The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education, Hon Adegboyega Isiaka, has called for a major shift in the national commitment to education by the upward review of budgetary allocation to education to a minimum of 15 percent.
He also urged that the sub-allocation to Technical Education should be upgraded to not less than 30 percent of education allocation.
This, alongside other necessary systemic and attitudinal changes, he said, will the country on the path of national growth and global competitiveness in the 21st century skills market.
The lawmaker, who stated this at the inauguration of the Committee on Monday, said there was an urgent need to move our young people from education to employment.
Isiaka said creating a successful education-to employment system requires new incentives and structures.
He said a paradigm shift is needed and a new focus must be set for jobs of the future.
“We must ask if the curriculum and training received in our tertiary institutions are tailored towards job suitability and entrepreneurship,” he said.
He said while government faces a conundrum with high level of youth unemployment and businesses experience shortage of job seekers with critical skills; employers, education providers and the youth –all operate in parallel lines on their understandings of the same situation.
He said using Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) as a vital plank, the country can rework its education system as a highway, where the three drivers of educators, employers and young people walk similar paths towards productivity.
He pointed out until the 10th National Assembly, the committee did not exist as a stand-alone committee as its activities and oversights were hitherto subsumed under the broad committee on tertiary education.
This, he said, attests to the primacy of place that the current House leadership gives to education (particularly technical education) and the conviction that a knowledge-based economy can be a panacea for development.
“As we are aware, technical education deals with the learning process involving the study of technologies and interrelated sciences alongside acquisition of practical skills and approaches. These suites of knowledge are what our Polytechnics, Technical Colleges and Vocational Education Training (TVET) centers were designed to impact on our young population for competitiveness in the 21st century global skills market. Thriving in today’s innovation-driven economy, workers and entrepreneurs need a mix of conceptual knowledge and technical skills.
“The World Bank in its education strategy outlook advised that growth, development and poverty reduction depend on the knowledge and skills that people acquire; and not by the number of years they stay in the classroom. In any country, technical education plays vital role in human resource development. It produces skilled workforce, augments productivity and helps improve the quality of life of the people. Without doubt, there is a nexus between the technical education system and socio-economic development,” he said.
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas posited that there can be no significant economic growth in any country without adequate investment in education.
Represented by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, he recommended technical skills development to address employment and its attendant challenges in the country.
Abbas said that the world of Information and Technology has now shown that skills are not only triumphing but it boundless possibilities continue to wow the generation.
“Similarly, no nation can ignore the significant role that education plays in increasing the productive capacity of its citizens towards national development and therefore, investment in education becomes a pivotal element of every strategic government agenda. The need to design periodic programs such as this and many others is one of the relevant strategies to empower and strengthen institutions to provide the requisite skills for manpower development and value to existing labor strength and emerging markets for both private and public sectors.
“Evidence around the world shows that countries that have made progress in their overall quest for national development prioritize capacity building and human resource development. The unique role that polytechnics and higher technical education play in this process cannot be overemphasized. They provide access to specialized education that is aimed at empowering our students with the requisite skills needed to address the human resource gap in industry, manufacturing, entrepreneurship, vocational, and technical studies,” he said.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Technical, Vocational and Entrepreneurial Education, Mrs. Abiola Arogundade assured Nigerians of the present administration’s resolve to create jobs for unemployed youths across the country through productive skill acquisition.
Mrs. Arogundade unveiled President Bola Tinubu administration’s plans to establish a Nigeria Institute of Vocational Studies, upgrading the infrastructure of secondary and tertiary vocation systems, developing a national vocational teacher training curriculum as well as initiating programmes, rebranding and restructuring polytechnics as well as developing sectoral capacity development curriculum, among others.
She said globally, technical, vocational and entrepreneurship education has assumed a place of priority in government policies as the foundation for employment creation.
She said the curriculum of learning should therefore be tailored towards skills acquisition so that products of the education system could equip themselves with the necessary skills and education to earn a living and perhaps be employers of labour themselves.
This strategy, she said, ultimately reduces the number of people in the employment market.
“It therefore gladdens my heart that this House and the Committee will be providing the necessary legislative support, oversight and supervision required to build a sustainable ecosystem for technical, vocational and entrepreneurship education to thrive in Nigeria. It is my belief that the collaboration between the legislative and executive arms can only translate to great benefit to us as people and the result will be a positive dent to unemployment in Nigeria,” she said
Director General of National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, who observed that the Committee on Tertiary Education in the 9th Assembly had over 300 agencies under its oversight jurisdiction, argued that the Committee did not allow for effective oversight of the sector that embodies different levels of tertiary education.
“Evidence around the world shows that countries that have made progress in their overall quest for national development prioritize capacity building and human resource development. The unique role that polytechnics and higher technical education play in this process cannot be overemphasized.
“They provide access to specialized education that is aimed at empowering our students with the requisite skills needed to address the human resource gap in industry, manufacturing, entrepreneurship, vocational, and technical studies.
“As important as they are, polytechnics and higher technical education continue to gain more ground in relevance even as technology, artificial intelligence, and skill acquisition continue to drive innovation and development.
“Despite the importance of this aspect of tertiary education, the overarching jurisdiction of the hitherto existing committees on education in the National Assembly does allow for effective oversight of the polytechnic and technical education space.
“The composition of the 10th National Assembly, and in particular the 10th House of Representatives, also calls for positioning committees for effective performance.
“Unlike in the past, where two or three political parties made up the larger members of the House, the 10th House of Representatives has more than five political parties whose members are experienced, and their experience can be harnessed for national development.
“To get the best of legislative governance, therefore, it is vital to constitute committees in a manner that draws from the wealth of experience of members to enhance democratic governance and strengthen the quality of public institutions.”
He also called for enhanced funding of the Standing Committees for effective service delivery.
