The Federal Government says it has begun the process of lifting the nation’s economy through improved technical know-how among products of technical education and select professionals, chosen and equipped, as drivers of such initiative.
Mr Musa Abdul, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), National Apprenticeship Consultant for: “Innovation Development and Effectiveness in The Acquisition Skills Project,(IDEAS)”, gave the hint in Ado-Ekiti.
Abdul spoke on Saturday at the National Skills Qualifications (NSQ) Workshop for scores of Master Craftsmen, assembled under the IDEAS Project of the Federal Government for participants from across the South-West states.
According to him, Federal Government has plans to raise the skills of today’s modern economy.
“But, it is aware that attaining and reaching modern economy standards, takes time and required proper planning, commitment, collaborations, trainings and huge funding,” Abdul said.
He said the IDEAS Project, though, a project of the Federal Government, was being assisted by the World Bank, under the Federal Ministry of Education.
Abdul explained that it was the first step in the FGN long term approach of upgrading Nigeria skills to the standards of skills requirement of modern economy.
“Skills of modern economy goes beyond the narrowly defined technical competencies, which is what we hitherto had in Nigeria.
“IDEAS Project will prepare and equip master craftsmen, MCPs, with what they need to upgrade their skills to reach the modern economy standards,” he said.
According to him, the aim of the project is to enhance capacity of the Nigerian skills development system to produce skills for the formal and informal sector of the economy.
On the target audience, he said that the project would operate at both Federal and State levels.
“At the Federal level, the project will support the improvement of Federal Science and Technical Colleges, their teachers and instructors, as well as enhancing the FGN’s regulatory and management capacities for skills development.
“At the state level, the project will support the improvement of state Technical Colleges, their teachers and instructors, as well as enhancing state-level management capacities for skills development.
“The project will also support raising the quality and relevance of apprenticeship training in the informal sector.
“The intention of the project is to intervene in all states of the federation and the intervention will be in phases.
“In the first phase, six states were identified and selected to receive intervention, with a calculation of one state, from each of the six geographical Zones,” Abdul said.
He gave the breakdown as: Abia, from South-East; Benue from North-Central; Edo from South-South; Ekiti from South-West; Gombe from North-East and Kano State from North-West.
Also, Mrs Ngozi Okelekwe, the Director, NBTE South-East Zonal office, who spoke on the topic: “Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF)”, said Federal Government’s choice of NBTE, as anchor of the project, was in line with its constitutional duties.
“These are principally derived from our enabling laws. These functions of the Board are served in the board’s enabling Act No. 9 of Jan.11, 1977 and the Education/National Minimum Standard and Establishment of Institution, Act No. 16 of August 1985 and No 9 of 1993,” Okelekwe said.
She said the main trust of the enabling laws was that NBTE was saddled with the responsibility of coordinating all aspect of technical and vocational education and training, outside of the universities.
