The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, has directed the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to develop skills curriculum for adoption and implementation.
Giving the charge at a One-Day Pre-Validation Meeting of Stakeholders on the National Policy on Skills Development held on Tuesday in Abuja, the Minister urged the agencies to develop skills curriculum for all levels of education and submit it before the commencement of the next academic session in September.
According to him, implementation of the skills curriculum by schools will help in addressing learning challenges in the country.
Mamman said: “The only solution to address the skills gap is to expose the younger ones to skills. The idea of this Pre-Validation Meeting is for the ministry to address the learning crisis.
“There are some children who are not able to read and write. There are some that, after primary and secondary education, only 35 per cent of them transit to tertiary education.
“Also, there are about 65 per cent of young men and women who are not in school, employment and do not have any form of training. The result is what we are seeing in the looting during the recent protest”, he added.
On the implementation of the proposed skills curriculum, the minister explained that the implementation would be done in both public and private schools nationwide as part of government’s efforts to find lasting solutions to the learning crisis, including problem of school dropout among young adults.
The minister, who disclosed that the government had been working on a national skills framework for the country in the last eight months, maintained that introduction of skills in the education system has become a necessity as it will ensure that the young learn some practical aptitude to help them earn a living.
Speaking at the forum, UNICEF Education Manager, Munamuzunga Sikaulu, said the policy would be a game changer to support skilling in the young people and advocated for a holistic implementation plan and roles at the federal, state, local government and community levels.
He said: “The skills curriculum will change the future of the children as well as that of the country. Let’s focus on the implementation strategy and how the policy can be a reality for our children.”
