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The Federal Government, on Thursday, inaugurated the Governing Board of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), marking the reconstitution of the NBTE Governing Board after more than five years without one.
Media aide to the Minister of Education, IKharo Attah, in a statement, indicated that the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, inaugurated the board on Wednesday in Abuja and handed it a four-point agenda aimed at accelerating reforms in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector.
The minister charged the board to provide the strategic leadership needed to reposition technical education as a key driver of industrialisation, job creation and national economic growth.
He also reminded members that their appointments were a call to national service and urged them to provide the vision and leadership needed to reposition Nigeria’s technical education system as a catalyst for industrialisation, innovation and sustainable economic growth.
Alausa noted that the board would play a pivotal role in implementing the Federal Government’s TVET transformation agenda under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, stressing that technical education has become central to Nigeria’s quest for a globally competitive workforce.
He said Nigeria can only achieve the desired industrialisation by producing competent technicians, technologists, artisans, fabricators, automation specialists and other skilled professionals capable of meeting the demands of a modern economy.
The minister outlined four major priorities for the newly inaugurated board. First, he directed members to provide strategic leadership, sound policy direction and effective oversight while allowing the Executive Secretary and management to handle the day-to-day administration of the agency.
Second, he tasked the board with accelerating the implementation of the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) framework in collaboration with the Industrial Training Fund and other stakeholders to certify the competencies of skilled artisans under the National Skills Qualification Framework.
“The initiative would improve employability, expand access to finance and government contracts, and enhance labour mobility within the ECOWAS region.”
Third, Alausa instructed the board to drive comprehensive curriculum reforms through Outcome-Based Education by aligning programmes with Industry 4.0, insisting that institutions regulated by NBTE should integrate digital technologies, artificial intelligence, automation, advanced manufacturing and green technologies into their curricula while strengthening programmes in engineering, applied sciences, technology and innovation.
He also encouraged polytechnics to gradually phase out non-technical programmes that fall outside their statutory mandate.
As the fourth priority, the minister directed the board to uphold fiscal discipline, transparency and accountability, ensuring that public funds, intervention programmes, research initiatives and capital projects deliver measurable improvements in skills acquisition, institutional performance, youth employment and national productivity.
He congratulated the chairman and members on their appointments, stressing that they were carefully selected based on their professionalism, integrity and commitment to national service. He expressed confidence that they would provide the leadership required to deepen reforms in the technical education sector.
Responding on behalf of the board, Chairman Prof. Babatunde Salako pledged the board’s commitment to supporting the Federal Government’s efforts to transform technical education and expand opportunities for young Nigerians to acquire industry-relevant skills.
He said the board would also work to change the long-held perception of technical education as a second-choice option by promoting TVET as a respected pathway to employment, entrepreneurship and national development.
In his remarks, NBTE Executive Secretary and Secretary to the Governing Board, Prof. Idris Bugaje, described the inauguration as a landmark development, noting that the board was being reconstituted after more than five years.
He assured the minister of the agency’s commitment to working closely with the new board and the Federal Ministry of Education to successfully implement the administration’s TVET reform agenda.
