The Nationwide Board for Technical Schooling has known as on polytechnics national to prioritise equipping scholars with sensible qualifications, emphasising the wish to shift clear of an over-reliance on paper {qualifications}.
This name used to be made on Friday by means of the Govt Secretary of the NBTE, Prof. Idris Bugaje, all through a one-day retreat for individuals of the Nationwide Meeting committees on upper training and TETFund in Abuja.
“Even though education is on the concurrent list, we need to be on the same page. Polytechnics must focus on delivering skills and employability, and we should move beyond paper qualifications to ensure that graduates possess practical skills,” Bugaje mentioned.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Establishments and TETFund, Muntari Dandutse, echoed this sentiment, urging Nigerian polytechnics to undertake a skills-first manner.
Drawing classes from international locations comparable to China, Dandutse highlighted ongoing legislative efforts geared toward bettering the capacities of polytechnics to foster commercial construction.
“The House committee chairman and I decided to hold this very important retreat to join forces with the leadership of the polytechnics to ensure that, under the renewed hope agenda, we create industrial development through the polytechnics,” Dandutse stated.
“Skills acquisition and all innovation begin with the polytechnics, so there is a need to revise the curriculum and improve funding to enable polytechnics to achieve what others have not.”
He additional wired the important function of qualifications acquisition in world innovation, pointing to China and Ecu international locations as top examples.
“Many of the evolved international locations, in particular China and far of Europe, depend on qualifications acquisition to power invention and innovation.
“That is why, as lawmakers, we will ensure the creation of enabling laws to enhance the capacity of polytechnics and ensure value addition.”
Dandutse additionally praised President Bola Tinubu’s initiative to determine regional construction commissions, describing it as a pathway to unlocking attainable throughout Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones.
With a renewed center of attention on qualifications and innovation, polytechnics are being recommended to supremacy Nigeria’s commercial and technological transformation.