The minister of
Education, Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i at the weekend in Ado-Ekiti said the
Federal Government has mandated the Petroleum Trust Development Fund
(PTDF), the Education Trust fund (ETF) and other agencies to commence
aggressive training of staff with relevant skills, particularly in the
areas of science, technology and engineering.
The Minister, who
spoke at the 15th convocation of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti,
said the federal government is conscious of the enormous roles the
technical education plays in the economy of any nation. She, however,
advised Polytechnics and other public institutions to expand their
revenue base to complement government’s funding of education.
Mrs.Rufai’i, who
noted that the federal government alone could not adequately fund all
educational institutions in the country, assured that Nigerian
Polytechnics would be expanded and well funded so that they will be
able to award degrees to qualified Nigerians. She said it is the vision
of the present administration, led by President Goodluck Jonathan, to
place polytechnics and other relevant colleges on a solid pedestal to
be able to offer quality technical trainings to Nigerians.
Represented by the
Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education, Masaud
Adamu Kazaure, the minister said technical and vocational education is
very relevant towards achieving the 2020 vision of the federal
government, insisting that the polytechnics and other colleges would
play a pivotal role in making this dream a reality. Nigeria’s
development goal is to be one of the 20 top economies by 2020.
Build industrial sector
The Rector of the
Polytechnic, Taiwo Theresa Akande, called on the federal government to
restore the country’s industrial sector through investment in
infrastructure. Mrs. Akande called on government to stop discrimination
against graduates of polytechnics, adding that all government policies
militating against these categories of graduates should be scrapped.
“Polytechnic graduates are trained as practical engineers,
technologists and surveyors, unlike those from the universities. So,
the supremacy war should not have arisen if the policy makers are
sincere”, she said.
She disclosed that
the school’s Olusegun Obasanjo Centre for Engineering innovation have
trained thousands of artisans in the state in various fields since
inception, adding that the Polytechnic has intensified efforts at
increasing the level of entrepreneurial courses in the institution, for
the graduates to be self -employed after graduation.
‘‘The scope of the Polytechnic’s ventures has been widened to
accommodate more areas of production to shore up the Internally
Generated Revenue of the institution,” Mrs. Akande said. “The measure
was taken to guarantee adequate funding of the institution because
government funds is not adequate to prosecute needed projects in the
polytechnic.”
