NASENI Boss Wants FG To Restructure ITF Curriculum
- Cites current global technological realities
BY OUR CORRESPONDENT – The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Professor Mohammed Sani Haruna says the Federal Government must overhaul and redesign the curriculum of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to align with current global realities.
According to him, Nigeria can only catch up with the rest of the world if it returns to prioritization of crafts, technical and vocational schools, and education, even as he stressed that the nation cannot continue to produce engineering, science, and technology graduates without adequate hands-on.
Prof Sani, who delivered in a keynote address at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Relevant Technology Old Students’ Association (RETOSA) in Jos, the Plateau State capital, lamented that Nigerians are outsourcing occupational specialization from Togo, Cameroon, and even Niger Republic, as well as other West African States because schools in the country do not give priority attention to skills acquisition by students.
He said the way forward is to “I hereby recommend the overhaul and redesign of the curriculum of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to adopt the model and method of the Relevant Technology for a truly practically oriented workforce.”
“In reality, the current ITF is adding nothing to skill acquisition. I also call on the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to integrate the Relevant Technology System in the syllabus of monotechnics and polytechnics as well as the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF)”, Prof Haruna told participants at the AGM.
Insisting that the time has come for Nigeria to produce science and engineering graduates who are practical-oriented, the NASENI Chief Executive said; “The departure from this noble and effective capacity-building method is the reason why we have an incompetent workforce in our building and construction sector, industries, and even ministries responsible for service provision.
“The half-baked graduates, who had no adequate hands-on, were no longer “hot cakes”. The instructors and teachers were no longer sponsored overseas for further training to update their knowledge. The long synergy and collaboration with the private sector soon disappeared.
“The consequence is that artisan jobs in Nigeria will continue to be dominated by workers with the occupational specialization from Togo, from Cameroon, even Niger, and other West African States.”
Further cautioning that no nation develops without technology, Prof Haruna maintained that returning to crafts, technical and vocational schools, and education would effectively launch Nigeria into the much-desired technological age.
Hear him, “The only remedy is the return of prioritization of crafts, technical and vocational schools, and education. A famous saying of my friend and a senior professional colleague, Prof. Idris Bugaje, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education is “Skills and not degrees that matter”
He stressed that technology for National Development is a tripod constituted by craftsmen/artisans or technicians who are the foundation of a pyramid of human resources for industrial development, adding; “The second leg of the tripod is the technologist/scientific officer, who are the pillars of the pyramid. At the apex of that pyramid are the Engineers who are the third leg of the tripod theory.”
