A Bill for an Act to provide for the establishment of the Federal College of Education (Technical) Gwaram Jigawa State, has scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.
Sponsor of the Bill, Hon. Yusuf Shitu Galambi, who represents Gwaram Federal Constituency, said the establishment of the College will be of immense benefits, not only to host communities but Nigeria at large.
In his lead debate, he said, as it seeks to satisfy the Federal Government’s policy on the need to establish Federal Colleges of Education in different states, to provide hands-on training to students which makes them to be carrier-oriented and self-employed.
This, he said, would aims at reducing the level of unemployment, apathy towards education and illiteracy in Nigeria.
He said, “Mr.Speaker, Honourable Colleagues, note that despite the huge number of Secondary Schools we have in Gwaram and its neighboring communities, and being the most populated area in Jigawa State, there is no single Tertiary Institution, which has denied seventy percent (70%) of students who have finished their secondary schools the opportunity to have access to tertiary education.
“Mr. Speaker, Honourable Colleagues, Curie (1970) stated that in order to develop, a country must have a good quality of trained educated citizens as teachers, doctors, engineers etc. Also,National Policy on Education (NPE), stated that the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) has adopted education as an instrument per excellence for affecting national growth and development (FGN, 1981: p5).
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“Also, report of the National Curriculum Conference of 1969,stated clearly that if our education is to achieve the national objectives; well-trained, well-qualified, efficient-satisfied and dedicated teachers are absolutely essential.”
Highlighting the motives behind the bill, he said it will provide skill development and employability in specialized career e.g. teaching profession, entrepreneurial skills, etc., to equip students for the current and future challenges.
He added, ” That it will take competitive advantage of research development, which reduces over dependency on the research results of our multinational firms. That it will give confidence and strong connections to students before graduation. That it will enhance admission publicity and its intakes, to help address the issue of out of school youths in the host communities, especially Nigeria at large. That it will help to enhance the level of development within the geographical area.
“Furthermore, the host communities have arranged to provide certain infrastructure to commence the institution pending when budgetary allocations will be made by the Federal Government of Nigeria.”