The Edo Government has disclosed plans to build at least one technical school in each of the 18 local government areas in the state to resuscitate Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
Commissioner for Education, Dr. Joan Osa-Oviawe, who disclosed this to journalists in Benin City, said Edo was in the process of formalising the informal skilled sector in the state.
According to her, “One of the key areas that we are focusing under EdoBEST 2.0 is TVET. We don’t just want to strengthen our TVET schools, we want to mainstream TVET so that from primary school, our pupils are exposed to handiwork.
“We call it pre-apprenticeship training. With this, any pupil that wants to go to a TVET school can do so. If they go the TVET route, that doesn’t mean that is where their education stops; they can decide to go on to read medicine or go to a polytechnic.”
“It doesn’t matter. We just want to ensure that basic education, as stipulated by the 2004 UBE Act, which first 10 years of education, is free and compulsory, and by the time a student is graduating from JSS 3, we want them not only to be literate and numerate, we also want them to be skilled,” she added.
On formalizing the informal skilled sector in the state, the Commissioner noted that going forward, the state would ensure that all electricians, plumbers, welders and tailors among other artisans operating in the state, work in line with the guidelines of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).
“So, for our informal apprenticeship sector, we want to link that with our adult education system. If you are already an artisan; a master craftsperson, but you don’t know how to read, we can send you to our adult education school; it is free. That is for those who are already established.
“For new apprenticeship that will be coming into the system, we are now going to say you must know how to read and write.”
The mainstreaming of skill acquisition, technical and vocational studies, Oviawe explained, would be extended to Special Needs Schools in the state.
“So, mainstreaming skilled acquisition, technical and vocational is not just in our regular schools, the governor has mandated that we should extend to our Special Needs schools.
“We want to train the next generation to be self-sufficient. We don’t want to raise the next generation of able people who grow up and are acculturated to become beggars,” she noted.
