Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund has approved N130 million as zonal intervention fund for polytechnics in its 2023 intervention line, geared towards reinvigorating skills acquisition in polytechnics across the country.
The approval was made at the TETFund/NBTE Sensitisation Workshop in the 2023 Zonal Intervention on Skills for Rectors and Directors of Skills in Beneficiary Polytechnics, on Tuesday, 6th June, 2023, in Abuja.
The Director of Infrastructure, TETFund, Buhari Mika’Ilu, said the intervention was to consolidate efforts of the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE in increasing the capacities of polytechnics to deliver on their mandate.
He explained that the intervention focused purely on projects with academic relevance, thereby addressing deficiencies in core areas of acquisition of essential instructional materials and equipment for teaching, learning and building capacities for the use of the equipments procured.
Furthermore, the Executive Secretary, NBTE, Prof. Idris Bugaje, said TETFund has been a very active promoter, and financier of skills development in the country, while calling on polytechnic rectors to key into the formalisation of the informal sector using technology.
He said the N130 million given to polytechnics in the 2023 intervention line would not be used for building projects but rather to upgrade facilities for skills training, especially as about 10 skills had been identified.
He called on the government to stop the conversion of polytechnics to universities, saying that henceforth, polytechnics without skills development centres would not be given accreditation for National Diploma programmes.
Story: Elizabeth Ereke