Bukola Olatunji
7 July 2009
Lagos — The latest good report on Nigeria's Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) sub-sector is that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is collaborating with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to present its newly reviewed/developed curricula as a showcase of best practice in the West African sub-region.
Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Dr Nuru A. Yakubu delivered the report at the closing ceremony of the second Instructional Materials Development Workshop for New TVE Curricula, organised by the Board, in collaboration with UNESCO, at the Kaduna Polytechnic, recently.
He said the UNESCO-BREDA office in Dakar and ECOWAS would host a sub-regional conference next month to, among others, take a look at the first ever comprehensive review of TVE curricula; leading to the review/development of 68 curricula by Nigeria.
Yakubu who doubles as the National Project Coordinator of UNESCO-Nigeria TVE Revitalisation Project said during the phase I, the project brought about an upgrade and standardisation of quality of contents of curricula with the inclusion of ICT and entrepreneurship courses in all programmes, as well as successfully entrenching a systematic staff development process in the sub-sector with the training of more than 9, 000 staff.
On the imperative of developing teaching andi nstructional materials, he said the Board after developing the first set of curricula for TVE found out that books and publications that address issues raised by the curricula were in short supply while the few available ones were either imported and beyond the reach of most staff and students or not suitable for our local situation.
The Project identified the crucial importance of developing books and publications locally; and has to date, produced 350 relevant, effective and user-friendly e-books in form of a simple, current, informative and professional guide to both teachers and students.
Yakubu assured that in developing these materials, the Board took cognisance of the pedagogical needs of lecturers to function effectively and the need to align content delivery with the ever changing world of knowledge and skills.
The UNESCO lead Consultant n the Project, Dr Hashim Abdulwahab in his remarks, said the exercise was a great achievement that should inspire the nation to replicate in the entire education system. He commended the nation's strides in the TVE sub sector, pointing out that other African countries have expressed the desire adapt in their countries.
That caps what can be described as a busy first half of the year for the sector.
As mentioned above, this workshop was the second. Under the UNESCO- Nigeria TVE Revitalisation Project phase II, which began last year and is being implemented by the NBTE, about 26 curricula of programmes offered at both the National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) levels in the TVE sector were developed. They include some of the new programmes in such novel areas as; Explosives Technology, Optometry, Physiotherapy, Radiography, Multimedia Technology , Laundry Technology, Graphic Design and Advertisement, Interior Design, Biomedical Engineering and Occupational Therapy.
Those reviewed included, Agricultural Technology, Animal Production, Marketing, Agric Engineering, Farm Power and Machinery, Dental Technology, Printing Technology, as well as Purchasing and Supply. About 248 learning/training e-packages were produced for seven Mechanical Engineering, Building Technology, Science and Laboratory Technology, Civil Engineering, Quantity Surveying, Computer Engineering and Electrical Engineering.
The first major activity of the soon-to-be-launched 'Roadmap for the Education Sector' was the launching of the Innovation Enterprises Institutions (IEIs) and Vocational Enterprises Institutions (VEIs), under the tutelage of the NBTE, last April.
There were also the workshop on the 'Application of Open and Distance Learning/ICT and National Vocational Qualification Framework on TVET, organised by the Commonwealth of learning and NBTE in Kaduna; and another on for Accreditation Resource Persons, held in Abuja last month.
Then came the launching of the 'Directory of Accredited Programmes Offered in Polytechnics and Similar Tertiary Institutions', by the Minister of Education, Dr. Sam Egwu.
Yakubu told journalists recently that there are currently 21 federal, 38 state and 12 private polytechnics. For the monotechnics, there are 17 federal and 19 state colleges of agriculture, nine federal, 40 state and one private colleges of health technology; as well as a group of other specialised institutions, 23 of them owned by the federal government and two each by state governments and private proprietors.
In addition to these, there are 73 IEIs, one run by the federal government and the rest by private individuals and organisations. Then, at the secondary school level, we have 19 federal, 152 state and 3 private technical colleges' as well as one state and 18 private VEIs.
The grand total of these schools is 450. The least that these institutions have, Yakubu said, are interim accreditations. None of them runs any unaccredited programme. There is therefore a wide range of opportunities for everyone to get skilled, irrespective of what level of education that have or have not acquired.
Even the university graduates, who roam the streets, 'begging to apply' and their parents, must take another look at 'this stone that has been neglected for so long' for the top-up needed to build their careers.
The Executive Secretary called for the adoption of the slogan: 'Get a Skill, Earn a Living, saying, "Nigerian graduates must begin to think seriously about acquiring vocational and entrepreneurial skills in addition their certificates, if they must make a living. "What is the value of your certificate if you can't feed your family?"
He expressed optimism that the project with UNESCO will achieve the stated objectives of enhancing continuing TVET staff development system; the improvement of the quality of content of TVE; and strengthening of linkages between non-formal with formal TVET to enhance employment opportunities of unskilled and illiterate youths.
But that will only happen if the federal government remains committed to truly removing the ceiling on the career progression of non university graduates in the civil service, and as said at the launching of VEIs and IEs, creating a place for their graduates in the civil service as soon as possible.
The federal government's leadership is important in changing the mindset of the average Nigerian that one is inferior to the other. This is the reason why those who can and those who cannot, struggle to get into the university anyhow, with the latter becoming a problem to the system.
It is clear that all the tertiary institutions can enroll more than 1.5 million, if only those who cannot get into the university can seek an alternative and the system makes them proud of their choice. After all, no society has yet been able to offer all its citizens university education
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
