who will screen them and ensure that they are qualified to earn the agency’s funding as well as being good ambassadors of the country. The exercise will take place on April 12, 2012 in Abuja.
Though 759 are jostling for the sholarship, only six will be seleted in this year’s round of screening for the doctorate scholarship, one each from the nation’s six geo-political zones, and 12 from each zone as well for the master’s scholarship, making 72.
The NITDA graduate schorlarship scheme began last year when six candidates were chosen for the doctorate degree programme and 72 for the masters programme.
Qualified candidates are free to choose any university of their choice in nany part of the world to pursue their programme. An equal number of applicants will also be selected next year to benefit from the scheme, which has now become an anual programme.
Apart from the scholarships, NITDA has begun plans to train about 750 lecturers in core IT curriculum in tertiary institutions. The agency had in the past trained about 6,100 unemployed graduates on IT essentials, as well as 600 graduates on IT skill acquisition. More than 15,000 people have also been trained on basic computer appreciation skills using the Mobile Internet Units in the various states and local government areas and schools in the country.
The scholarship scheme and other IT training schemes of the agency are part of NITDA’s effort to grow the human capital needed to take Nigeria into the league of nations using ICT to grow their economy and beef up their revenue generation base.
The objective, according to a NITDA vision statement signed by the Director-General of the agency, Professor Cleopas Angaye is to create and alternative source of revenue other than oil for the beneficiaries and the government.
“Our goal is the create a critical of IT knowledgeable workforce who are able to play at the highest levels in the global knowlegde economy competitive arena”, Professor Angaye said.
The scholarship schem is part of the Nigerian National e-Human Capital Development Strategy being pursued by the agency.
Source: vanguardngr.com