A seeking the establishment of the Federal Polytechnic, Onueke, Ezza South LGA, Ebonyi State has scaled second reading in the Senate.
The bill sponsored by the lawmaker representing Ebonyi Central in the Senate, Senator Kenneth Eze had earlier passed the first reading on August 1, 2023.
Senator Eze while leading the debate on the bill stressed that establishing the Polytechnic will further expand access to quality skilled-based education to meet up with current demands.
He noted that Polytechnics are renowned for their central place in producing technically sound graduates in line with demand of the labour market as well as the Information Commutations Technology driven modern economy.
According to the lawmaker, “We must acknowledge the tremendous efforts made by the government in expanding access to education for all Nigerians, particularly at the tertiary level.
“However, there is still more work to be done, especially in addressing the skill-based educational needs of under-served regions.
“Before now, the quest to acquire higher educational certificates was borne out of the sole need for a white-collar job. Perhaps, it worked in the past but times have changed and our country needs to move with the global trend.
“Globally, tertiary education is tailored to the skills-set of individuals and to solve societal problems. As a reliable instrument for the economic re-engineering of nations, Polytechnics are renowned for providing practical and skill-based education, specializing in technical disciplines, ICT and applied sciences which basically admits nations into the global community driven by skills and technology acquisition.
“The secret to the economic success and prosperity of nations such as China, India, Korea, Singapore and Brazil could be traced to huge investments in technological skills development.
Supporting the bill, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (APC, Abia North) said that the establishment of the polytechnic will further boost technical education in Nigeria. Kalu called on his colleagues to support the bill as it is targeted at providing a space for Nigerian youths now in the future as sound technical education was a sure pathway to a sustainable future.
Other lawmakers who supported the bill including Senator Jimoh Ibrahim (APC, Ondo) and Senator Victor Umeh (LP, Anambra) commended Sen. Eze for sponsoring the bill, they urged other lawmakers to support the bill.
After a resounding unanimous support for the bill, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin who presided over the plenary commended Sen Eze for sponsoring the bill and subsequently committed the bill the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education for further legislative action. The committee was mandated to report back to the Senate in two weeks.