Ukpono Ukpong – Abuja
Due to the significance of Technical and Vocational Education to nation’s development plan, the Federal government has reiterated its commitment to strengthen the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sub-sector in the country.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, William Alo, disclosed this at the just concluded Leadership Dialogue organised by the African Union Development Agency of the New Partnership for Africa Development (AUDA-NEPAD) held in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Alo noted that the high rate of unemployment among youths in Nigeria and the dwindling opportunities for white collar jobs and the untapped vast opportunities for entrepreneurial activities made it imperative to seek new drive to popularise technical training and skills acquisition in the country, especially among graduates of tertiary institutions.
“Nigeria is the most populous country in the continent, with an estimated population of 200 million people and median age of 17.9%. This indicates a youth bulge and they have a significant role to play towards achieving the aspiration of the continent for the 4th industrial Revolution and Vision 2063 of the African Union (AU).
“The need to appropriately equip and empower young persons in Africa is most apt at the dawn of the 4thIndustrial Revolution, which is characterised by digital, biological and physical innovations; with technologies that speed up production processes and profoundly impact societal values and opportunities for self actualisation.
“A veritable pathway to towards achieving this is the strengthening of TVET systems in the continent, with prospects to create decent work opportunities for the growing army of unemployed and underemployed young persons and also to promote the sprouting and thriving of young entrepreneurs, who invariably become employers of labour.” he said
According to him, some of the steps taken by the Federal government to address the issue include the establishment of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to coordinate all aspect of technical and vocational education outside the universities, adding that the Board works closely with the National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) which issues certificates (domesticated versions of City and Guilds, Pittman’s, and Royal Society of Arts in the UK).
Alo revealed that there are over 150 Skill Acquisition Centres spread across Nigeria, run by different Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), State governments, individuals, the private sector, Non-governmental organisations, and a few international organisations.
“To have a centralised coordination and certification of the beneficiaries of the training at the skills acquisition centres, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has been mandated to take over the coordination roles for training at the skills acquisition centres,” he stated.
He said that the Ministry of Labour and Employment, has developed a framework which will take census of all the skills acquisition centres in the country, develop a draft model curriculum on skills acquisition as well as establish specialised Skills Centres in strategic locations in the country.
“The Ministry is also addressing the soft skills gaps and mismatch with labour market skills requirement, which have been attributed to low employability of graduates of tertiary institutions in the country. The aim is to improve their employability and capacity for self employment. Funding was also identified as a huge challenge for the TVET sub-sector in Nigeria”, he added.
Speaking further, Alo also disclosed that the Ministry issues Trade Test Certificates (TTC) of different grades to these categories of trainees.
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