May 9, 2024

…Inaugurate cohort 2 trainees

To close the digital divide in the country, connectivity and digital skills training is required and the nation has a greater chance of successfully bridging the gap by equipping Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) with the requisite IT skills.

This is imperative in the development of the nation and in driving the agenda for inclusivity, thereby leaving no one behind.

As part of ways to broaden this fight for the rights of PWDs, the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) in collaboration with Sightsavers, a Non-Governmental Organisation, under its IT Bridge Academy initiative recently inaugurated the 2nd Cohort of trainees.

The partnership programme which started in 2023 has so far graduated 50 trainees (PWDs), 25 each from the Lagos and Kano campuses of DBI.

And with a target to have 50 students graduated each year, the President/ CEO, Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), Prof. Opeyemi Ajayi speaking at the event which held in the Lagos campus of DBI on Wednesday, said DBI sees the partnership with Sightsavers as an opportunity to contribute to efforts to improve inclusivity in the country because of the so many barriers, which makes PWDs excluded from so many opportunities.

“DBI as a capacity building institution sees it as an opportunity to also include these group of persons”.

Selection process

According to Viola Askia Usoro, Group Head, Corporate Services, representing the President/CEO at the inauguration of the 2nd cohort trainees, the mobilisation process is done by specialised partners who have done their research, which includes the kind of in-demand skills and they must have identified the programmes that “we would run for our participants that will make them ready for opportunities in the market, because after the training we desire that they should be able to monitise those skills and get suitable employment”.

“We’re very lucky that some organisations have started supporting even from the point of the training, they have even asked that we give them a list of our top 10 students, some top 5 and other giving us specifications of people that they’re ready to take up for employment.

“Our partners are specialists in these areas as they even give us training and suggestions on how to remodel our facilities to accommodate PWDs and to put equipment and fittings that will assist them in their training.

The nine months rigorous training in Kano and Lagos with 25 PWDs for each state constitute the initial step followed by internship and then paid jobs for the trainees, affording them opportunities to leap above skill, social and economic limitations including employment barriers.

“They will take the same professional exams that others take, so we have to make sure they are thoroughly prepared.

What next for the students?

For DBI, Sightsavers is exploring outsourcing possibilities and looking from the policy perspective, there are some policies that the country has put in place to make room for PWDs.

“We also need to see whether there can be pressure groups and representations that are made, for instance if the country says every organisation should have 5 percent of PWDs in their workforce and a way to get feedback from one organisation to the other, whether this has been implemented and how those quotas can be filled.

“It is not just enough to get those quotas filled, but important to get PWDs who are skilled., which is where the DBI comes in.

“Once we’re sure that they have those skills, we can do our research for the kind of skills that are required for the industry.

“Not only do we carryout the Cisco Network Associate training, we also train them on soft skills because to us, they are to be ambassadors.

“Gradually we want these barriers not to be so apparent, you’ll only see their capabilities and gradually there will be disability inclusion in the country.

Challenges

“When the cohort I concluded their programme, it was very difficult to find a centre that could have the fitted computers for them to be able to write their exams, that speaks more to the barriers that they experience”, says Usoro.

The partnership with DBI, for Sunday Isiyaku, Country Director of Sightsavers in Nigeria and Ghana, allows the international organisation to use the DBI centres in both Kano and Lagos to host beneficiaries of the IT skill training programme at no cost, as the initiative is fully funded by Sightsavers.

“We empower persons with disabilities to live independent lives. The IT Bridge Academy is an initiative of Sightsavers to train persons with disabilities who qualify in IT as that is a very lucrative skill to have.

“The IT Bridge Academy will harness the world-renowned CISCO Networking Academy curriculum, meticulously tailored to cater to the unique needs of individuals with disabilities. This will see them equipped to compete favourably in the tech industry.

“Over 700 PWDs applied this year from various parts of the country before we were able to select the 50. These are people we have recognised as being marginalised and it is in our efforts to make sure that no one is left behind that we have have started this partnership”.

“We’re providing them with specific IT skills so that we’re moving from teaching them the usual arts and crafts to technology and how they can be equipped because we think this is a great opportunity for them to get skills for a greater tomorrow.

“The programme started last year, the first set have just written their Cisco exams and this second set is what we’re inaugurating today and with this second set, we hope this s something that we’ll continue to do as long as possible in partnership with DBI”.

The trainees were drawn from various parts of the country and include, the visually impaired, the disabled and the deaf and dumb.

Reporting by: Theresa Igata