EDUCATION MINISTER PROPOSES EXTENDING NYSC SERVICE TO TWO YEARS. (PHOTO).

 Education Minister Proposes Extending NYSC Service to Two Years

The Minister of Education, Olatunji Alausa, has put forward a proposal to extend the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program from its current one-year duration to two years. The announcement came during a courtesy visit by the NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Olakunle Nafiu, to the minister’s office in Abuja on Saturday.

Minister Alausa highlighted that the extension could be paired with an enhanced NYSC Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development Training program, aimed at equipping corps members with skills to become job creators. “You have done so well as an organization. Let NYSC give people more opportunity to become job creators that will meet the needs of the country,” Alausa remarked, as quoted in a statement by NYSC spokesperson Caroline Embu.

The minister also praised the NYSC for addressing a longstanding issue involving part-time ordinary national diploma graduates who later earned full-time higher national diplomas. Previously exempted from national service, these individuals are now integrated into the scheme. Additionally, Alausa called for the deployment of more graduate teachers to rural schools to address staffing shortages and bolster education in underserved areas.

During the meeting, NYSC Director General Nafiu urged the government to establish a comprehensive database tracking Nigerian youths studying abroad for degree programs. He argued that such a system would provide accurate records of students, assist stakeholders in the education sector, and help curb the proliferation of fake graduates. “NYSC is ready to comply with policy guidelines as directed by the Federal Government. We are also trying to reform the Scheme to conform with the present national needs,” Nafiu stated.

In response, Minister Alausa assured that the Ministry of Education is actively working on digitizing the verification process for foreign-trained Nigerian graduates. He emphasized that the ministry and NYSC would deepen their collaboration to advance educational development across the nation.