‘Why Nigerian youths should invest in IT education’

In this interview, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Aptech Training Institute, Ninad Karpe, says Nigerian students need to acquire qualitative information technology education to unlock their potentials. How will you describe IT education in Nigeria compared to other countries where Aptech operates? I am very impressed with Nigerian students studying at the various […]

In this interview, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Aptech Training Institute, Ninad Karpe, says Nigerian students need to acquire qualitative information technology education to unlock their potentials.

How will you describe IT education in Nigeria compared to other countries where Aptech operates?
I am very impressed with Nigerian students studying at the various Aptech centres in Nigeria, because they are willing to learn IT and assimilate everything about IT. They have the zeal to study and to have better quality of life. Comparing Nigerian students with students in other countries where Aptech operates, gives a clear distinction that the Nigerian students are resilient even to the rigorous training exercise that we offer them at Aptech. Their zeal has always made them succeed in life and I salute their courage any day, anytime.
Aptech has been in Nigeria in the past 16 years. What is the priority of Aptech in driving IT education?
Yes, we have been in Nigeria for up to 16 years, pioneering IT education in the country and we are committed in doing just that. Our priority is to provide the best quality of IT education to Nigerian students. We have online varsity and online portal, where students can also get themselves educated in IT. All these are to ensure quality IT education for Nigerians.
What value are you bringing to IT education in Nigeria and what stands you out from other IT training institutes operating in Nigeria?
We bring a lot of value to the Nigerian IT education, which in turn, helps to develop the Nigerian economy. We are developing a lot of IT professionals in Nigeria through our learning programmes that offer opportunities for better job placements. We are unique in three ways, which stands us out from every other IT training institutes in the country. We have 30 years experience in the global IT training business, with over 16 operations in Nigeria, and that long years of experience cannot be compared with other training institutes that are relatively new in the business. Again, we are global company with global standards and not a local company. Another area of our uniqueness is that at Aptech, we try to give the global best quality in IT education in terms of curriculum that is tailored towards labour market demands. So because we are a global company, we collaborate with global university like Middlesex of London, where we also train our students, and a small local IT training institute will not have that advantage that we have as a global IT training institute.
How will you compare online IT training programmes that are being organised by most training institutes with the offline training?
At Aptech, we have a training module that allows for physical classrooms and physical laboratories, where students are taught physically and they have access to their lecturers. Campus experience is required for IT education because the students learn faster and better. We also have our online version training, but we make it more practical in such a way that students have the combination of theory and practical experiences. So it is not possible for a student to become a good software programmer, for instance, without the campus experience and it is for this reason that we offer campus learning in all our learning centres.
What is the prospect of IT education in the current global dispensation, and what is your advice for Nigerian youths?
IT education holds a lot of bright future for individuals and economies who embrace it. IT education brings out the talent of creativity in any human. It creates opportunities for self reliance in terms of job, just as it also creates opportunities for jobs. My advice for Nigerian youths is that they should passionately pursue IT education, irrespective of the course they may have studied in school during their undergraduate studies. Those seeking higher education after secondary school education, should also embrace IT and ensure that they specialise in core IT disciplines.
Recently your company organised a seminar for students, called Career Quest. What was it all about?
This is the eighth time Aptech has organised seminar and training session for students, called Career Quest, where we expose students to opportunities in obtaining international degrees in IT. Aptech has been in Nigeria for the past 16 years, offering IT education to students from our various centres in Nigeria, and Career Quest was later introduced to offer students the opportunity to further their studies in any university of choice in countries where Aptech is affiliated to.