By: Khadijah Aliyu
The federal Has set aside 120 billion naira to advance the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) agenda in Nigeria.
The state minister of education Professor Suwaiba Said Ahmed stated this during the commemoration of the 50th anniversary and 3rd national conference of the faculty of education Bayero University Kano.
The initiative aims to strengthen national education system.
She noted that, the initiative aims to expand the TVET, by introducing incentives to attract young Nigerians with payments of monthly stipends, starter packs and payments of take off grants.
According to her, over the next two years, the federal government aims to empower at least 650,000 youths with technical, vocational and digital skills required to meet the emerging industrial and labor needs.
The minister stated that, the federal government also approved 40 billion naira for the completion of the abandoned national library project, to support research and academic needs.
Professor Suwaiba noted that, the federal ministry of education under Minister Alausa has unveiled the nigerian education sector renewal initiative NESRI.
“With the goal of moving Nigeria from resource based to a Knowledge based economy to reduce out of school children, reduce learning poverty and increase skills”
Declaring the conference open, the Vice Chancellor of Bayero University Kano, Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas, highlighted that, preparations are underway to convert the Faculty of Education to a collegial system.
He highlighted the faculty’s impressive achievements, noting that it has produced notable individuals, including two ministers of education, nine vice chancellors, and three Kano State first ladies in addition to other distinguished Nigerians that have exaled in their various fields.
While describing the theme of the conference as apt, Professor Sagir reaffirmed the university’s commitment to supporting initiatives aimed at elevating education to global standards.
In his welcome address, the Dean Faculty of Education BUK Dr. Abubakar Ibrahim Hassan, emphasized the faculty’s vibrancy in organizing academic activities.
He said the faculty comprises six departments, including adult education , special education, human kinetics, library science, science and technical education as well as the department of education.
“Recent achievements by BUK include securing two TETFUND grants exceeding 30 billion naira each and winning a bilingual program sponsored by the Islamic Development Bank and the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEC)”
The conference was marked by award presentation to prominent Nigerians including the APC National chairman Dr.Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and his wife Professor Hafsat, the state minister of education Professor Suwaiba, former Minister of education Professor Rukayya, Professor Isah Yahaya Bunkure among others.
The event themed “Transformative Education for the future: Confronting Emerging issues and unlocking opportunities “ witnessed large turn out relevant stakeholders in the education sector.
