The Federal Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHESTCO), Abuja has organized a one-week capacity building workshop on “Retooling Workshop for Technical Teachers”.
While declaring the workshop open, the Director in charge of Technology and Science Education, Dr. Mrs Olodo M.A., stated that the workshop is ”aimed at enhancing the potentials of teachers for effective service delivery and is in line with the Federal Ministry of Education’s effort to build the capacity of Technical Teachers at all levels and by extension, facilitate the production of competent Craftsmen and Technicians that will compete favorably in the global labour market”.
According to Mrs. Olodo, the objectives of the retooling workshop are to ensure that: Teachers’ knowledge, skills and competences are enhanced for effective curriculum delivery; Teachers connect the curriculum with real life situations; Teachers handle the teaching of difficult concepts using the best and easiest approaches of teaching methods; and safety and health in the workshop
The Director further emphasized that Technical and Vocational Education is one of the critical areas where the government is focusing on in order to address the challenges relating to skills development and eradication of poverty, harping that the Ministry in its bid to strengthen TVET Education has embarked on projects and programs that would create access for youths in skills acquisition through the establishment of the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF), dissemination of National Policy on Skills Development, intervention from the World Bank’s Innovative Development for Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) project, African Development Bank (ADB) intervention projects and other programmes that are geared towards development of technology and skills; most especially the recent TVET Initiative of the Ministry which has led to the transitioning of FSTCs to FTCs.
Skills has become the new global currency to operate with and be relevant in the global and local labor markets and rapidly changing workforce, hence our nation at this point in time requires our youths to be highly skilled in order to solve the problem of unemployment, insecurity and youth restiveness, thereby enabling them to be self-reliant, entrepreneurs, job creators and not job seekers. Therefore, the importance of this retooling of technical teachers cannot be overemphasized.
She further highlighted that the training is specially designed for Master Trainers in the various trades and are expected to cascade the training acquired in this workshop to other teachers in their various colleges for optimal performance in teaching of the various TVET subjects and trades.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director-General of SHESTCO, Prof. Paul Onyenekwe said the choice of SHESTCO as venue for the training is imperative and apt in view of the fact that one of the major mandates of SHESTCO is to carry out structured manpower training to meet the growing needs of Nigeria in the areas of high technology and providing avenues through which all the institutions of higher learning in Nigeria may carry out capital intensive research on a cost effective basis.
The SHESTCO Director-General and Chief Executive Officer also encouraged the participants to engage fully in the sessions, share experiences, and learn from one another, with the knowledge gained in order to empower students with the skills needed to succeed in a rapidly changing technological world.
In his introductory remarks, Acting Director and Head of the General Services Department, housing the Electromechanical Workshop and anchor of the capacity training workshop stated that the capacity building of technical and vocational education teachers on the use of modern equipment and new approaches to the teaching of technical subjects , this workshop provides opportunity for the participants to gain knowledge and acquire skills that will enhance their performance as well as foster entrepreneurship.
The focus of the workshop is practical skills acquisition and to do that the workshop will cover the following trade areas: welding practices, machining and fittings, design and installation of solar system, garment and shoe making, smart security system and home automation.
Engr. Clement Ayegba concluded by encouraging the participants to feel free with the facilitators in order to maximize the gains of the capacity training workshop.
While closing the workshop, the Director-General of SHESTCO, Prof. Paul Onyenekwe, represented by Engr. Clement Ayegba, highlighted an overview of the Workshop in the following statement:
“It has been an engaging and exciting week here in SHESTCO. After the tour of the facility in the Complex, the participants were actively engaged in the various trade areas, the participants showed a lot of enthusiasm and desire to learn during the different sessions with active involvement on how to produce various products using the knowledge gained and skills acquired”.
At the end of Workshop, the various trade groups manufactured products with the skills acquired to include products such as Pulley for industrial application; biomass stove; garments with various design using beads; foot wears; and electronic device for home automation.
