FG admits not doing enough to address skill gap among students, graduates

The Federal Government has lamented what it described as serious gaps in the skills sector of the economy, noting that the country has not done enough to address them.

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, stated this, yesterday, in Abuja, at the 7th series of Industry Stakeholders Consultation Meeting, themed, ‘Skills for Economic Property’.

Represented by Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, Osinbajo said: “There is a gap between policymakers and those who actually drive the policy during project implementation. Our purpose should be to assess gaps using what we believe is the solution.

“The Ministry of Labour and Employment has a task of trying to identify these gaps and figure out how the Ministry of Education, acting through the National Board for Technical Education, can then fill in. That is what led to this programme.”

Earlier, Executive Secretary, National Board For Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, called for the establishment of a National Skills Fund (NSF) to address demands for the emerging skills economy of the new millennium.

Bugaje who lamented that the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and National Directorate of Employment (NDE) are duplicates and are losing focus from their earlier mandate, said they need to be merged or harmonised into a new platform on a new paradigm.