National skills qualification required for polytechnic accreditation in 2023 – NBTE

The National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has set the National Skills Qualification (NSQ) training as a precondition for the accreditation of National Diploma (ND) programs in polytechnics and monotechnics.

The NSQ is a work-related and competence-based qualification with skills assessed at both the training center and workplace.

The qualifications demonstrate understanding of the theory of the work as well as the individual's competency in their specific job role as issued by a recognized awarding body.

The Executive Secretary of the Board, Prof. Idris Bugaje, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kaduna on Monday.

"We have asked every polytechnic and monotechnic to start NSQ training, and by 2023, no polytechnic will be accredited for the ND program if they do not have an NSQ training center."

"Keying into the NSQF by the polytechnics and monotechnics will enable the students to graduate with dual certificates: the ND and the NSQ."

"This is in line with the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF), a system for the development, classification, and recognition of skills, knowledge, and competencies, irrespective of where and how the training or skill was acquired."

"The system gives a clear statement of what the learner must know or be able to do, whether the learning took place in a classroom, on the job, or less formally," he said.

The executive secretary said that the full implementation of the NSQF, approved in 2013 by the Federal Executive Council and inaugurated in 2017, was making gradual progress.

He said that the National Council on Skills, chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has approved the upgrade of the NSQF from a six- to a nine-level framework.

This, according to him, is to make it comparable to what is being obtained in the United Kingdom and other European countries.

"That is a major improvement on the scheme." What remains is its entrenchment into the Nigerian vocational skills training system.

"The NSQ is supposed to replace trade tests, city and guilds, and all other forms of skills certification in the country, and that can only happen through an act of the National Assembly."

"Process is already in motion for that to happen and once the Bill is passed and signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, the NSQ will be on the path for full implementation."

Bugaje said that the draft bill made a provision for a national skill fund to fund institutions in any part of the country that wish to establish skills development centers for skills training programs.

He added that the fund would also support effective training of students and staff under the Students' Industrial Work Experience Scheme.

"There are about 13 to 14 sector skill councils, and many of them are already running NSQ programs, especially in construction, welding, and fabrication in several institutions across the country."

"Currently, about 900 training centers across the country are running the NSQ program, but we need to increase the number into the thousands."

"We are already working to bring the about 8,300 ad hoc and informal skills training centres in the country operating without certification into the NSQ programme.

"Once on the NSQ program, the certificates issued by these centers will be recognized anywhere in the world," he said.

The NBTE boss described skill as a "very powerful weapon" that can be used to transform the country and the position of Nigeria globally.

According to him, Nigerian youths will dominate the world if empowered with relevant skills.