The Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukuemeka Nwajuiba has called for the need to have a high proportionate number of students applying for technical education to boost manpower in the country.
Nwajuiba was speaking at the end of the National Business Certificate (NBC) and National Technical Certificate (NTC) examination monitoring at the Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC) Orozo in Abuja on Monday.
The NBC and NTC is the examinations conducted by the National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) which is equivalent to secondary school O’level.
Nwajuiba said that the ministry had been dialoging and the industries for support to produce the manpower needed for the development of the country.
” We are here to monitor the NABTEB examinations. We are happy with the conduct of the examination thus far. We seems to have the safety protocols around the exams which means NABTEB has done a great job.
” We can see that the Federal Government has equipped our technical schools with couples of equipment with technical expertise to run them. Not just only this administration but administration before ours has gone ahead to install some equipment
” We just showed you the NACA/ITF assistance to the ministry of education and the workshop for the equipment for any kind of technical school such that we have the production areas that will ordinarily that once a child leaves any of our technical schools he is already industry ready.
” We have been dialoging with the industries and the industry has given us the support to produce the manpower, what we are expecting parents to do is to release their children.”
The minister, who expressed displeasure over the non use of the equipment, called on students to subscribe to technical education to promote technological know-how and manpower development in the country.
” We need students to subscribe to technical education. All of these equipment that Federal Government has purchased, means nothing until Nigeria accept that technical education, technical manpower must be valued before all of these will make sense.
” We have all these things installed and nobody is here to use them,” he said.
In the same vein, Prof. Ifeoma Isiugo-Abanihe, Registrar, NABTEB, while analysing the prospect of technical education, stressed the need for the society to understand its importance to national development.
Isiugo-Abanihe, said its 2020 examinations with almost 60,000 students had experienced some level of satisfaction judging by the conduct of the students.
” NABTEB students have multiple advantage because most of them pass the technical subject and they will be there own employer and also entrepreneurs themselves.
” More than that, it is not that they are hands on people, they are also academically inclined and knowledgeable, they have multiple advantage to do what they want to do.
” This is the best education as far as I am concerned. We have almost 60,000 across the country. I have observed the exams in Nsuka, Imo and now in Abuja. The exam as far as I am concerned has been excellent.”
Also, Mrs Grace Kenneth, Principal, FSTC Orozo said that the school had made adequate progress in technical education saying that the school also have zero tolerance for malpractice.