By Ovat Abeng
The Honourable Minster of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, has commissioned a World Bank Assisted Project, tagged; Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition Skills (IDEAS Project), at the Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC) Awka, Anambra State.
The Minister was represented at the commissioning ceremony held at FSTC hall Awka, on Thursday, by Mrs Uche Mbaogu.
The projects commissioned were three priority trade – Motor Vehicle Mechanics, Catering Craft and Electrical/Electronics buildings.
Speaking shortly after the official commissioning, the Minster said the projects will greatly enhance teaching and learning and improve academic standards.
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He urged the FSTC management to take full advantage of the facilities and make good use of them for educational and vocational development of the students.
The Director/Principal of the Federal Science and Technical College FSTC Awka, Mrs Margret Matthew, in her address, expressed joy over the projects, explaining that the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Education, secured a credit to finance a new World Bank supported project known as Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS Project), in which her school is one of the few Colleges that benefited from the project.
According to her, the IDEAS is aimed at improving Nigeria’s Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) with the objective of improving skills acquisition.
“The IDEAS, according to the Project Document, comprises four components:
Partnerships with Industry for enhanced Quality and Labour-Market Orientation of Public Technical Colleges. This components makes provision for giving grant funding for the rehabilitation and upgrading of selected Federal and State Technical Colleges in which industry partners assume prominent role in institutional governance.
Increasing the availability of competent and motivated Technical teachers and instructors.
Strengthening the regulatory environment and public management capacities for market-oriented skills development which is targeted at further support for the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework, NSQF.
“In realization of this Project, the FSTC, Awka, has now, through Quality Assurance Assessors Training at Umuahia, Abia State, from 9th January 9th July, 2023, gotten qualified Quality Assurance Assessors, QAAs, which enabled the College to be a Training Provider in Construction Trades. Technical Teachers and Instructors (TTI) of the College benefitted immensely also from the Component 2 with the training under the IDEAS held from 20th November to 8th December, 2023, at Government Technical College, Aba, Abia State.
“We are here today under the Component 1 of the Project to officially commissioned the rehabilitation and equipment of three priority trades including Motor Vehicle Mechanics, Catering Craft, and Electrical Installation/Electronics Works.
“Our College is now adequately equipped in these areas not only to serve the College Community and Awka environs but the entire Anambra State.
“This is indeed a milestone for this College. And may God continue to strengthen them as they assist us in ensuring that these equipment, tools and materials are continuously put to productive use.
Our firm assurance to the Federal Ministry of Education and World Bank is that with the resources available to us, we are going to deliver and achieve the great aim and objectives for the IDEAS Project and move to the next level,” the Principal noted.
The IDEAS Project Manager, FSTC Awka, Mr. Felix Duru, on his part said the IDEAS Project seeks to strengthen the labour market for skills development in Nigeria by unlocking essential system drives for quality and relevance, notably by leveraging industry involvement and crowding in private resources.
According to Mr Duru, the basic Project Development Objective (PDO) of the IDEAS Project is to enhance the capacity of the Nigerian skills development system to produce relevant skills for the formal and informal sectors,
He noted further that the IDEAS Project is also structured into four components: Incentive’s Public-Private Partnerships for enhanced quality and labour-market orientation of skills development in Public Technical Colleges; Improving skills formation for the informal sector; Increasing the availability of competent and motivated technical teachers and instructors in the Nigerian skills space; and Strengthening the regulatory environment and public management capacities for market-oriented skills development.
He noted that the IDEAS project operates at federal and state levels in Nigeria and that State-level interventions are implemented in six pilot states, namely Abia (South East Zone), Benue (North Central Zone), Edo (South South Zone), Ekiti (South West Zone), Gombe (North East Zone) and Kano (North West Zone).
In attendance were the representatives of the Permanent secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, Director, Technology and Science Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Adenike Oloodo Muyibat, National IDEAS Project Coordinator, Mrs Blessing Ehi Ogwu, Traditional ruler of Awka Kingdom, Igwe Gibson Nwosu, PTA, staff and students of the college, among others.
