By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The Federal Government is partnering the United Kingdom to prepare Nigerian youths for global job opportunities, focusing on technical and vocational education and training, digital skills, and industry-led apprenticeships under President Bola Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda.
Tunji Alausa, Minister of Education, made this known during a bilateral meeting with UK’s Minister of State for Skills, Baroness Smith, on the sidelines of the 2026 education world forum in London.
Dr. Alausa says, the government is repositioning TVET as a key driver of employment and productivity by aligning education reforms with labour market needs in priority sectors including clean energy, healthcare, engineering, digital technology, and artificial intelligence, as Nigeria is implementing a modern skills framework built on quality assurance, stronger industry participation, globally recognised accreditation, and structured apprenticeship pathways to meet current and future workforce demands.
The partnership will involve Federal Technical Colleges, the National Board for Technical Education, and other agencies to support joint curriculum development, staff exchanges, accreditation alignment, and skills matching with both countries agreeing on plans for UK skills institutions to visit Nigeria to co-develop programmes.
The engagement also prioritises raising the status of TVET through industry recognition and clearer career progression pathways, drawing from reforms under skills England.
Dr. Alausa, as a member of the Global Partnership for Education board, urges continued UK support for the GPE 2026–2030 replenishment campaign, which Nigeria will co-host with Italy during the UN General Assembly in September 2026.
Baroness Smith commends Nigeria’s reforms and pledges to advocate sustained UK support.
