Abuja — The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration is partnering with the British Department for International Development (DfID) to establish an International Technical and Vocational Institute in the territory.

When established, the school is expected to offer training in Construction Technology, Automotive Technology (including Autotronics), Electrical/Electronic crafts, Communication Technology (including GSM repairs and maintenance), as well as ICT and Entrepreneurship.

Speaking at a two-day stakeholders' meeting on the planned institute, Minister of the FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed said technical and vocational skills were critical to Nigeria's attainment of 20-2020 vision

Mohammed, who was represented by the FCT Secretary of Education, Alh. Hussaini Pai said the primary focus of science, technical and vocational education are, wealth creation, employment generation, development of human resources and the general improvement of quality of life; to which the government was committed.

According to him, "The establishment of an International Technical and Vocational Institute holds the key to government's efforts in pursuance of socio-economic benefits, not only to the FCT but also the nation as a whole."

The minister observed that "it has become quite apparent over the years that if we must make an impact on the global stage, majority of our citizenry must possess an appreciable level of technical and vocational skills", adding that "with the influx of people to the FCT, many of them unskilled, thereby exposing them to evil temptations, the institute will serve as a training ground for youths to acquire skills necessary for self-reliance."

Pai, who was in turn represented by the Director, FCT Agency for Science and Technology, Mrs. Y. F. Baba Ari, said the FCT had always wanted to put in place a world class technical and vocational institute to cater for the needs of its teeming unemployed residents thereby improving the quality of their lives.

World Bank's Education Specialist, Dr. Tunde Adekola commended the initiative, saying Nigeria, as a developing nation needed to invest heavily in technical and vocational education to provide skills necessary for economic development.

While calling on various state governments to emulate the FCT initiative by providing the youth with skills that will check restiveness, Adekola said efforts should be made to certify people that have acquired non formal skills, while those who are in the formal school system are encouraged to acquire one or two skills that would make them self reliant after school. "The curriculum should be so flexible that someone who trains as a Mechanic can go on to be an Engineer. That will encourage even the children of the rich to acquire such skills', he said.