Godwin Kingsley, Lafia Nasarawa state government has approved guidelines for the establishment of private tertiary institutions in the state.
Mr. Philip Shekwo, the state Commissioner for Higher Education disclosed this on Wednesday in Lafia, when he met with proprietors of private tertiary institutions in the state.
He noted that the move became necessary to check the proliferation of substandard
tertiary institutions in the state.
The commissioner said all exiting institutions, which failed to meet the requirements within the next three months would be shut down. Shekwo pointed out that tertiary education was crucial to the development of any society as the hub for the training of manpower, which drives the economy.
“It is keeping with this fact that the Governor Umar Al-Makura led administration decide to establish a separate Ministry for Higher education,” Shekwo said.
He said the government was poised to reposition the higher education policy of the state to meet up with international best practice and urged all stakeholders to key in for the
actualisation of that goal.
“Government’s major preoccupation is to ensure that all private tertiary institutions in the state are well grounded in terms of facilities and personnel to offer quality education to our students,” Shekwo added.
He maintained that government would always encourage the establishment of technology based institutions saying,
“We are trying to emphasise on skills acquisition and proficiency of the students rather than paper qualification, and that is why there is need for the institutions to have adequate training equipments.”
The commissioner, who commended the efforts of the proprietors for their contribution to the educational development of the state, however, advised them to abide by the guideline or have their premises closed.
ICIR reports that some of the guideline includes the possession of facilities conducive for learning, adequate trained staff and equipment as well as approvals from relevant government and regulatory agencies.
