Nigeria’s Education Minister, Malam Adamu Adamu, said on Thursday that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was putting in place deliberate policies and measures to reform all facets of the education sector.
Adamu, represented by Ezekiel Asubiojo, Director , Ministry of Education said this at the 37th Convocation and 50th Anniversary of Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka in Lagos.
He said that several measures had been streamlined to bring about robust reforms, as encapsulated under the Ministerial Strategic Plan intervention strategies.
Specific Reforms
The minister said that under the comprehensive reform agenda, the challenge of girl-child education, low enrolment and out-of school children induced by prevailing poverty, among others, were being addressed.
Adamu said the revival of Education Bank was also a way of granting funds on generous terms to learners, while traditional barriers were being tackled by relevant government agencies through vigorous sensitisation campaign.
He said there must be mass production of competent citizens with vocational and technical skills for Nigeria to become one of 20 largest economies by year 2030.
Commending FCE(T) Akoka
On the graduation and anniversary of FCE (T) Akoka, Adamu congratulated the Governing council , management , staff, alumni and students of the institution for their sacrifices in nurturing the College to its present enviable status.
“The uniqueness of this occasion is the award of certificates to budding teachers, who have also acquired relevant skills and knowledge in vocational , science and technical education.
“As trained teachers, much is expected from you all, both in values, skills and knowledge. The vocational, science and technical input in your college is also key to transforming the educating sector,” he said .
Adamu charged the graduands to always display the training they had undergone, to influence environment positively.
According to him, a flawed character is the harbinger of crisis and deviant behaviour, which must be avoided, to achieve a stable polity and economic development.
FCE(T) Akoka graduated 5,522 students
Meanwhile, the Provost, Dr Sijibomi Olusanya, disclosed that a total of 5,522 students were graduating and being conferred with appropriate certificates.
Olusanya said 1913 students went through the NCE full time programme, 3, 504 the NCE Distance Learning and 105 the Professional Diploma in Education (PDE).
He named the overall best graduating student as Arile Josiah of the Department of Office Technology and Management Education, with a Cumulative Grade Point Aggregate of 4.62.
According to him , Josiah is the best of the three graduating sets of 2014/2015, 2015/2016 and 2016/2017.
