Borno State Governor Babagana Umara Zulum has directed the development of a comprehensive strategy to strengthen vocational education across the three senatorial zones of the state.
The Governor gave the directive on Monday while receiving the report on repositioning technical and vocational education in Borno at the council chamber.
According to Zulum, the new plan is aimed at empowering young people by equipping them with the right skills to meet the needs of industries and boost economic growth. He stressed that technical and vocational institutions must design their programs in a way that addresses the growing gap between education and industry.
“The mismatch between our graduates and the labour market is deep, and if we want to address that, we should ensure that a robust technical and vocational education is established,” Zulum said.
He further explained that although progress has been made in providing vocational skills to the youth, more still needs to be done. “We have achieved a lot in providing vocational skills to our youth; however, along the way, we felt that we are still not doing enough for this. We decided to constitute this committee to reposition the technical and vocational education in Borno State,” the Governor added.
Presenting the committee’s report earlier, its Chairman, Alhaji Goni Ibrahim, said the review was conducted through site visits, stakeholder consultations, and comparative studies.
Meanwhile, Zulum also instructed the Ministry of Education to integrate technical and vocational education into Sangaya Schools. He said, “I am happy to note that the Executive Secretary of the Sangaya Education Board is here. I have instructed the Commissioner of Education to liaise with you to consider introducing technical and vocational education in our Sangaya schools.”
The Governor commended the Commissioner of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Engr Lawan Abba Wakilbe, saying, “I want to commend the leadership of the commissioner of Education, for all the good works that he has been doing.”