The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, has initiated the transformation of the National Board for Technical Education, NBTE, to reposition the institution as a high-performing regulator and strategic enabler of Nigeria’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training, TVET, ecosystem.
A statement by Ikharo Attah, the Special Adviser to the Media and Communications, disclosed that the Education Ministry engaged KPMG Advisory Services to undertake a comprehensive institutional assessment and develop a future-fit organisational structure, governance model, and operating framework that will enhance the Board’s ability to deliver on its mandate.
According to him, Alausa said the engagement reflects the Ministry’s commitment to ensuring that the institutions responsible for driving technical education are appropriately structured, adequately resourced, and positioned to provide effective leadership for the country’s skills development agenda.
“The success of Nigeria’s TVET reforms depends not only on curriculum and infrastructure, but also on the strength and effectiveness of the institutions responsible for implementation and oversight,” the Minister said.
He explained that the assessment will identify institutional gaps and opportunities for improvement across governance, organisational design, operating processes, workforce capability, and service delivery, with recommendations aimed at enhancing effectiveness, accountability, and impact.
“Technical and vocational education is fundamentally about skills. Everything within the polytechnic system is ultimately geared towards developing competencies that create pathways to employment, entrepreneurship, and productivity,” he stated.
This philosophy, he explained, is guiding the ongoing review of polytechnic curricula and the development of National Occupational Standards (NOS) to ensure that training programmes remain relevant to industry needs, technological advancements, and emerging economic opportunities.
Supported by a ₦1 billion intervention from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), the curriculum modernisation programme has produced 27 new National Occupational Standards and updated four existing standards, bringing the total number of reviewed standards to 31.
The Minister stressed that the reforms are intended to ensure that technical education graduates emerge with practical, market-relevant competencies that enhance employability, foster entrepreneurship, and improve national productivity.
Providing an industry perspective, Oluwole Adelokun, Partner, Strategy and Customer Solutions at KPMG Africa and KPMG in Nigeria, noted that the firm’s assessment highlighted both the structural challenges confronting Nigeria’s TVET landscape and the significant opportunities that exist to unlock its potential through targeted reforms and institutional strengthening.
Oluwole observed that approximately 93 percent of Nigeria’s workforce operates within the informal economy, while nearly 12 percent of young people are not engaged in education, employment, or skills training, reinforcing the need for a more inclusive and responsive skills development system.
“The ultimate objective is to build a more agile, effective, and future-ready institution capable of delivering on its mandate and supporting the realisation of President Tinubu’s vision of a highly skilled, productive, and globally competitive Nigerian workforce,” he said.
