By DAYO ADESULU

Only better funding and management can turn around the parlous state of technical and vocational education in Nigeria, says the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB), Dr. Olatunde Aworanti.

He added that government must show more commitment to better funding and management of our technical and vocational institutions.

Speaking on the occasion of his one year in office, the NABTEB boss noted that no one can dispute the fact that the nation’s quest for sustainable development has been hampered by the dearth of technological development occasioned by deliberate denigration of Technical and Vocational Education (TVE).

He added that it is a fact universally acknowledged that Technical/Vocational Education is the pivot on which the wheel of sustainable technological development revolves. The nation – until recently – did not accord TVE the desired priority attention.

Thus, successive governments merely paid lip service to the quest for technological development while the nation continued to wallow in abject poverty, disease and self-inflicted deprivation in the midst of abundant human and material resources.

Though, the nation’s educational system has produced globally competitive men and women with enviable track records, it has failed to solve the societal problems because it was not originally designed to meet societal needs.

According to him, it is pertinent to state that instead of re-designing the educational system to cater for emerging challenges of the post-independence era, successive Nigerian governments only succeeded in consolidating the warped system of education for administrative convenience.

This ugly development encouraged undue emphasis on production of unskilled graduates at the expense of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) which constitutes the foundation of meaningful national development. Also, this unhealthy growth has bred half-baked craftsmen and technicians who are unable to play their professional role in the national construction agenda.

However, the present administration’s determined efforts to promote TVE for sustainable technological development, backed by an all-inclusive education roadmap, has rekindled hope and provided the much desired light at the end of the tunnel.

Consequently, he disclosed that the board in pursuit of its determination to complement the Federal Government’s efforts towards the nation’s transformation agenda, has taken decisive steps to fast- track the quest for technological advancement.

He also highlighted the proactive steps taken by the leadership of NABTEB to enrich the Board’s examination syllabi and enhance the quality and credibility of its certificates.