SIWES was established by Industrial Training Fund (ITF) in 1973 to solve the problem of lack

of adequate practical skills preparatory for employment in industries by Nigerian graduates of

tertiary institutions. The Scheme exposes students to industry based skills necessary for a smooth

transition from the classroom to the world of work. It affords students of tertiary institutions the

opportunity of being familiarized and exposed to the needed experience in handling machinery

and equipment which are usually not available in the educational institutions.

Before the establishment of the scheme, there was a growing concern among our Industrialists

that graduates of our Institutions of Higher learning lacked adequate practical background studies

preparatory for employment in Industries. Thus, the employers were of the opinion that the

theoretical education going on in higher institutions was not responsive to the needs of the

employers of labour. It is against this background that the rationale for initiating and designing

the scheme by the Fund during its formative years – 1973/74 was introduced to acquaint students

with the skills of handling employers’ equipment and machinery.

Therefore participation in SIWES has become a necessary pre-condition for the award of

Diploma and Degree certificates in specific disciplines in most institutions of higher learning in

the country, in accordance with the education policy of government. Operators of the programme

includes ITF, the coordinating agencies (NUC, NCCE, NBTE), employers of labour and the

institutions.

Funding – The Federal Government of Nigeria Duration - Six months

Specifically, the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is responsible for:

Provide an avenue for students in institutions of higher learning to acquire industrial

skills and experience in their course of study, which are restricted to Engineering and

Technology including Environmental studies and other courses that may be approved.
Courses of NCE (Technical), NCE Agriculture, NCE (Business), NCE (Fine and

Applied Arts) and NCE (Home Economics) in Colleges of Education are also

included.

Prepare students for the industrial work situation they are to meet after graduation;

Expose students to work methods and techniques in handling equipment and

machinery that may not be available in their institutions.

Make the transition from school to the world of work easier, and enhance students

contacts for later job placement;

Provide students with an opportunity to apply their knowledge in real work situation

thereby bridging the gap between theory and practice; and

Enlist and strengthen employers, involvement in the entire educational process and

prepare students for employment in Industry and Commerce.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Students industrial work experience scheme (SIWES) is a laudable skills acquisition programme

which is geared towards technological development of the nation. However, the scheme cannot

be said to have achieved the desired objectives due to many factors ranging from the structural

causes of performance problems that have plagued the system, but also increasing number of

students and institutions which place undue pressure on the few surviving industrial

organizations and most students on attachment in places of convenience without giving

considerations to the relevance of the workplace to their course of studies. The study is therefore
to determine the influence of SIWES on skills development, utilization and the incidence of

graduate occupational misfit in Nigeria.

The specific objectives are to:

i) Find out the contributions of SIWES to human resources development through

certification and accreditation of technology-based courses;

ii) Establish the correlation between the needs of employers of labor and the skill

potentials of SIWES participants; and

iii) Determine the level of supervision and funding by collaborating institutions.

A multi-meter (also known as a volt-ohm-milliammeter, volt-ohmmeter or VOM) is

a measuring instrument that can measure multiple electrical properties. A typical multimeter can

measure voltage, resistance, and current, in which case can be used as a voltmeter, ammeter,

and ohmmeter. Some feature the measurement of additional properties such as temperature

and capacitance.

The first attested usage of the word "multimeter" listed by the Oxford English

Dictionary is from 1907.

multimeters (DMMs) have numeric displays and have made analog multimeters virtually

obsolete as they are cheaper, more precise, and more physically robust than analog multimeters.

Multimeters vary in size, features, and price. They can be portable handheld devices or highly-

precise bench instruments. Cheap multimeters can cost under US$10, while laboratory-grade

models with certified calibration can cost over US$5,000.

Main functions and features of multimeters

measuring of voltage of direct current and alternating current,

measuring of direct and alternatig current,

measuring of resistance, electrical capacitance and inductance,

diode, an electrical component that allows the flow of current in only one direction.

In circuit diagrams, a diode is represented by a triangle with a line across one vertex.

The most common type of diode uses a p-n junction. In this type of diode, one material (n) in

which electrons are charge carriers abuts a second material (p) in which holes (places depleted of

electrons that act as positively charged particles) act as charge carriers. At their interface, a

depletion region is formed across which electrons diffuse to fill holes in the p-side. This stops the

further flow of electrons. When this junction is forward biased (that is, a positive voltage is

applied to the p-side), electrons can easily move across the junction to fill the holes, and a
current flows through the diode. When the junction is reverse biased (that is, a negative voltage

is applied to the p-side), the depletion region widens and electrons cannot easily move across.

The current remains very small until a certain voltage (the breakdown voltage) is reached and the

current suddenly increases.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are p-n junctions that emit light when a current flows through

them. Several p-n junction diodes can be connected in series to make a rectifier (an electrical

component that converts alternating current to direct current). Zener diodes have a well-defined

breakdown voltage, so that current flows in the reverse direction at that voltage and a constant

voltage can be maintained despite fluctuations in voltage or current. In varactor (or varicap)

diodes, varying the bias voltage causes a variation in the diode’s capacitance; these diodes have

many applications for signal transmission and are used throughout

the radio and television industries. (For more detail about these and other types of

diodes, see semiconductor device.)

Early diodes were vacuum tubes, an evacuated glass or metal electron tube containing

two electrodes—a negatively charged cathode and a positively charged anode. These were used

as rectifiers and as detectors in electronic circuits such as radio and television receivers. When a

positive voltage is applied to the anode (or plate), electrons emitted from the heated cathode flow

to the plate and return to the cathode through an external power supply. If a negative voltage is

applied to the plate, electrons cannot escape from the cathode, and no plate current flows. Thus, a

diode permits electrons to flow from cathode to plate but not from plate to cathode. If an

alternating voltage is applied to the plate, current flows only during the time when the plate is

positive. The alternating voltage is said to be rectified, or converted to direct current.

demodulators, and oscillators.

measuring of voltage of direct current and alternating current,

measuring of direct and alternatig current,

measuring of resistance, electrical capacitance and inductance,

The Federal Government’s efforts at improving the nation’s technical know-how and increasing

the efficiency of middle level manpower are not restricted to the industries alone. Efforts were

made to involve institutions of higher learning and hence the birth of. Based on the findings of

this study, it is evident that skills development and utilization cannot be achieved in isolation,

rather, the relevant stakeholders must be committed to the course and be fully involved, which

means students and teachers form institutions of higher learning, corporate industries and

commercial bodies, and Federal Government must be involved. This cooperative machinery

between industrial and institutions of higher learning will produce effective results under the

supervision and control of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF). It is recommended that:

Government should devote sufficient financial resources to all levels and aspects of education to

enhance effective running of educational programmes especially SIWES. The Polytechnics

should be encouraged to establish technological development centres to translate innovations

from staff and students to goods and services. This will enable them fulfill their basic social.
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