The Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and Tertiary Education Trust Fund has commended the National Board for Technical Education for its transparency and accountability.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Barau Jibrin, gave the commendation shortly after visiting the NBTE’s headquarters in Kaduna on Monday.
Jibrin said: “NBTE has been a very transparent agency and we want it to continue in line with the current government’s policy of transparency and accountability in the management of government resources.
“We are happy in the board to see what is going on; to see whether they are doing the right thing or not; correct where we need to correct and take further action where necessary.
“We have looked into their books in terms of funds received and how they were utilised, and I can say that there are elements of transparency.
“Nonetheless, we are still going to work on their books. We still requested clarification in some areas and I am sure they will provide the needed explanation soon.”
He reiterated Senate and the Federal Government’s commitment towards increasing funding to the education sector, to provide quality education to Nigerians, particularly in the area of technical skills.
Earlier, the Executive Secretary of the board, Dr Masa’udu Kazaure, raised concerns on shortage of funds and delay in releases of allocated resources which he said was undermining the quality of technical education in the country.
Kazaure, represented by Ekpenyong Ekpenyong, the board’s Director of Physical Planning and Development, said that NBTE would continue to do its best in ensuring quality of technical education.
He said: “Our main goal is to ensure quality and relevance of technical and vocational education in Nigeria through quality teaching, assessment and certification.
“For technical education to be relevant, employers must be confident that their employees received quality training and acquired the needed capacity to add value.”
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