The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) says the revised entrepreneurship and skills development curricula are meant to give students prerequisite knowledge to create jobs after school.
NBTE executive secretary Idris Bugaje said this in Enugu during a national workshop on the Reviewed Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Curricula for Entrepreneurship Educators in Nigeria Polytechnics and similar institutions.
The two-day workshop, attended by 250 lecturers from polytechnics, mono-technics and related technical institutions in the South-East, is organised by NBTE in collaboration with Danglo Management and Financial Limited, sponsored by Tertiary Education Fund (TetFund).
Bugaje, represented by Kabiru Yar’adua, said the reviewed curricula would allow the students to graduate with a dual certification – normal school certificate (degree) and skill (occupational) certificate that would encourage them to establish a business or trade.
“Our objective is clear – to ensure that our technical education curriculum aligns with the demands of the modern economy, embraces emerging technologies, and fosters a spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation. To achieve this, we must collaborate, share our expertise, and engage in open and constructive dialogue throughout the workshop,” Mr Bugaje explained.
The executive secretary noted that the board’s focus had changed from degree acquisition to skill proficiency and employment creation due to changing times and modern needs, stressing that “entrepreneurship and skill acquisition is compulsory for every student in NBTE-regulated institutions.”
Ngozi Okelekwe, South-East director of NBTE, said the revised curricula on entrepreneurship education would enlighten the instructors on the systems that would bring about the expected results.
Musa Koko, director of the Curriculum Development Department of NBTE, noted that before now, the existing entrepreneurship study that had lasted for over 17 years had been obsolete and did not meet modern job creation and employability demands.
(NAN)
