Hero Lager, a product of International Breweries has announced an Apprenticeship System aimed at providing university education opportunity to young and aspiring entrepreneurs who have completed various trade apprenticeships.

Introducing the scheme at Onitsha Business School, Anambra, recently, the firm stated that the move aligned with its commitment to empowering young Nigerians to reach their full potential, improving youth employment and driving economic growth.

Marketing Director of International Breweries Plc, Bamise Oyegbami explained further that the programme, designed to bridge gap between trade skills and higher education is guided by a comprehensive academic curriculum that will undergo accreditation in select universities.

He said the apprenticeship curriculum was developed on the company’s request by five professors and four Ph.D. researchers in Nigeria’s universities who are quite conversant with the terrain.

He informed that the curriculum codified all the trade learning of an apprentice into a syllabus which would be supplemented with general studies courses from universities to become a certification course for apprentices.

Speaking further, Marketing Manager of Hero Lager, Dubem Orji stated that the company is in talk with key stakeholders in the education sector to ensure that the scheme receives the certification and recognition it deserves within the educational landscape.

“The goal for us is to project the importance of apprenticeship, making it more aspirational and a means for tackling unemployment.

“As a consumer-centric brand, we believe in empowering Nigerians and playing meaningful roles in the community. We are using this scheme to create employment that would benefit not just the applicants but their relatives and the larger society through the attendant positive domino effect. After completing their informal business training under a trade mentor, apprentices can proceed to the university to acquire formal business training to consolidate their learning”, he said.

He added that up to 250 applicants will be granted access to a pool of N100 million seed funding to launch their businesses, upon completion of the three months course.

Commenting, the state’s Commissioner for Industry, Christian Udechukwu, said, “The Igba Boi Apprenticeship System is the greatest business incubator in the world and what Hero Lager is doing by converging both formal and informal education is a breakthrough legacy and the state is fully supporting the company in this innovative step.” (THISDAY)