FG dispatches monitoring teams to innovation institutions

THE Federal government has dispatched teams of experts to monitor licensed Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIs) in the South-West states of Nigeria.

Tribune Online gathered that the move was to enable the government make an informed decision on the flurry of requests by some of the IEIs to allow them award Higher National Innovation Diploma (HNID).

The experts were drawn from National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Universities Commission (NUC) among others to visit 36 institutions in the current exercise, even as 50 of the institutions were monitored in the last exercise.

Director, Press and Public Relations, Mrs Priscilla Ihuoma, who confirmed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja said the monitoring teams would ascertain their level of compliance with set standards for operations.

She said teams of experts have been dispatched to Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo states to carry out the exercise after a thorough briefing on the details to look out for in the course of the two weeks exercise.

Deputy Director IEIs and Coordinator of the Monitoring exercise, Mr. Daniel Ayegba said that the Federal Ministry of Education is vested with the responsibility of periodic monitoring of IEIs, collate and process the monitoring reports which he said forms part of the basis for policy formulation and subsequent establishment of the IEIs in 2017.

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According to the Coordinator, 135 of such institutions have been established so far, and have been awarding National Innovation Diploma (NID) in various programmes since 2010.

He disclosed that many of the IEIs were now expressing their desire to mount programmes for the award of Higher National Innovation Diploma (HNID), adding that the development further necessitates elaborate monitoring to determine the suitability of their requests within the context of the guidelines for their establishment.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government of Nigeria licensed the Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIS) in 2007 to empower Nigerian youth to acquire skills for gainful employment.

The IEIs which are principally private sector owned, focus on ICT, Oil and Gas, Fashion Design, Hospitality and Tourism, Film, Creative Art, construction and Engineering; Paralegal, Telecommunication, Manufacturing, Professional Development Teaching, Banking, Welding and Fabrication, Printing Technology and Maritime among others.

The exercise would facilitate continuous improvement in the service delivery of the institutions for the production of quality graduates in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as well as ensure that appropriate actions are taken to remedy identified shortcomings.