The federal government has approved N25 billion for the upgrade of laboratories and workshops in public universities, polytechnics and colleges of education (technical).

The executive secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Sonny Echono, disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja at the inauguration of a 55-member committee of TETFund National Research Fund and Screening (NRFS&MC).

The event also featured the inauguration of 48 committee members of the fund’s Technical Advisory Group (TAG).

Mr Echono explained that the fund’s Board of Trustees established the NRF Screening and Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC), which is charged with implementing and administering the intervention.

He said that in 2020, the committee reviewed the three thematic areas of the NRF research spectrum and incorporated emerging issues of national developmental challenges that required innovative solutions.

“And one of the things we discovered was that we have been addressing the issue around accessing and providing infrastructure to facilitate admissions of Nigerians who undertake programmes in our tertiary institutions.

“Over time, due to our poor maintenance culture, we tend to neglect the issue of quality in terms of the equipment that we have in our laboratories, whether they are functional in terms of the workshop,” he said.

Mr Echono added that another N5 billion was also approved for polytechnic skills-related equipment.

He urged the polytechnics to identify three to five skill areas and use the opportunity to remove Nigerians from the streets.

He said that by teaching basic skills, people would be able to fend for themselves and contribute to the economy.

The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, inaugurated the committees and urged the academia to contribute to the nation’s development through their cutting-edge research.

Mr Mamman said the present government had made a major shift to ensure tertiary institutions played their roles in research, innovation, and teaching.

He reiterated the administration’s commitment to reskilling the education sector from primary to tertiary institutions to provide the youths with the required skills.

(NAN)