NSQ practitioners urged to develop professional skills

The chairman, Artisans and Craftsmen Qualification Awarding Board, Mr Christopher Belonwu has advised the National Skills Qualifications (NSQ) practitioner to develop professional skills to meet rising buildings and other demands.

Belonwu said this at the 2024 continuous professional development workshop for NSQ practitioners organised by the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) held in Owerri, on Thursday.

Belonwu who is a professional builder said that the workshop is aimed at plugging the observed practice gaps and building building practitioners on how to get it right to meet the expected practice

Speaking on the theme: “The Changing Landscape in Skills Training – Playing Effective Roles in NSQ Delivery”, he said that the workshop was intended to guide centre managers and instructors on best practices to be adopted in operating and working at their centres to support trainees to acquire the needed qualifications.

He harped on the importance of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) in maintaining standards and how to align the centre curriculum to the standards to support learners in gathering needed evidence in line with the NOS.

He said: “We recognise the role of external quality assurance managers as gatekeepers at centres and the untapped opportunities in the formalising of the informal sector through recognition of prior learning for centre registration, monitoring, auditing, and external verification”.

He assured that quality assurance assessors play a unique role in supporting the learner to gather the needed evidence in line with the National Occupational Standards (NOS) to address blurred areas in tracking and cross-referencing of evidence to the standards.

In his speech, the President, Nigerian Institute of Building, Sir Alderton Ewa said the workshop, already held in Lagos and Abuja in June 2024 would provide an invaluable platform for continuous knowledge sharing, professional development, and collaboration among NSQ practitioners.

He charged the participants not to relent in their resolve to periodically improve their skills for relevance in their chosen fields while establishing a clear framework for recognising skills and knowledge, regardless of the learning pathway, to ensure quality assurance and provide a path for career progression.

He assured that the NIOB, in collaboration with the government and other stakeholders, will continue to play a pivotal role in strengthening NSQ.

He said: “We are proud to have developed the first NOS for the construction industry, which serves as a national standard for construction work, and have also actively participated in the assessment and certification of artisans under programmes such as the Mafita and the N-Power Build project “

Adding his voice, Imo Chairman of the (NIOB) Mr Andy Osuagwu, said that the compulsory NSQ training is tailored towards learning, upgrading, assessment, and certification where participants are assessed on individual and group levels about the challenges, needs, and experiences of demanding jobs.

Responding, one of the participants, a quality assurance assessor, Mrs Hannah Kenneth said the programme was an eye opener for her not to compromise standards while observing and supervising an Artisan’s work to checkmate quackery in line with international best practices.

The workshop had in attendance the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education, Prof. Idris Bugaje, represented by the board’s Southeast Zonal Director, Mrs Ngozi Okelekwe as well as the South-East Zonal Coordinator for Artisans and Craftsmen Qualifications Awarding Board of the NIOB, Mr Orji Solomon.