By Felix Khanoba
The Federal Government has called on parents to ensure their children are enrolled in technical colleges to easily enhance their skills.
Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, made this call while monitoring the ongoing 2021 National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) exam on Tuesday in Abuja.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary of Federal Ministry of Education, Arc Sonny Echono, the minister said technical education remains one of the most viable ways to address the problem of unemployment.
He said : “We need to emphasise the need for parents to understand the dynamic which are the changes happening in the work environment and in the job for tomorrow.
“There is a general tendency that people believe that the conventional programme that lead to blue and white collar jobs are emphasised, this is a great mistake that parents are making.
“If you look at the trends around the world, it is not what you know today but what you can do and that is why business and technical subjects are actually increasingly more important than the other.
“We are not discriminating against any subject area but in terms of emphasis and national focus, government is saying, we should move towards TVET, vocational education, entrepreneurship and skill sector.”
The minister said that President Muhammadu Buhari had recently approved the establishment of 16 Federal Science and Technical Colleges (FSTC).
He said that these schools were not only meant to produce low level or middle skilled manpower through technical colleges but one could also acquire technical skills in various professions, hence, self actualisation could be achieved.
Also speaking, Prof. Ifeoma Isiugo-Abanihe, Registrar of NABTEB, said the examination was being conducted in seamless manner across the country, adding that about 84,000 students are taking in the exercise.
She said that the board had over 50 trades which certify candidates as craftsmen at the end of their studies.
“I have monitored the examinations in Osun, Ogun and in Lagos and it has been seamless as there were much candidates in FSTC Yaba in Lagos, as over 500 candidates took the examinations and at Agidingbi Ikeja, the candidates were about 300.
“NABTEB has over 50 trades which certifies candidates to become craftsmen and it does not preclude education generally because we have the components including general education, trade related subjects which you can diversify to have a robust structure.
“The ministry is focusing on TVET to help to have the youths employed,” she said.
The monitoring of the NABTEB exam took the minister to Government Science and Technical College, Kwali as well as Government Science and Technical College, Garki – Area 3, Abuja.
