TETFund Tasks Polytechnics On Skills Training

Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Prof Suleiman Bogoro has lamented that most of the low and medium-skilled jobs in the country are being handled by people from Francophone countries and as such tasked polytechnics in the country to focus on skills training.

Bogoro said this at the opening of a two-day capacity building workshop for heads of selected institutions and staff of TETFund Centres of Excellence in Abuja.

To bridge the skill gap, Bogoro called on the Centres of Excellence in the polytechnics to focus on skills development, entrepreneurship and start-ups.

“For the polytechnics, the centres of excellence are to focus on skills development and support entrepreneurship; start-ups in areas of competitive advantage and you know that skills development is central; it is fundamental. If you miss that area, if your polytechnic does not have the capacity to develop skills or the entrepreneurial ability of its students and researchers, then it has failed the nation.

“That is the area that has been very worrisome for us each time will reflect. It is very embarrassing that in Nigeria, if you go to construction sites, it has improved recently, believe me, Some 10 years back, you will to likely to see Francophone personnel that are at construction site more than Nigerians, that shows something is missing, but the polytechnics are trying to address it,” Bogoro said.

TETFund recently established Centres of Excellence in six polytechnics and six colleges of education.

The beneficiary institutions selected equally from each of the six geo-political zones in the country are; Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa, Nasarawa State; Federal College of Education, Pankshin, Plateau State (Northcentral), Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, Bauchi State, Federal College Education, Yola, Adamawa State, (Northeast), Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna, Kaduna State, Federal College of Education, Zaria, Kaduna State (North-West).

The Southeast has Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State and the Alvan Federal of Education, Owerri, Imo State. The Southsouth’s beneficiaries include Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State and Federal College of Education (Technical), Omoku, Rivers State while Yaba College of Technology, Lagos and Adeyemi College Education, Ondo State made it from the South-West.

While saying the Centre of Excellence in the colleges of education will focus on relevant pedagogical development, the TETFund boss said beneficiary centre will get about two million dollars.

The TETFund boos called on polytechnics and colleges of education in the country to up their games in academic programmes’ innovation to position the country on the path of rapid development and skills acquisition.

Bogoro, who said there are indices that are globally associated with Centres of Excellence, especially in bringing about innovation and development, said the two-day event was organised to ensure proper understanding of the concept of the centres by those that will be in charge of them.

Also speaking at the event, which had in attendance experts from the World Bank-sponsored African Centres of Excellence in universities, Executive Secretary of National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, praised Bogoro for his passion for institutionalisation of Research and Development.

Bugaje said polytechnics must wake up to their responsibility of producing skilled manpower in the country.

The NBTE boss expressed serious concerns that major infrastructure projects in the country are being dominated by skilled personnel from other countries.

“There is a need for our polytechnics to be focused on skills training, that is why we say from 2023, NBTE shall never go for any accreditation to any polytechnic where there is not a single skills training centre,” Bugaje said.

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