The Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai, has restated the Federal Government’s desire to make Nigerians innovative and creative for self-employment after leaving school.
Rufai said this Monday in Calabar, Cross River State while opening a workshop for the implementation of the turnaround strategies for technical and vocational education.
The Minister, who was represented by the Director of Technology and Science Education, Mr. Michael Ofor, also used the medium to appeal to participants, among whom were teachers, instructors and education managers, to upgrade themselves on current issues in the delivery of TVET.
According to Rufai, the two-week training on entrepreneurship is packaged for institutions benefiting from African Development Fund-Assisted Skills Training and Vocational Education Project.
She described the project as a major key performance indicator in teacher education and development as captured in the four-year strategic plan for the development of the education sector.
“This will enable them to effectively empower their students to be creative and innovative for self-employment after schooling,” the minister said.
She said the Federal Government was determined to prepare its citizens to be technically-capable employees.
“The modern workplace demands employees with high degree of technical and vocational competence. We have a responsibility to prepare our students to enter the world of work as technically-capable employees.
“Our dream in this sector is that even our secondary school graduates should be able to enter the workforce with confidence, knowing that their certificate is backed with the skills required for s a successful transition,” Rufai said.
She added that the Federal Government appreciated the partnership of the African Development Bank for partnering it to actualize what she called “positive change in our technical and vocational education and training system.”
