History of the Directorate
The directorate was established in the year 1986 as an industrial coordinating unit catering for mostly science and some art based students on industrial attachment. The foundation staffs were four (4) that comprised an industrial coordinator who is responsible to the Vice Chancellor for the day to day running of the affair of the office, a secretary/typist and an office assistant. As an accreditation requirement by the National Universities Commission (NUC) the unit was formally upgraded to directorate under the office of the Vice Chancellor. Over the years the clientele student’s population has increased.
The directorate has been doing its work with significant impact on students. The Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), is the accepted training programme, which is part of the approved Minimum Academic Standard in the various degree programmes for all Nigerian Universities. The scheme is aimed at bridging the existing gap between theory and practice of sciences, engineering, agriculture, medical sciences and other professional educational progammes in the Nigerian tertiary institutions.
The scheme is a tripartite programme involving the students, the Universities and the employers of labor. It is funded by the Federal Government and jointly coordinated by the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and National Universities Commission (NUC). The minimum duration for SIWES should be normally 24 weeks (6 months) at a stretch. In most institutions, SIWES is done at the end of second semester examination of either 300, or 400 levels. The time and duration will have to be worked out jointly by each institution, the directorate and the ITF.
