Prof. Idris Bugaje, the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, has recommended at least 50 per cent of the annual education budget to be allocated to Technical and Vocational Education Training, TVET.
Mr Bugaje made the recommendation in Abuja on Tuesday at a retreat for Chairmen of Governing Councils and Principal Officers of Federal Polytechnics.
The retreat, which has its theme: ”Improving Polytechnic Administration: The Role of Governing Councils and Management” is organised by NBTE in collaboration with the Committee of Federal Polytechnic Rectors, COFER.
The executive secretary said that at least 50 per cent allocation was important due to the capital intensive nature of TVET programmes.
He also urged managers of Polytechnics to promote the principles of transparency, accountability and integrity, especially in handling their appropriated subventions, TETFund interventions and the rest.
He said there were lots of socio-economic challenges such as corruption, poverty, unemployment, cybercrime, deteriorating public infrastructure and others associated with TVET in the country.
According to him, some of the listed problems can also be attributed to undue emphasis on paper qualifications and certificates at the expense of skills.
“Francophone West Africa is clearly doing better on skills and we can see many of them in major construction sites across Nigeria.
”TVET is therefore one of the sustainable solutions to address these challenges and diversify the nation’s mono-economy into agriculture, manufacturing and ICT, to produce a knowledge economy.
”As a matter of urgency, funding for the review of TVET curricula for technological and technical institutions should be sourced by the Federal Ministry of Education and sustained,” he said.
Mr Bugaje, however, said that polytechnics should refocus on skills development to move with the times, serve industry with requisite manpower, and for export of skills.
He said that attention should be given to TVET so that the country could move out of the woods so that employment would abound and the country could emerge among the top 20 economies of the world in terms of GDP.
NAN
