The federal government has upgraded 38 federal and state technical colleges as part of a broad reform to equip Nigerian youths with internationally competitive skills.

The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, disclosed this on Monday during the 2025 Quarterly Citizens and Stakeholders Engagement on the Nigeria Education Sector Renewal Initiative (NESRI) in Abuja.

According to Mr Alausa, the initiative aims to shift Nigeria’s education system toward a skill-based, knowledge-driven economy.

He revealed that the government had introduced a dual-training model in the technical colleges, with students spending 80 per cent of their time in practical training and 20 per cent in the classroom.

“Artisans will be paid to mentor trainees, establishing a new value chain in the education sector.

“Our goal is to train five million young Nigerians with globally relevant skills within four years,” Alausa stated.

He said, ”NESRI addresses issues of access, quality, inclusivity, research, and professional development in education.”

Highlighting the challenges, Mr Alausa noted that Nigeria currently had 15 million out-of-school children and over 45 million classified as learning poor.

He said that adolescent girls, particularly the six million aged 12–19 currently out of school, remained a key focus of the reforms.

Mr Alausa announced that the National Examinations Council and the West African Examinations Council would begin conducting computer-based tests (CBT) from November 2025, with full digitisation of all national examinations, including JAMB, by 2027.

He said the move was to tackle examination fraud and enhance integrity.

The Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, emphasised the importance of TVET in addressing Nigeria’s skills gap and reducing reliance on foreign workers.

“We have seen companies hiring 60 per cent of their workforce from abroad. That must change,” Ms Ahmad said.

Muntari Dandutse, chair of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, pledged legislative support for the reforms, calling education “the heart of national transformation.”

(NAN)