Polytechnics deserve 50% of Tertiary Education Trust Fund, NBTE says

Polytechnics deserve to benefit from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) because of the importance of technical education, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has said.

The Executive Secretary of NBTE, Dr. Adamu Kazaure, said this while on a tour with rectors of polytechnics, who were on a study tour of the entrepreneurship programmes at the Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti (FEDPOLYADO), Ekiti state.

Kazaure, represented by the Assistant Director, Entrepreneurial Programme, NBTE, Abdu Isa Kofarmata, harped on the need to give priority to polytechnics and technical schools which are important to the country's technological and economic development.

“Entrepreneurship programme provides the required basis for students to acquire relevant skills, knowledge and expertise required for creativity thereby becoming an integral part of economic growth process," Guardian quoted the NBTE boss as saying.

He lamented the fact that TETfund has not made any intervention fund available to polytechnics and technical schools while universities got N100m between 2012 and 2013.

According to him, polytechnics would fare much better if they had access to 50% of the intervention funds.

Kazaure however charged rectors to be creative in exploring ways to access funds for their entrepreneurship programmes, noting that some of them lack the skills to write proposal, hence their failure to access such funds.

Responding, the Rector of FEDPOLYADO, Mrs. Teresa Akande urged “government at all levels to be more committed to this laudable programme so that the future of our youths can be secured economically.”