By FUNMILAYO ADEYEMI

The Federal Government has announced a monthly stipend of N45,000 for students enrolled in technical colleges across the country.

This is in a landmark move to revitalise Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

The Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on the second- year administration of President. Bola Tinubu.

According to him, the initiative forms part of a broader strategy to reposition the TVET sector and make it a more attractive alternative to traditional university education.

Bugaje explained that the new policy aimed to fast-track the development of the TVET sector and expand enrollment at the sub-tertiary level.

He added that, beyond the monthly stipend, the government would also cover teaching fees, pay industry-based supervisors (known as ?master class? instructors) where students undertake industrial attachments, and finance the cost of skill certification.

?With this, young people will find it more attractive to come to a technical college, acquire skills qualification, get jobs locally and even beyond the borders of Nigeria.

?This way, the whole sector is being repositioned. We are at the moment facing what you may call either a resurrection or a rebirth of TVET.

?During colonial days and early part of our independence, TVET had received attention.

?But, since 1980s, we have been going down the drains. That is why the number of technical colleges has dropped, from 129 at the moment, compared to 15,000 senior secondary schools in Nigeria,? he said.

Bugaje was, however, optimistic that the new initiative would reverse the trend and restore the TVET sector to its former prominence.

He said that the government of President Tinubu had allocated N120 billion grant to support students under the new TVET initiative.

The grant, he said, would be disbursed through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), signaling a major shift in government strategy to encourage skills-based education.

?The N45,000 is not as a loan, but a grant. Students who enjoy this are not going to pay back.

?We want to encourage more people to enroll in technical education. he said.

To sustain and expand the programme, Bugaje said the Minister of Education is championing a legislative Bill to establish a National Skills Fund under a new Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).

According to him, the bill is expected to be presented to the National Assembly in the near future.

?This was an idea we have been talking about in the past years, but the new minister has taken it up.

?The bill shall soon be presented in the National Assembly to establish the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework and under it, the National Skills Fund.

?The National Skills Fund will continue to fund TVET institutions, not only those in government colleges, but also those in the private sector,? he said. (NAN)

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