THE Federal Government has announced plan to review the curriculum for technical education so as to address the skill gaps in the country.
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Sonny Echono, made this known in Abuja at the grand finale of the 2017 edition of the National Students Vocational Skills Competition held at the Federal Science and Technical College, Orozo.
He said the needs assessment of technical equipment and facilities of the Federal Science and Technical Colleges (FSTC) conducted recently revealed various gaps in the curricula delivery system.
Echono said several strategies had been adopted to fill the identified gaps, including sensitisation of the public through electronic media on the awareness of the benefits of Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET), which had had positive impact on enrollment.
He noted that the Federal Government also last Thursday launched the Nigerian Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF).
The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who flagged off the framework in Abuja, said the era where expatriates were engaged to do almost all skilled labour in the country was over.
He said the Federal Government would reposition and strategically place technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in proper perspective to ensure that the products of TVET institutions are able and available to perform their roles and meet the aspirations of the Nigerian economy.
Adamu lamented that millions of secondary and tertiary education graduates roam the streets of the country because of lack of skills to be self-employed, or are unemployable.
The Permanent Secretary said Nigerians are as intelligent as any other human beings on the planet Earth, saying it was time to produce much of what the country consume and stop the capital flight resulting from out-sourcing of products and jobs to other countries.
“The National Students’ Vocational Skills competition is one of the many ways to get us started in strategically turning around and repositioning our national economy for global competitiveness,” he said.
Director, Technology and Science Education, Mrs Tina Eyaru, who noted that the competition was aimed at promoting vocational education, professional pride and to develop hidden talents of the students, said students from about 21 FSTCs participated in the competition.
Federal Science and Technical College, (Girls)Â Uyo, FSTC Usin, Ekiti and Jalingo won first, second and third positions respectively.
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