By Amaka Abayomi & Abdallah el-Kurebe

The Lagos State Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers, Mr. Samson Idowu, and the Rector, Sokoto State Polytechnic, Prof. Bashir Garba, have commended the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for institutionalizing a six-level national vocational qualification framework for the country.

According to the Minister of Education, Professor Ruqqayatu Rufai, the framework, as approved by the Council, would recognise and certify skills and vocations outside the school system and place same in the scheme of public service.

It would also address the challenges of shortage of skilled workers and reduce unemployment in the country.

“The skill gap is very critical, and the increase in unemployment is because we did not provide skills that are recognised for anybody to hold and work. With this in place, the high level of unemployment will be addressed.”

The framework has six levels – from Junior which is equivalent to Trade Test and post-tertiary institutions. The National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level 1 will be equivalent to Trade Test Three; NVQ Level 2 will equal Trade Test Two, NVQ Level 3 would be the equivalent of Trade Test 1 while NVQ Level 4 would be equivalent to the National Diploma.

NVQ Level 5 would equal Higher National Diploma and the NVQ Level 6 would be the equivalent of Post-Graduate Studies.

Commending the new framework, NUT Chairman, Idowu said it would recognise people with psychomotor skills which gave birth to the 6-3-3-4 system of education.

“In as much as government wants to recognise this set of people, there is still the need to send them to technical schools so as to fully harness their potentials.”

In the same vein, the Rector, Sokoto State Polytechnic, Prof. Bashir Garba, has said that the school management has concluded plans to implement the directive.

This, he disclosed at the school’s 2013 orientation ceremony where he said “the NVQF is a system for the development, classification and recognition of skills, knowledge and competencies acquired by individuals irrespective of where and how the training or skill was acquired.

“The NBTE visited the Polytechnic twice in 2012 and inspected some programmes for accreditation and re-accreditation exercises, and it is gratifying to note that all the programmes visited have received full accreditation.”

He added that the state government had built an ultra modern library complex, laboratories and workshops, while additional buses were added to its fleet of students’ vehicles.