Minister of State for Education, Mr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, has called on the South Korean Government to extend its investment in Nigeria to the construction of vocational and technical colleges in four more states to deepen the cooperation between the two nations.
Speaking, yesterday, at the headquarters of the South Korean International Cooperation Bureau in Seoul when he met with its Director-General of the Bureau, Youmi Suh, Wike commended the Korean Government for its current investments in the construction of schools in Kogi and Katsina States, but noted that more investment was needed in other States of the federation.
He noted that the Federal Ministry of Education was appreciative of the funding of training programmes for basic education managers in Nigeria which started in the first week of March and the training of primary school teachers to be held in April this year.
“Our interest in technical and vocational education stems from the fact that we have commenced a determined investment in this area with the desire to create employment opportunities among our youths.
“We know that the South Korean government has a developed form of technical and vocational education, which we want to fully tap into for the benefit of our people”, the minister said.
Wike said that technical and vocational education that would interest the ministry in the immediate are masonry, automobile technology, carpentry and ceramics.
?The minister assured the Korean authorities that the ministry would ensure proper monitoring and evaluation of all projects being executed by them in Nigeria.
He urged the Korean government to start work on the model primary school in Abuja and the Teachers’ Institute in Enugu, which preliminary approval has been secured.
In her remarks,? Suh noted that her government was interested in developing educational standards in Nigeria. She said that Korea was also willing to share best practices in the basic education and tertiary education sectors of the country.
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