The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has directed the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to develop skills curriculum for adoption and implementation.
Mamman spoke at a pre-validation meeting of stakeholders on the National Policy on Skills Development yesterday in Abuja.
The minister urged the agencies to come up with the skills curriculum for all levels of education and make it ready before the commencement of next academic session in September.
He said the implementation of the skills curriculum by schools would help in addressing learning crisis across the country.
Also, Mamman expressed concern over the looting in Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, occasioned by the #EndBadGovernance protest.
The minister described the looters as mostly young Nigerians without skills.
“The only solution to address the skills gap is to expose the younger ones to skills.
“The idea of this pre-validation meeting is for the ministry to address the learning crisis.
“There are some children who are not able to read and write. There are some that, after primary and secondary education, only 35 per cent of them transit to tertiary education.
“Also, there are about 65 per cent of young men and women who are not in school; they are employed and do not have any form of training.
“The result is what we are seeing in the looting during the recent protest,” he said.
Mamman explained that after its development, the skill curriculum would be implemented at all levels of education across the country by September.
“This will be done in both public and private schools across the country. The idea will address learning crisis and issues of school dropout among young adults.
“We’ve been working on a national skills framework for the country in the last eight months.
“Introduction of skills in our education system has become a necessity. This will ensure that they learn some practical aptitude to help them earn a living,” he said.
Also, UNICEF Education Manager Munamuzunga Sikaulu said the policy would be a game changer to support skilling among the young people.
Sikaulu called for a comprehensive implementation plan and roles at the federal, state, local government and community levels.
“The skills curriculum will change the future of the children as well as that of the country.
“Let’s focus on the implementation strategy and how the policy can be a reality for our children,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event featured stakeholders across all levels of education, including the National Universities Commission (NUC), and Industrial Training Fund (ITF), among others.
