Nigeria's National Open Apprenticeship Scheme (NOAS) is aimed at giving vocational skills to unemployed youth and helping them to be self-employed or get gainful employment. NOAS is targeted at Nigerian men and women aged 15-25. Minimum educational requirements vary by trade; course duration ranges from 2 months to 3 years. The number of trainees taken in any particular year is limited by available resources, namely, the budgetary provision and the trainers. Trainers are master craftworkers who are self-employed or work in formal institutions. Although NOAS tries to match trainees' preferences with the availability of trainers in the chosen trade, the process is more supply driven than demand driven. Trainees who have been placed are regularly monitored by officers who visit their workplace with structured questionnaires that collect information on progress, attendance, and problems. Trainees who complete training are often helped through the National Directorate of Employment's placement/resettlement services or the Directorate's loan program for self-employment. NOAS's problems include the sluggish economy, high unemployment, the diminishing financial contribution of the government, technological laggardness, and inadequate transportation. (Appendixes include tables with unemployment data and a list of available trades for trainees.) (YLB)