The Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Mohammed Bugaje, has urged the Federal Government to explore China’s development strategies as a model for rediscovering and advancing Nigeria.
Speaking at the opening of a workshop in Kaduna on Monday, Bugaje emphasized the need to revamp technical and vocational education in the country.
The six-day workshop, organized by NBTE in collaboration with the Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) Project, brought together experts from the technology industry to chart a new course for technical education in Nigeria.
According to the organisers, it is aimed at developing National Occupational Standards and National Skills Qualification for 25 occupational areas
Bugaje asserted that repositioning Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is crucial for Nigeria’s development.
Commending the Minister of Education’s efforts to rebrand Federal Science and Technical Colleges, he advised Nigeria to tap into China’s Belt and Road Initiative for support.
According to Professor Bugaje, “The plan of the Minister is to make Technical Colleges attractive. At the Federal level, all the Federal Science and Technical Colleges are being rebranded.”
He said across the country, the government is introducing financial support from NELFUND. There is going to be funding for every student who joins technical science colleges by paying their school fees, certificate of NSQ, by paying them monthly allowance, by paying the master craftsman who trains him on the field.
“Very soon, technical schools will become attractive. At the moment, we are developing a proposal to the Minister for a Belt and Road intervention. This is a program which China has been promoting across the world. They have been building roads, railways, airports, and other infrastructures elsewhere.
“The best way to support those infrastructures is to invest in TVET. Because the current infrastructure in polytechnics is very weak. If we are really going to put TVET on a fast track, we must reengineer these technical colleges, bring new infrastructures, do away with archaic curricula, and introduce modern ones.
“China can easily do it for us at a minimal cost and without any feelings that we are going to catch up with them because western countries are always very conscious that if they allow Africa to develop on a fast track, we will take over. So, Nigeria needs to look towards the East in order to rediscover ourselves,” he said.