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NBTE Sues For Establishment of NSF for Polytechnic
By Ikhili Ebalu, Benin City
The Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof Idris Mohammed Bugaje has sued for the establishment of the National Skills Funds for Polytechnic by the federal government, saying what Polytechnic gets from TETFUND is inadequate.
He made the call while delivering the 61st anniversary 26th to 29th combined Auchi Polytechnic convocation lecture titled Re-Engineering Education in Nigeria with Skills Mantra: The Role Of Polytechnic also said Polytechnic should be refocus on skills, curricula development.
Prof Bugaje who was represented by Dr. Mohammed Yahaya Bande, said Polytechnic education started earlier than universities education in Nigeria and across Africa such as Yaba College of Technology in 1947 was ahead of the university of Ibadan of 1948 while Kaduna Polytechnic in 1956 was also ahead of Ahmadu Bello University in 1962 adding that most of the world famous innovations of the 18th century such as Benjamin Franklin who discovered electricity current; James Watt, Rudolf Diesel never went to any university.
He noted that the primary aims of polytechnic education in Nigeria was to hands-on experience, equipping students with practical skills and knowledge needed to thrive in the modern professional world.
He stated further that at the moment, Nigeria has 88 public and 71 private polytechnic as against about 270 public and private universities yet only less than 20% are offered admission into Polytechnic levels.
The NBTE Sec emphasized the role of Polytechnic education in skills development as it provides practical, real-world training that directly addressed the skills needed for technological emancipation.
He said polytechnic education foster close ties with industries, facilitate internships and collaborative projects that enhanced skills development and technological knowledge and also encouraged an entrepreneurial mindset while preparing students to initiate and lead technological advancement in various sectors.
The NBTE boss however revealed that the NBTE has recently introduced Mandatory Skills Qualifications (MSQ) in line with the global trend for requirements for graduation for National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) programme from the current season.
Prof Bugaje said despite some of the challenges being faced by the polytechnic education in Nigeria such as insufficient resources, innovations, recognition, impact and curricular, polytechnic education had also made significant impact on technological developments in Nigeria.
According to him, “Polytechnic graduates have played a pivotal role in driving technology and innovations across various Nigeria industries”.
Prof Bugaje however suggested that in improving polytechnic education in Nigeria, there should be more resources for infrastructural development, equipment and skills training to ensure high-quality education; a review of TETFund allocation formula as according to him, Polytechnic departments are more expensive to set up than that of universities.
In conclusion, he said, there should be constant update of the curricula to align with technological advancement to accommodate evolving industry needs and quality assurance must also be maintained to ensure high standard of polytechnic education in Nigeria.
