FG intensifies effort to bridge skills gap in Nigeria

… redefines mandate for ITF, NBTE

In a bid to close the skills gap that exists in Nigeria, the Federal Government has redefined the mandate for the Industry Training Fund (ITF) and National Board for Technical Education (NBTE)

Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, the Executive Secretary of NBTE, Professor Idris Muhammad Bugaje, said the National Skills Council, chaired by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has redefined the mandate of both agencies to prevent duplication of functions.

He explained that the NBTE was established to regulate training outside the university system, saying, “That is what the act stated. And in the process, we are also mandated to have oversight on the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework.

“These mandates have been executed in the past 40 years by the NBTE. We came after the ITF anyway, and that is why ITF is also a member of the governing board of the NBTE. In the last 20 years, there had been a lot of issues and challenges in terms of the mandate execution, and just a few days ago, the National Council on Skills was able to bring an end to the clash of mandates.

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“We now have a very clear roadmap. We are going to work as one system, serving one government; NBTE shall concentrate on regulations of the educational sector, especially tertiary education, and allied institutions.”

The ES said, “Nigeria is facing a lot of challenges; a lot of the products of our institutions up till today are not meeting the demands of industry, so we are going to refocus on that. We are going to also work with ITF in ensuring that our students get hands-on training in industries.

“So we can change the narrative. The trend today is not just training for industry; we want to train with industry. In other words, a large chunk of the training time must be done with industry, and I am very confident ITF shall facilitate that,” he stated.

On his part, the Director-General and Chief Executive of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Dr. Afiz Oluwatoyin Ogun, explained that the Fund was now going to concentrate on the informal sector.

He said, “ITF is now in charge of the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework, while NBTE will limit itself to educational institutions. That is a major achievement because in the past we were having a lot of clashes with mandate.

“The Secretariat of the National Council on Skills is now with the ITF. They will coordinate the entire activities of the National Council on Skills, chaired by Mr Vice President.”

He said the ITF is working to track all skilled labour in the informal sector in Nigeria and bring them on board for retraining and certification.