Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo
The federal government said it has issued certificates to 64 newly approved private Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions through the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to increase access to technical education, as well as provide route to higher education in the country.
Also, the Governor of Osun State, Gboyega Oyetola said time has come to institutionalise funding of education, adding that the establishment of education bank is not a bad idea.
Speaking at the 79th plenary meeting of the Joint Consultative Committees on Education (JCCE) in Osogbo, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr. Sonny Echono, represented by the Director, Basic and Secondary Education, Dr. Lami Amodu, said the institutions are to equip youths and working adults to meet the increasing demand for technical manpower, widen access to technical education and serve the need for self-reliance.
Speaking on the theme ‘Education for Self-reliance: a Tool for the Achievement of Education 2030 Agenda’, he said education is the key to achieving all 17 goals in the 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
He said realising its full potential will require concerted efforts by all education stakeholders in the country, adding that emphasis on youths and adults having relevant technical, vocational and entrepreneurial skills will promote sustainable development in the country.
Echono described the 2030 agenda for sustainable development as an ambitious, aspirational and universal agenda to wipe out poverty in the country and urged all education stakeholders to give the sector a new direction towards attaining the objectives of the agenda.
On his part, Oyetola, who was represented by the Head of Service, Osun State, Dr. Festus Oyebade, stressed that government must reflect on the ways to resuscitate students’ loan boards in all states if the country is to seriously pursue the 2030 agenda.
He called on the state Ministry of Education and the Federal Ministry of Education to seek new ways to assist government at all levels to provide adequate funding for literacy projects, including mobilisation and sensitisation to enhance enrolment, recruitment of adult education facilitators and qualified teachers and sign language interpreters in schools.
He also advised government to invest heavily in social protection so as to minimize crime rate; a social protection that must have students in its net, he stressed.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary, Osun State Ministry of Education, Mr, Sunday Olajide said the meeting was a technical one in which memoranda in nine areas will be considered.
He said the areas are adult and non-formal education, basic education, secondary education, special education, teacher education, technology and science education, tertiary education, educational planning and quality assurance in education.
Olajide stressed that the focus of the state education sector is to provide education that would produce individuals that are literate, critical thinkers, problem-solvers, innovators and virtuous citizens.
