President Bola Tinubu has approved N5 billion for investment in research activities for 2024 through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) National Research Fund.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, who disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja on Sunday before the commencement of the 2024 TETFund National Research Fair and Exhibition in Abuja, said that the initiative is aimed at addressing national development challenges through targeted research efforts in public tertiary institutions.
He emphasised the administration’s commitment to leveraging research and innovation to drive economic growth.
Alausa noted that Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda would primarily rely on local research and technological advancements, highlighting that no nation can achieve economic progress without effectively utilising research outputs.
He said: “The government is committed to deploy Research and Innovation tools to generate wealth and create wealth. In 2024 alone, Mr President has approved the investment of N5 billion by TETFund to support research activities under its National Research Fund efforts so as to ensure that appropriate research is conducted in our public tertiary institutions to evolve solutions to many of our National development challenges.
“This Research Fair will focus on fostering synergy among research and technology agencies to accelerate the deployment of their efforts for nation-building.”
He also underscored the government’s dedication to coordinating research and innovation institutions currently spread across various ministries to maximise their impact.
Alausa assured that the National Research Fund would be bolstered by resources from public, private, and international sectors to empower researchers, engineers, and innovators to develop solutions for critical national challenges in areas such as power, healthcare, agriculture, water supply and communications.
Expressing satisfaction with TETFund’s efforts to promote academia, the minister noted that Nigeria’s wealth of institutions, intellectual professionals, and natural resources places it in a prime position to build a knowledge-based economy.
Speaking further, the minister announced a restructuring of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system to ensure that 80 percent of the curriculum focuses on practical work.
He criticised the current structure of technical education, which emphasises didactic methods over practical experience.
He said: “The way technical education has been structured is not the best because we focus heavily on didactics.
“We have met with the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to change the structure.
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“We are now clearly changing the TVET structure from didactics to skill acquisition, we will now do 20 percent didactics and 80 percent practical, and that’s how we are going to move forward.”
The minister also stated the need to realign the country’s education system to better address the needs of Nigerians, particularly in the area of lifelong skills.
He added: “We have a unique demography in the world, 220 million people, with 70 percent of them under the age of 30.
“We need to work and give these young men and women, who are energetic, ready to learn, and contribute to this country, the right skills.”