By Jimmy Jackson
The Federal Government has announced a monthly stipend of N45,000 for students enrolled in technical colleges across the country with the aimed at expanding enrolment at the sub-tertiary level.
Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, who made the disclosure on Wednesday in Abuja, explaining that the initiative forms part of a broader strategy to reposition the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector, and make it a more attractive alternative to traditional university education.
He added that, beyond the monthly stipend, the government would also cover teaching fees, pay industry-based supervisors (known as “master class” instructors) where students undertake industrial attachments, and finance the cost of skill certification.
“With this, young people will find it more attractive to come to a technical college, acquire skills qualification, get jobs locally and even beyond the borders of Nigeria.
“This way, the whole sector is being repositioned. We are at the moment facing what you may call either a resurrection or a rebirth of TVET.
“During colonial days and early part of our independence, TVET had received attention.
“But, since 1980s, we have been going down the drains. That is why the number of technical colleges has dropped, from 129 at the moment, compared to 15,000 senior secondary schools in Nigeria,” he said.
He further said thatthe government of President Tinubu had allocated N120 billion grant to support students under the new TVET initiative.
The grant would be disbursed through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
