Tech-U meets with industry partners to review curriculum

NIGERIA’S first technical university, The Technical University, Ibadan, on Wednesday took another step towards bridging the skill deficiency gap that exists between graduates and the industry as it held a curriculum review meeting with industry partners.

The curriculum review meeting was attended by representatives of organisations like the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), the Nigerian Society of Engineers and other bodies, as well as academics from different institutions of higher learning.

While speaking at the meeting, the vice chancellor, Professor Ayobami Salami, once again explained that Tech-U seeks to address the daunting challenges of youth employment not only through conventional education but through the incorporation of entrepreneurial as well as technical and vocational education training.

Professor Salami disclosed that the review meeting was premised on “the bold and daring ambition of The Technical University to change the narrative about deficiencies in the employability and entrepreneurial skills of the majority of Nigerian graduates.”

The Technical University, he said, intends to champion the mainstreaming of TVET (Technical and Vocational Education Training) into the university curricula as a means of skilling graduates to create employment rather than to seek employment upon graduation.

He also pointed out that the industry participants invited to the meeting were selected for their vast accumulated experience, either as regulatory authorities, professional associations or as employers of labour.

Mr Thomas Adewale Toye of TAT Engineering emphasized the need for apprenticeship. He challenged authorities of the university to look inwards and innovate.

“Now we are suffering because of electricity. Without it we cannot do anything but This university can have its own electricity.

There is a river somewhere close by, they can dam it and generate electricity. In Germany, students do everything they need and companies support them. What we need to do is to re-orientate our students,” he said.