By Taofeek Ahmed,

Ogun State Technical and Vocational Education Board and a German Technical and Vocational Education, SKYE/GIZ have concluded plans to train students across the primary, secondary and tertiary institutions on Solar installation and other crafts.

Leader of the SKYE/GIZ team, Dr. Karsten Feverriegel, who disclosed this in Abeokuta during a courtesy visit to Special Adviser to the Governor on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Prof. Joseph Odemuyiwa said the move was necessitated to provide support and enhance students’ capacity with the view to improving competency-based programme that would accommodate a year training without affecting academic calendar.

Dr. Feverriegel stated that the team would use the German model where highly skilled workers and engineers depend on each other for greater output, to provide more practical skills to instructors and teachers.

“The State is a powerhouse of industries in Nigeria, and we will synergise with the government to get it to contribute content-wise because they know best what they need in terms of manpower. I believe there is a need for a review of strategy for a successful outcome”, he submitted.

Responding, Prof. Odemuyiwa said the partnership was in tandem with the drive of the present administration on technical and vocational education, revealing that, the Board recently presented the Institutional Development Plans (IDPs), where all the Technical Colleges would become a model and specialised institutions in construction, agriculture, manufacturing, hospitality, among others, while they still run the normal courses.

“We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with about 25 industries across the State for a smooth take-off of the programme. The Governor also approved the appointment of Industrial Liaison Officers for each College to continue to liaise with the industries so that the teaching-learning process will be effective.

“It is also in our plans to ensure that students learn a minimum of one trade in all our over 500 secondary schools in Ogun State. We are starting with the 42 flagship secondary schools, including the tertiary institutions, regardless of the course of study”, Odemuyiwa stated.

The Special Adviser revealed that the programme would also be extended to workers who are on the verge of retirement, in order to equip them for life after retirement and to dissuade them from over-relying on their monthly pensions, just as it would not relent in the certification of artisans in the State.

He added that the Board also work in synergy with the Ogun State Chamber of Commerce, Agriculture, Mines and Industry (OGUNCIMMA), Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment, Youth and Sports, Bureau of Employment Generation, among others, and coordinates individual who want to sponsor Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes by issuing advice on competence.

Also speaking, the Executive Secretary, TVET, Mr. Akinleye Olubori, appreciated the team, saying the government was working together with the World Bank to revamp the sector and address apathy for TVET on the part of the youth.