The Federal Government has warned against degrading the National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB), as about 88,000 candidates are sitting for the ongoing 2022 NABTEB certificate examination nationwide.

The government said the essence of the examination was to promote skills among the teeming youths in the country, noting that everybody might not have the privilege of attending a university

Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu stated these while monitoring the NABTEB examinations in company of the Registrar and Chief Executive of NABTEB, Professor Ifeoma Isiugo-Abanihe, at the Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC), Orozo and Government Technical College, Garki, on Thursday in Abuja.

He said that such persons could do better in the various skill acquisitions they must have acquired. Adamu said that those who could not fit into the country’s formal sector would have the opportunity to get involved in the informal sector, which underscored the reason for setting up the board.

According to him, those who cannot go to university will have the skill to carry them along.

Adamu, who was represented by Director of Human Resources in the ministry, David Gende, expressed commitment towards the development of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), saying this remains the only way out of the current high level of unemployment in the country.

He said: “I think we need to correct this impression, skills acquisition is what we are promoting in this regards and there is no rule that says everyone must go to the university.

“You know, if we look across the globe, there are people who have achieved greatness without seeing a university.

“So, we should stop demeaning this very certificate so that people can pick up the skills that are required.”

Adamu expressed satisfaction on the conduct of the students, saying that there was no record of any students involved in malpractices. The minister, therefore, said that the ministry would continue to promote the culture of excellence to have great leaders that would sail the country in the near future.

He advised the candidates to prepare excellently to face their counterparts in the other climes by contributing greater to the development of the country.

Adamu said: “We want our students to imbibe the culture of excellence because the future is going to be tougher than what we are witnessing today as the stage is bigger.

“They are competing against others in other spheres of the world, so they should be able to start preparing themselves from now on.

“And preparing yourself simply means pushing yourself very hard so that you do your best and whatever comes out, you should be able to defend.”

The NABTEB Registrar said the Board, since 2018, had been recording an increase in the number of candidates sitting for the examination.

She noted that the surge began in 2015 when the Board first recorded 55, 000 enrollments for the examination while it increased steadily to 83, 000 in 2018.

She disclosed that for the 2022 examination, about 88,000 candidates applied to sit for the NABTEB examination nationwide.

“This year, we have a significant increase in the enrollment and we have 88,000 candidates. In the past five years, it’s been increasing every year.

“Starting from 2018, it was about 55,000 candidates, but this year you can see that it is 88,000 and last year was 83,000 plus so there has been a steady increase in enrollment and I think it is because of the realisation that TVET is the way to go.

“In the world today there is a need for skills acquisition, there is need for empowerment skills, self-reliance, and it is at the bottom of development and that is why there’s now a realisation that is a very, very crucial aspect of education,” she added. (The Nation)

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