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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has approved N130 million as zonal intervention for each polytechnics in its 2023 intervention line, for reinvigorating skills acquisition in polytechnics across the country.
TETFund’s Director of Infrastructure, Mallam Buhari Mika’Ilu, disclosed the development at the TETFund/NBTE sensitisation workshop on 2023 zonal intervention on skills for Rectors and Directors of Skills in beneficiary Polytechnics in Abuja, on Tuesday.
Mika’Ilu said the intervention was to consolidate the efforts of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in increasing capacities of polytechnics to deliver its mandate.
He explained that the intervention was basically to support institutions to meet basic requirements for accreditation, and will also focus on projects with academic relevance, thereby addressing deficiencies in core areas of acquisition of essential instructional materials and equipment for teaching and learning and building capacities for the use of the equipment procured.
He said: “Funds are allocated in line with the provision of the Establishment Act and guided towards addressing critical and essential needs of the beneficiary institutions for the improvement of quality and maintenance of standards in the tertiary educational institutions.
”NBTE has been at the forefront in championing skills in the educational system in Nigeria. It’s in this response that the Fund has prioritized the 2023 zonal allocation to polytechnics to be geared towards reinvigorating skills acquisition in the polytechnics across the country.
”This is to further consolidate on the efforts of NBTE of increasing the capacities of Polytechnics to deliver on their mandate. Therefore, the sum of N130 million allocated to each polytechnic has the main focus of procurement, installation, testing, training and commissioning of relevant training materials.
The Director also revealed that since inception of the zonal intervention in 2016, the Fund had allocated over N52 billion as zonal Intervention to enlisted polytechnics.
”In the year 2017, the Fund focused the zonal intervention on student dignity project, hence, the intervention was used to standardize all lavatory facilities or provision of new ones where necessary in academic areas of institutions, also shuttle buses (coaches) were also procured for students’ use, among other projects.
”Most recently, the 2022 intervention was used for deployment of ICT facilities within the institutions in line with the guidelines developed by the Fund. This is essentially to increase the capacities of institutions to function effectively and deliver their programmes online.
Mika’Ilu expressed optimism that the intervention would in the long run, support the institution to resuscitate skills and improve graduate employability.
Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, in his remarks, charged Rectors of polytechnics to explore the innovative approaches to skills development and as well device effective solutions that would enhance the quality and relevance of technical education in the institutions.
Echono said that skills development and entrepreneurship represented a holistic process in which individuals in society pursue opportunities and address needs through innovation.
He said that acquiring skills prepares individuals for employment across all sectors of the economy and helps overcome numerous challenges as well fostering a brighter future for both the nation and individuals for global competition.
In the same vein, the Executive Secretary, NBTE, Prof. Idris Bugaje, said that TETFund had been a very active promoter, supporter and financier of skills development in the country.
Bugaje called on polytechnic Rectors to key into the formalization of the informal sector using technology to drive the sector.
He said the N130 million given to polytechnics in the 2023 intervention line would not be used for building projects but rather to upgrade facilities for skills training, especially as about 10 skills had been identified.
