TheCable

The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) says it will disburse N130 million to each public polytechnic in the country to promote skills acquisition.

Buhari Mika’Ilu, TETFund’s director of infrastructure, announced the intervention at a sensitisation workshop for rectors and directors of skills of beneficiary polytechnics in Abuja, on Tuesday.

Mika’Ilu said the 2023 zonal intervention is aimed at consolidating the efforts of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in increasing the capacities of polytechnics to deliver their mandate.

”This is to further consolidate on the efforts of NBTE of increasing the capacities of polytechnics to deliver on their mandate,” he said.

”Therefore, the sum of N130 million only allocated to each polytechnic has the main focus of procurement, installation, testing, training and commissioning of relevant training materials.”

Mika’Ilu added that since the zonal intervention was introduced in 2016, TETFund has allocated N52 billion to enlisted polytechnics.

He said the intervention, which is a post-research activity, has created an opportunity for academic staff in science and technology programmes to fabricate equipment.

Mika’Ilu also expressed optimism that the intervention will support beneficiary institutions to resuscitate skills and improve graduate employability.

Speaking at the event, Sonny Echono, TETFund’s executive secretary, enjoined rectors of polytechnics to explore innovative approaches to skills development to enhance the quality and relevance of technical education.

”The purpose of this sensitisation workshop is to discuss and enlighten participants on two key areas: one is the skills agenda and occupational areas as a panacea for gainful employment of graduates and the second is the formalisation of the informal skills sector,” he said.

”By focusing on these aspects, we aim to address the critical needs for aligning our educational system with the demands of the labour market.”

On his part, Idris Bugaje, executive secretary of NBTE, said the N130 million given to each polytechnic would not be used for building projects but to upgrade facilities for skills training.