KNOWLEDGE GAINED DURING SIWES PERIOD
During my SIWES at Chicken Cream Global, I gained more knowledge that have enlighten me in the field of food science and technology. I have been exposed to several machines and equipment that I have not been able to operate before.
I also gained a lot of machine maintenance experience, working ethics, sanitation procedures and also valuable social skills. The production manager also expose me to various measurements of ingredients of different types of bread produced. I also gained more experience in terms of working with sophisticated machineries and equipments found inside the factory. My communication skill and team spirit was also enhanced during my training, although I was not allowed to work on these production sections alone without close supervision.
CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED DURING MY SIWES
During the period of my industrial training, I encountered some problems such as;
1) Difficulty in securing an IT space
2) Absence of any form of allowance from the company
3) Lack of access to some equipment
4) Insufficient time for the industrial base supervisors to teach the I.T students
1) Difficulty in securing an I.T place
Due to the academic calendar, I experienced much difficulty securing a place for my training because most of the companies I applied to had either stopped accepting applications or do not accept I.T students into their organization. Also, because of the availability of I.T students from Polytechnics, most companies prefer to accept polytechnic student who engage in one year industrial training to university students who engage in six months industrial training. That factor alone is a very challenging situation to deal with in trying to secure an I.T space.
2) Absence of any form of allowance from the company
The company I had my training had no financial encouragement plan for the I.T students, this made it a bit difficult for me to transport myself since I had to be punctual to work.
3) Lack of access to some equipment
Some of the equipment’s needed in some analysis were inaccessible by any I.T student and this prevented me from having mastery knowledge of how to operate or work with such equipment. For instance, the spiral mixer used for mixing and development of dough was only accessible by the production supervisors.
4) Insufficient time for the industry-based supervisors to teach the I.T students
The insufficient time for the industry based supervisors to teach the I.T student is a major challenge most of the I.T student faced while on training, as most of the industry- based supervisor are too busy to attend to a student in need. This situation forced me to seek the help of the factory workers on the information I needed despite the fact that these factory workers do not have the authentic information to the technological, scientific and biochemical process of the production process being carried out.
DIRECTIONS OF IMPROVING THE SCHEME
Irrespective of how interesting and educative the industrial programme has been, there is still need to improve on the organizational running of the programme. over the years the programme has improved tremendously, giving students the opportunity to observe first hand industrial process and being in the process for the first time, however, there is still need for the programme to be improved in issues such as;
1) Correspondence with the academic calendar
2) Placement of I.T students
3) Financial encouragement
1) Correspondence with the academic calendar
The SIWES programme should be made to run in accordance with the academic calendar, to allow student benefits immensely from the programme. For instance, the commencement date for industrial training should not be fixed rather it should be subject to the academic calendar of every academic section. For example, strike actions embarked by academic staff union of universities can distort the normal academic calendar, giving rise to congestion of academic activities in order to meet up with SIWES commencement date. Therefore, the programme should be made to run in accordance with the academic calendar of every section.
2) Placement of I.T students
The SIWES programme should take up the responsibility of placing students in their various placement areas that suit their discipline and line of study. The difficulty of securing an I.T space often forced student to seek their industrial training at a place that is not within their discipline. The placement of students by the programme will go a long way in assisting students to be properly trained within their areas of discipline.
3) Financial encouragement
As many industries and organization of present do not have provisions for equipping I.T students financially, there is a need for such industries, companies and organization to start doing so. This will encourage the student to add more effort. Also the ITF should also make funds due for students are available to them.
ADVISE TO FUTURE STUDENTS
Students who are in future to participate in the SIWES programme should start now to pursue a place of attachment. This will enhance their acceptance to the company as some company ensures the policy of first come first serve basis.
The student should be regular, punctual, and obedient and adhere to the rules and regulations of the organization where they are attached to, as this will go a long way in bringing out the best from them and place them in a better position to get the knowledge they are looking for. Students who are embarking on this training should not perceive it as an opportunity to make money, rather they should bear in mind the primary purpose of their training, which is to be equipped practically and theoretically, because knowledge is power and no knowledge is a waste.
MY FINAL CONCLUSION
The SIWES programme undergone at Chicken cream global, afforded me in depth exposure to all processes involved in the production of bread.
MY RECOMMENDATIONS
Having completed the four months industrial training, I realized that it is beneficial for all students to undergo such training to assist them acquire needed practical knowledge which will guide them to working or establishing an industry.
So I recommend that the following under listed parts should be implemented,
(a) There should be a proper supervision of the student concerned by both ITF officials and the institute based supervisors.
(b) Sending students specifically to establishment where the stipulated aims and objectives of SIWES would be achieved.
(c) Payment of befitting students allowance to assist in student’s finances during the period of training.