ABUJA–THE Tertiary Education Trust Fund,TETFund, has challenged polytechnics and colleges of education in the country to redouble their efforts in entrepreneurship and skills development.

Executive Secretary of TETFund, Prof. Suleiman Bogoro, made the call, Tuesday,in Abuja, at a capacity building workshop for heads of selected institutions and staff of TETFund Centres of Excellence.

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 Bogoro, who said there were indices globally associated with Centres of Excellence, especially in bringing about innovation and development, explained that the two-day event was organised to ensure proper understanding of the concept of the centres by those that will be in charge of them.

He called on the Centres of Excellence in the polytechnics to focus on skills development, entrepreneurship and starts-up even as he lamented that most of the low and medium skilled jobs in the country are being handled by people from Francophone countries.

“For the polytechnics, the centres of excellence are to focus on skills development and support entrepreneurship, start ups….

“In areas of competitive advantage and you know that skills developmentis central, it is fundamental. If you miss that area, if your polytechnics does not have the capacity to develop skills or the entrepreneural ability of its students and researchers,  then it has failed the nation.

“That is athe area that has been very worrisome for us each time will reflect. It is very embarrassing that in Nigeria, if you go to construction sites, it has improved recently, believe me, Some ten years back,  you will to likely to see Francophone personnel that are at construction site more than Nigerians, that shows something is missing, but the polytechnics are trying to address it,” Bogoro said.

While saying the Centres of Excellence in the colleges of education will focus on relevant pedagogical development, the TETFund boss said  beneficiary centre will get about two million dollars.

Also speaking at the event, which also  had in attendance experts from the World Bank-sponsored African Centres of Excellence in universities, Executive Secretary of National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Muhammad Bugaje, commended Bogoro for his passion for institutionilisation of Research and Development.

Bugaje, who said Bogoro’s name would be written in gold if the history of the country’s academic community will being written, said polytechnics must wake up to their responsibility of producing skilled manpower in the country.

The NBTE boss expressed serious concerns that most major infrastructure projects in the country are being dominated by skilled personnel from other countries.

“There is need for our polytechnics to be focused on skills training, that is why we say from 2023, NBTE shall never go for any accreditation to any polytechnic where there is not a single skills training centre,” Bugaje said.

Recall that TETFund  had recently established Centres of Excellence in six polytechnics and six colleges of education.

The beneficiary institutions  selected equally from each of the six geo-political zones in the country are; Federal Polytechnic Nasarawa, Nasarawa State; Federal College of Education, Pankshin, Plateau State (North Central), Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, Bauchi State, Federal College Education, Yola, Adamawa State, (North East), Federal Polytechnic, Kaduna, Kaduna State, Federal College of Education, Zaria, Kaduna State (North-West).

The South-East has Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Imo State and the Alvan Federal of Education, Owerri, Imo State. The South-South’s beneficiaries include Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State and Federal College of Education (Technical), Omoku, Rivers State while Yaba College of Technology, Lagos and Adeyemi College Education, Ondo State made it from the South-West.