The Senate on Monday enjoined the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka, Lagos, to train more competent teachers to boost education for the?rapid development of the country.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Sen. Uche Chukwumerije, gave the charge during a three-day visit of the committee to the institution.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the seven-man committee was visiting educational institutions in Lagos State as part of its oversight function.
Chukwumerije said that the nation was in dire need of technicians and technologists to drive technological development and entrepreneurship, and that more teachers were required to produce this group of people.
He noted that Nigeria had enacted a local content law, adding that educational institutions would have a major role to play in the production of competent Nigerians.
“This our important exercise requires team spirit from your side and our side because we are working toward a common goal of helping this institution to contribute its quota to national development,’’ he said.
Chukwumerije said that the committee would want to know the institution’s key projects under its 2011 capital budget as well as the level of implementation.
He also said that the college should present details of its overhead costs, especially expenses on security and travels.
?
The senator said that the committee was also interested in knowing the college’s internally generated revenue in 2011 as well as its expenditures on curriculum development.
Chukwumerije expressed?worry that many Nigerians rated the skills of technicians and technologists trained in Ghana and some other African countries higher than locally-trained ones.
A member of the committee, Sen. Joshua Dariye, urged the management of the institution to imbibe?maintenance culture to preserve facilities.
Responding, the Provost of the College, Dr Sijibomi Olusanya, said the that the college was determined to ensure that more youths showed interest in technical and vocational studies.
Olusanya?identified poor electricity supply as a major hindrance to the colleges’ skill development efforts, noting that most of the facilities it used were powered by electricity.
The provost said that the college needed more funds to maintain and fuel its power generating set.
He attributed the preference of?foreign-trained workers to the availability of the necessary facilities where they were trained.
He said that Nigeria could be a leader in technical knowledge with stable electricity supply.
NAN reports that the college currently has 3,500 regular students and about 3,000 sandwich students.