A communique issued after a two-day retreat for chairmen and principal officers of federal polytechnics made the appeal.

They also encouraged the government to create a Ministry of Technical and Vocational Education as soon as possible to promote skills training for entrepreneurship and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector for long-term national growth.

The retreat was organized by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) in collaboration with the Committee of Federal Polytechnic Rectors for Chairmen and Principal Officers of Federal Polytechnics, chairmen and rectors of one state polytechnic in each of the six geopolitical zones.

The theme of the retreat is; “Improving Polytechnic Administration: The Role of Governing Councils and Management.”

At the end of the presentations and exhaustive deliberations, participants noted the inadequacy in the funding of polytechnic education in Nigeria and suggested allocation of at least 20 percent of the national budget for the funding of education and 50 percent of which should go to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) to fund research and development in the Polytechnics.

They also noted the over-dependence of polytechnics on TETFund intervention for the running of Institutions. The participants suggested that councils and managements should reach out to development agencies and non-governmental organizations and also look inwards for improved Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).