The federal government has inaugurated technical working groups to ensure that gas entrepreneurial skill is infused into the curriculum of technical colleges.

Petroleum resources ministry’s permanent secretary, Nicholas Ella, inaugurated the groups on Wednesday in Abuja. Mr Ella said that the move would enhance technical education in the country.

The groups include the National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE).

The permanent secretary emphasised the need for innovation in the technical education sector, saying that many institutions lagged in adapting to global technological advancements.

Mr Ella said, “Globally, it is now a norm that graduands of technical colleges possess soft skills that make them entrepreneurs as soon as they leave the institution. There is a deliberate effort of those nations to introduce specialised skills into the curriculum of higher institutions, especially technical college that bridges the skill gaps in key sectors of the economy.

“Technology and innovation are driven by people, and as such it behoves on us to make that conscious effort to now introduce specialise training modules to our technical colleges’ curriculum.”

Mr Ella said the TWG’s primary objective was to develop and design a comprehensive curriculum to train gas entrepreneurs in monotechnics and Polytechnics across Nigeria.

He said that this would cover various aspects of the gas value chain, including LPG, CNG, LNG, and biogas.

(NAN)