*Says FG is trying to devalue paper qualification
The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB), Dr. Mohammed Aminu Mohammed said Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will change Nigeria for good.
He said the Federal Government is taking steps to devalue paper qualification and focus on what every Nigerian can do to earn a living.
He said the nation can join the league of China, Singapore, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to meet its needs.
Mohammed spoke with reporters in Minna after supervising ongoing entrance examination for about 30,000 students into technical colleges nationwide.
He was in the Government Technical College, Government Day Science College and Police Secondary School, Minna in Niger State for the entrance examination.
He said: “We will do our best to engage major stakeholders to improve and ensure that there will be enough participation in the TVET exercise because the country is taking a new different dimension.
“The dimension the country is taking now, we are going to devalue paper qualification and focus on what you can do to earn a living.
“For example, from the 2020 COVID exercise, everybody has come to realise that you must not depend on a white collar job.”
Mohammed underscored the benefits of TVET to the nation.
” TVET is Technical and Vocational Education and Training. This exercise is coming up and encouraging that there is need for more skills People should learn handwork.
“It is about what can you do? What can you contribute to the society? We don’t need to be 100% dependent on government for us to survive.
“Upon graduation, I don’t need to wait for the government to offer me a job. I should be able to establish something on my own to do.
“Every country you go to in the world today, their attention is on TVET. Is it talking about China? Are you talking about Singapore?
“Let me tell you, Singapore is in a desert. Dubai is in a desert. But they are surviving because of the TVET program.
“Then Nigeria, if we encourage TVET, we will enjoy it more better than any other country in the world.
He said the present gap in Nigeria’s education system is lack of skills for teeming growing number of graduates.
“The gap is that the government should pay more emphasis on technical and vocational education because even though you have your PhD, you have your master’s, you are a professor, and you cannot add value, that qualification is a waste. ‘But through vocational and through technical education, you should be able to repair a vehicle.
“You should be able to make enough furniture available. When there is new building, you should be able to get them a POP and tiling, and so on and so forth. You should be able to have enough people in all skills, not only on one side.
“The gap is huge, and the government is bringing these young people into technical colleges to bridge the gap. “Let me tell you, I will cite an example of Indonesia. I was there for a period of time.
“In Indonesia, there is this one-year programe for the way we are doing NYSC in Nigeria. Their own one year, whether you read law, whether you did business admin, you must go for one-year skill training.Irrespective of your background, you must go for this training.”
