Nigerian Polytechnics Missing Out On Industrial Trainings – TETFUND Boss
BY TEMI OHAKWE, ABUJA – The Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Prof Suleiman Elias Bogoro that said that Nigerian polytechnics are missing out on Industrial trainings thereby churning out graduates without the required technical skills.
Prof Bogor, who stated this in Abuja at a two day capacity building workshop for public polytechnics, with the theme: “Improving Skills Development in Nigerian Polytechnics for Economic Growth, Entrepreneurship and Social Inclusion”, stressed that polytechnics in the country appear to be missing this very important requirement.
According to him, “Without this relevant teaching skills, our polytechnics can only turn out graduates with certificates but regrettably, without technical knowledge or skill”.
Bogoro therefore charged Nigerian polytechnics to give industrial training/attachment all the seriousness it deserves for meaningful progress to be made on the delivery of their mandates.
He said that the reason polytechnics offer industrial training is for students to gain practical field knowledge in the industry, adding that students create and develop skills and competencies that they require to operate during the hands-on industrial attachment.
In the words of Bogoro; “The student must be monitored and supervised accordingly by their institutions to enable them understand the Work environment, through carefully selected and supervised industrial training programs”.
The TETFund boss also said that for Nigerian polytechnics to thrive, they must focus on manpower development for teaching and practicals, adding that polytechnic lecturers must acquire relevant teaching skills to impart the required industry-tailored knowledge on students.
He further said; “The acquisition of skills and entrepreneurship development in polytechnics cannot be underestimated because skills are needed in all critical sectors of the economy, technology and non-technology alike.
“Entrepreneurship on its part is seen as an entire process in which individuals in society pursue opportunities and fulfil needs through innovations.
“We can draw our lessons from the Asian tigers, who have greatly developed their local technology not only for national development but also for export. We cannot afford to continuously and wholly rely on importation of technology for national development, knowing fully well its short comings and deficiencies,” he said.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof Idris Bugaje, described the workshop as a wakeup call to every polytechnic to reposition itself for skills development.
Bugaje said the workshop was to address skills training under the National Skills Qualification Framework, NSQF and improve the skills content of technical education in polytechnics.
He decried the low skills content in polytechnics, saying that at National Diploma (ND), and Higher National Diploma (HND), the level of skills content is depreciating.
