By Godfrey AKON
Polytechnics and colleges of education in the country have been enjoined to be innovative in their academic programmes to position the country on the path of growth.
Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, Prof Suleiman Bogoro, made the call at a capacity building workshop for heads of selected institutions and staff of TETFund Centres of Excellence in Abuja.
Bogoro also called on the Centres of Excellence in the polytechnics to focus on skills development, entrepreneurship and starts-up.
He lamented that most of the low and medium skilled jobs in the country are being handled by people from Francophone countries.
According to him, there are indices that are globally associated with Centres of Excellence, especially in bringing about innovation and development, said the two-day event was organised to ensure proper understanding of the concept of the centres by those that will be in charge of them.
“For the polytechnics, the centres of excellence are to focus on skills development and support entrepreneurship, start ups….
“In areas of competitive advantage and you know that skills development is central, it is fundamental. If you miss that area, if your polytechnics does not have the capacity to develop skills or the entrepreneurial ability of its students and researchers, then it has failed the nation.
“That is the area that has been very worrisome for us each time we reflect. It is very embarrassing that in Nigeria, if you go to construction sites, it has improved recently, believe me; some ten years back, you will likely see Francophone personnel that are at construction site more than Nigerians. That shows something is missing, but the polytechnics are trying to address it,” he said.
He said Centres of Excellence in the colleges of education will focus on relevant pedagogical development, adding that beneficiary centres will get about two million dollars.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, Prof. Idris Muhammad Bugaje, expressed serious concerns that most major infrastructure projects in the country are being dominated by skilled personnel from other countries.
“There is need for our polytechnics to be focused on skills training, that is why we say from 2023, NBTE shall never go for any accreditation to any polytechnic where there is not a single skills training centre,” Bugaje said.
He commended Bogoro for his passion for institutionalisation of Research and Development and said his name would be written in gold when the history of the country’s academic community will be written, adding that polytechnics must wake up to their responsibility of producing skilled manpower in the country.
The event also had in attendance experts from the World Bank-sponsored African Centres of Excellence in universities.
