FOCUS ON SKILLS: Jigawa Establishes Vocational Institute, 8 Technical Collages 

By Ali R. Ali, Dutse: Mon. 2nd December, 2024

In line with modern trends that prioritize skills acquisition over mere paper qualifications, Jigawa State is making a progressive move to establish an Institute of Technical and Vocational Education along with eight technical colleges.

Governor Mallam Umar Namadi made this announcement when he received the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Students Engagement, Mr. Asefon Sunday Dayo, who paid him a courtesy call in Dutse over the weekend.

The SSA was in Jigawa for the inauguration of the Northern Chapter of the Students Union’s leadership.

The governor reiterated the state government’s resolve to transform the education system, prioritizing technical and vocational education as the cornerstone for human capital development.

“Education is the bedrock of development. The youth are the future of this nation. If you neglect this segment, you have neglected development. So, whatever we are doing to empower the youths, to educate the youths, is because we feel that is the road to development. That is the way to economic prosperity. And that is the way to human capital development,” he said.

“We are trying to transform our education system. We are now trying to focus on vocational education because we believe vocational and technical education is the way to go. We’ll try as much as possible, both in terms of the school and at the empowerment level.”

The governor revealed that eight schools will be transformed into centers of excellence that would provide students with training in various skills and crafts, adding that the initiative is designed to ensure that secondary school graduates leave with practical skills, enabling them to sustain themselves and contribute to society.

“In essence, we are working to bring about eight schools as centers of excellence. These centers are going to be places where students will be trained in various arts and crafts so that by the time they are coming in, even at the age of finishing secondary school, they will have a means of livelihood to hold themselves. We want to make sure that we have gone back to olden days. A student in secondary school, if he comes for a holiday, will go and practice that craft he has learned in school.”

Governor Namadi stated that the technical and vocational school students will be directly involved in projects such as furniture production and technical repairs, reducing reliance on external contractors while offering hands-on experience.

“With this arrangement, we hope that we will no longer give contracts to external suppliers for chairs and similar needs. We want our students in technical and vocational schools to build chairs for other students. We want them to repair hand pumps and handle other technical aspects of governance contracts. We’ll engage them directly in these activities.”

According to him, some selected polytechnic departments will be upgraded to align with the state’s vocational education goals.

The governor also announced the intention of the state government to repurpose the Jigawa State College of Remedial and Advanced Studies (JICORAS), Babura, into an institution for technical and vocational education to allow for a smooth transition for graduates to pursue further education or employment.

“We are converting our College of Remedial Studies into an institution for technical and vocational education. This will provide a place for graduates from technical and vocational schools to fit into the system seamlessly. And that is why we intentionally cited the institute where we have a federal university of technology.”

“So, we have created a systematic cycle. You finish from the Center of Excellence, where you learn vocational and technical education. You either proceed to do an HND or diploma at our Institute of Technical and Vocational Education; after that, you can further your education at the Federal University of Technology, completing a full cycle.”