The federal government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced a monthly stipend of N45,000 for students enrolled in technical colleges across the country.
The Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Idris Bugaje, disclosed this in Abuja on the second-year administration of President Bola Tinubu.
According to him, the initiative forms part of a broader strategy to reposition the TVET sector and make it a more attractive alternative to traditional university education.
“With this, young people will find it more attractive to come to a technical college, acquire skills qualifications, get jobs locally and even beyond the borders of Nigeria.”
“This way, the whole sector is being repositioned. We are at the moment facing what you may call either a resurrection or a rebirth of TVET,” he said.
According to Prof. Bugaje, the stipend is one of several support mechanisms aimed at encouraging more young Nigerians to choose technical education over conventional university degrees.
He noted that the technical education sector, once vibrant during colonial and early post-independence periods, has suffered years of neglect.
“During colonial days and the early part of our independence, TVET had received attention.
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“But, since the 1980s, we have been going down the drain. That is why the number of technical colleges has dropped, from 129 at the moment, compared to 15,000 senior secondary schools in Nigeria,” he said.
Bugaje was, however, optimistic that the new initiative would reverse the trend and restore the TVET sector to its former prominence.
He said that the government of Tinubu had allocated a N120 billion grant to support students under the new TVET initiative.
He said the grant would be disbursed through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), signalling a major shift in government strategy to encourage skills-based education.
He said, “The N45,000 is not a loan, but a grant. Students who enjoy this are not going to pay back. We want to encourage more people to enroll in technical education.”
To sustain and expand the programme, Mr Bugaje said the Minister of Education is championing a legislative bill to establish a National Skills Fund under a new Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).
According to him, the bill is expected to be presented to the National Assembly in the near future.
He stated, “This was an idea we have been talking about in the past years, but the new minister has taken it up. The bill shall soon be presented in the National Assembly to establish the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework and under it, the National Skills Fund. The National Skills Fund will continue to fund TVET institutions, not only those in government colleges, but also those in the private sector.’’
