The National Board for Technical Education has fully transitioned to a digital platform for all quality assurance processes, aligning with the Federal Government’s digital-driven policies and the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

It said efective August 2024, there will be no more physical accreditation or other quality assurance activities in the institutions under its purview.

The NBTE is a board of education that supervises, regulates, and oversees educational programmes offered by technical institutions at secondary, polytechnic, and monotechnic levels through an accreditation process in Nigeria.

According to a statement from the board, the digitalisation policy has recorded success, with a substantial increase in institutions and stakeholders engaging with the digital system, now totaling 489.

The board, in the statement by the Head of Media Unit, Fatima Abubakar, in Kaduna on Sunday, said it has also completed digital assessments and documentation processes for 17 institutions across the six geo-political zones, with approvals granted accordingly.

It further noted that digital monitoring has been introduced to ensure strict compliance with established standards.

The NBTE’s digitalisation drive, led by the Executive Secretary, Prof. Idris Bugaje, aims to deliver more efficient, effective, and transparent quality assurance processes, ensuring cost-effectiveness and integrity, the statement added.

According to the board, with this leap into the digital era, physical accreditation and quality assurance activities will be phased out effective August 2024.

This development is expected to enhance the quality of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions in Nigeria, aligning with global best practices.

The statement titled “NBTE’s digitalisation and technology-enabled quality assurance activities: a good leap forward,’ said, “at its 197th Executive Committee meeting held on Thursday, July 18, 2024, the NBTE acknowledged the tremendous progress made in driving its digitalisation policy, describing it as a significant leap forward.

“The board has now fully transitioned to a digital platform for all quality assurance processes. Effective August 2024, there will be no more physical accreditation or other quality assurance activities in the institutions under the board’s purview.

“This transition has led to a significant increase in digital activities on the platform and has been largely successful. Some of the successes recorded so far by the digitalisation policy of the board include.”

The board said there has been a substantial increase in the number of institutions and stakeholders engaging with the board’s digital system, now totaling 489.

“This includes 59 new institutions requiring registration and 430 institutions with expired programs requiring accreditation, re-accreditation, and those initiating requests for Resource Inspection.

“Digital Assessment Completion: The digital assessment and documentation processes of seventeen (17) institutions across the six geo-political zones have been completed and approved by the Board.

“The breakdown is as follows:South West (SW) – 5, South East (SE) – 4, North East (NE) – 1, North West (NW) – 4, North Central (NC) – 3,” the board noted.

It also said It has introduced digital monitoring of activities for all the institutions regulated by the board to ensure strict compliance with established standards.

“The board encourages all Polytechnics, other Technical Institutions, and relevant stakeholders under its regulatory purview to embrace these technology-driven digitalization processes for a more efficient, effective, and transparent quality assurance exercise that ensures cost-effectiveness and integrity,” the statement added. (Sunday PUNCH)

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