FG moves to build capacity of teachers in technical schools
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Education has engaged critical stakeholders in the Northeast towards increasing the number of competent teachers technical schools in the region.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting is a component of the Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) Project supported by the World Bank.
In her welcome address at the event held in Gombe on Monday, Mrs Jako Gok, Director, Technology and Science Education in the Ministry, said the meeting was to engage Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) stakeholders in the region.
Gok said it was important for the capacity of teachers in technical schools to be built to address some of the challenges the country was facing.
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Represented by Dr Celestine Okoye, the Deputy Director, Technical Education Division, Federal Ministry of Education, Gok, said the idea was to improve on technical education across the country to reduce unemployment through skills acquisition.
Also speaking, Mrs Blessing Ogwu, the National Coordinator, IDEAS Project, Federal Ministry of Education, Directorate Headquarters, said the engagement was to chart the way forward for skills development.
Ogwu, who was represented by Mrs Uche Mbaogu, Deputy Director, IDEALS Project, said the Ministry of Education had observed the wide skills gap in the country, hence the IDEAS Project to address the gap.
“At this point in time, the nation requires that our youths be highly skilled in order to solve the challenges of unemployment, insecurity and youth restiveness, thereby enabling them to be self-reliant, entrepreneurs and job and wealth creators.
“It is glaring that the requisite skilled manpower for the turnaround of Nigeria’s economy is greatly inadequate, hence the urgent need to bridge this gap.
“The World Bank Group has shown great commitment in the development of technical skills in Nigeria and its willingness to support the effort of this present administration in combating the youth unemployment,” said Mbaogu.
Mr Tony Okwa, chairman, Human Resource Strategy for Skills Development (HRSSD) Committee, said the engagement of stakeholders both from the government and private sector was to harness ways of addressing the challenges of technical education.
Okwa said there was a dearth of teachers in technical schools in the country.
Represented by Ejoga Inalegwu, a member of the HRSSD committee, Okwa said there was need to increase the number of competent teachers in technical schools to help bridge skills gaps in the country.
He decried the gender disparity amongst teachers in technical schools in the Northeast, adding that the region had the worst gender disparity in the country.
According to him, there are 1,334 teachers in the region’s technical schools and out of that 1,088 are male teachers representing 81.56 per cent while 246 teachers are females representing 18.44 per cent.
On her part, Dr Aishatu Maigari, the Gombe State Commissioner of Education said the two-day workshop was timely and complementing efforts of Gov Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State.
Maigari said the state government had invested a lot in the education sector generally and was working to ensure that there were industries in the state to create jobs for youths after acquiring skills.
