As part of measures to address the issue of half-baked graduates in the country, the Executive Vice chairman/Chief Executive of National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Prof, Mohammed Sani Haruna, has said that engineering graduates must be equipped with practical skills.
Specifically, the NASENI boss argued that science; engineering and technology graduates must be armed with hands-on acquisition, for purposes of relevance.
Accordingly, Haruna has urged the Federal Government to overhaul and redesign the curriculum of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), for enhanced service delivery.
In his estimation, the nation cannot continue to produce engineering, science and technology graduates, without corresponding hands-on capabilities.
He, however, expressed optimism that the nation can level-up with the rest of the world, if it returns to prioritization of crafts, technical and vocational schools and education.
His words:“The departure from this noble and effective capacity building method is the reason why we have an incompetent workforce in our building and construction sector, industries and even ministries responsible for service provision.
“The half-baked graduates who had no adequate hands-on were no longer “hot cakes”.
“The instructors and teachers were no longer sponsored overseas for further training to update their knowledge. The long synergy and collaboration with private sector soon disappeared.
“The consequence is that artisan job in Nigeria will continue to be dominated by workers with the occupational specialization from Togo, from Cameroon, even Niger and other West African States.”
He added thus: “The only remedy is return of prioritization of crafts, technical and vocational schools and education. A famous saying of my friend and a senior professional colleague, Prof. Idris Bugaje, the Executive Secretary of National Board for Technical Education is that: “Skills and not degrees matter”
“Technology for National Development is a tripod constituted by craftsmen/artisans or technicians who are the foundation of a pyramid human resources for industrial development.
“The second leg of the tripod is the technologist/scientific officer. They are the pillars of the pyramid. At the apex of that pyramid are the Engineers, who are the third leg of the tripod theory.
“Absence of any of this class in any nation is a recipe for sustaining consumer-oriented economy. China is now converting several universities to polytechnic universities so that diplomas and certificates with hands-on are the order of the day.
“The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) skill development centres across the country approved by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, are structured to apply original model of Relevant Technology – modified and updated to meet current realities.”
Mohammed urged the government to overhaul and redesign of the curriculum of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), saying: “I hereby recommend the overhaul and redesign of the curriculum of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to adopt the model and method of the Relevant Technology for a truly practically oriented workforce.