The Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFund) has tasked Nigerian polytechnics to give priority to industrial training/attachment in order to achieve meaningful progress.
Executive secretary of TETFund, Prof Suleiman Bogoro, gave the charge in Abuja while speaking at a two-day capacity building workshop for public polytechnics.
Speaking on the theme: “Improving Skills Development in Nigerian Polytechnics for Economic Growth, Entrepreneurship and Social Inclusion,” Bogoro said 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.
“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 programmes,” he said.
He noted that for Nigerian polytechnics to thrive, they must focus on manpower development for teaching and practical.
He said polytechnic lecturers must acquire relevant teaching skills to impart the required industry-tailored knowledge to students.
“Our polytechnics appear to be missing this very important requirement. Without this relevant teaching skills our polytechnics can only turn out graduates with certificates but regrettably, without technical knowledge or skill.
“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.”
On his part, 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 described the fact that at National Diploma, ND, and Higher National Diploma, HND, the level of skills content is depreciating.
