Overview of the Nigerian Skills Qualifications

Framework (NSQF)

BY
OLUBODE DANIEL MAJIYAGBE
DD (NSQD)
NBTE, KADUNA
 PRESENTATION TOPICS

Introduction
Brief on NBTE
Challenges of the TVE System
Introduction to the NSQF
National Occupational Standards, NOS
Prospects of the NSQF & progress on Implementation
NSQs, available NSQs, actors delivering, how to acquire
Current Strategies
Conclusion
 INTRODUCTION (NSQF)

New Initiatives for Repositioning the

Technical and Vocational Education
TVET Sector for National Development
and Global Competitiveness
We are in a race…

4
 Brief on NBTE

Vision

To be a world class regulatory body for the promotion

of Technical and Vocational Education and Training
in Nigeria

Mission
To promote the production of skilled technical and
professional manpower for the development and
sustenance of the National Economy
 Our Functions

THESE ARE PRINCIPALLY DERIVED FROM OUR

ENABLING LAWS:

 These functions of the Board are derived in its

enabling Act No. 9 of 11th January, 1977

 Education/National Minimum Standard and

Establishment of Institution Act No. 16 of August
1985 and Act No. 9 of 1993.
 Brief on NBTE
Coordinate all aspect of Technical and Vocational Education and
Training falling outside the Universities
Determine, after consultation with such other bodies, the skilled
manpower needs of the country in the industrial, commercial and
other relevant fields
Quality Assurance: establishment and maintenance of minimum
standards in polytechnics and other technical institutions in the
Federation
Setting National Minimum Standards on Programmes leading to the
award of ND,HND,P-HND,NID, NVC,NBC,NTC,ANTC and ANBC
 Over 280 curricula
 Over 550 technical institutions
 Summary of TVE Institutions & Ownership
S/No Institution Type Ownership Total
Federal State Private
1 Polytechnics 28 41 30 99
2 Colleges of 19 16 0 35
Agriculture
3 Colleges of Health 17 8 1 26
Science
4 Specialized 19 3 2 24
Institutions
5 Innovation Enterprise 0 0 128 128
Institutions (IEI)
6 Technical Colleges 17 151 3 171
7 Vocational Enterprise 0 0 73 73
Institutions (VEI)
8 Others (If any) 0 0 0 0
Total 100 219 237 556
 Challenges
The TVET Sector is faced with the following challenges,
amongst others, that necessitate the formation of the
NSQF:
 Limited Access; low enrolment particularly Science
and Technology-based programmes and the JAMB
‘bottle neck’. For over 1.5m seeking admission less than
0.5m spaces are available
 Limited Funding
 Limited/Obsolescence of Equipment & Tools for
Training
 Skills mismatch. Skills obtained through training and
those required by the job often do not match, resulting
in skills shortages in some areas and, simultaneously, a
surplus of workers with skills that are not in demand,
contributing to unemployment.
 Challenges
 Lack of effective linkages with industries to facilitate
staff exposure to use modern methods, processes and
technology in industries.
 Dearth of academic staff with cognate industry
and academic experience relevant for the training
of students to meet the contemporary needs of
employers.
 Low societal estimation as an inferior form of
education, e.g. B.Sc./HND dichotomy
 Proliferation of Illegal TVET Institutions
 Lack of standardization and development of non
formal TVET.
 Challenges ...Cont’d

 Limited labour market information : with youth unemployment

problem soaring every day, we need a system that will provide
skills requirement of employers so as to develop a strategy of
closing the gap. The following issues must be tackled first.
 how do we prepare youth for employment or self employment in the formal or
the informal economic sector?
 what are the skills gaps in the labour market
 what sectors are in most need of skills
 what opportunities exist for public and private sector partnership in the delivery
of quality skills training?

NIGERIAN SKILLS QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK (NSQF) AS A

NECESSITY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF THE IMPASSE
 
National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF)
To address the Skill needs of teeming youths and the ever
rising challenges of unemployment and under
employment, NBTE in partnership with other skills
development stakeholders have commenced the
institutionalisation of NSQF in Nigeria.
 NSQF is an instrument for the development,
classification and recognition of skills, knowledge and
competencies acquired through a variety of ways by
citizens of the country irrespective of the method of
training or skill acquisition.
 It is a way of structuring existing and new qualifications
which are defined by learning outcomes.
 Objectives of NSQF…

The main objectives of the Framework are:

Ensure the quality, status, relevance and availability of TVET
provisions
Reduce the complexity and ambiguity of selecting competent persons
to occupational positions by industry
Provide training, assessment and certification opportunities for the
formal, non-formal and informal TVET
Establish pathways and progression from non-formal and informal
short courses provided by various government agencies, NGOs and
industry, to formal TVET programmes
Narrow the gaps between what TVET graduates know and can do and
the skills and knowledge that employers say they need
Overcome limited progression possibilities and demand for TVET
that far exceeds supply
 NSQF ….
 NSQF is based on National Skills Qualifications (NSQs),
which is a 'competence-based' qualification. This means that
training/learning for such qualification involves a series of
practical, work-related tasks designed to ensure that trainee
develops the skills, knowledge and necessary attitude to do a
job effectively.

 NSQs are the first national attempt to base vocational

qualifications solely on competences or outcomes rather than
inputs or processes

 They are based on National Occupational Standards (NOS)

 NSQF ….
NATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL STANDARDS (NOS)
 NOS are standards set out by industry bodies or Skills
Councils based on occupations or trades and provide the
building blocks of NSQs
 These NOS spell out precisely what a competent person in a
job is expected to do. Learners or trainees are continuously
monitored by training guides, master-trainers, or internal
assessors, at their workplace or place of apprenticeship,
 Trainees progress through various levels of increasing
complexity in NSQs.
 For each level candidates go through series of scheduled job
tasks, and when considered ready to be assessed for a
particular qualification, they are ‘tested’ by recognised
External Assessors.
 The Prospects of NSQF in Nigeria
The development and institutionalization of NSQF will:
Provide policy guidelines on organizing skills training to
improve product quality, productivity and competitiveness in
both formal and informal sector
Provide a coherent structure for vocational qualifications,
which are based on employment-led standards of
competence
Increase industry ownership of the traineeship system which
enhance stakeholders input to major decisions
Determine the levels of award, which enable clear routes of
progression, and appropriate awards, which relate to
employment
Determine convenient systems for recognition of prior
achievement
 The Prospects of NSQF in Nigeria Cont’d
Expand access to education particularly lifelong learning
through TVE
Provide system for upskilling, reskilling etc. of Nigerian
youths and working adults
Expand training opportunities so that they are more evenly
spread across the workforce meeting the needs of all
enterprises more equitably
Facilitate access to, and mobility and progression within
education, training and career paths
Provide a policy framework for flexible curricula based on
National Occupational Standards (NOS) dictated by the
industry
 Actors Delivering NSQs

The training providers/Assessment

Centres
The Awarding Bodies
The Sector Skills Councils
The Regulatory Agency
The Funding Agencies
 Actors Delivering NSQs

SSCs

Technical and Financial

Partners
Awarding Other
Bodies
NBTE Stakeholders

Training
Centres
20
Assessment Centres Training Providers

deliver NSQ training in

Assess NSQs according partnership with the
to Awarding body industry;
guidelines.
Register candidates;
and

Assess and guide

candidates towards
achieving NSQs.
 Awarding Body

Awarding Bodies are basically the top-level training certification organisations (the
ones whose names and logos are on the certificates). They don't deliver the training

Design, assessment and quality assurance systems, and gain sector bodies
endorsement prior to submission to NBTE for accreditation of the qualification.

Approve training and assessment centres to offer NSQs;

Implement and assure quality of the NSQs;

Design the structures of the qualifications ;

Accredit the certification, which the training organisations and Assessment Centres
use to deliver;

Undertake external verification to ensure that candidates are being assessed fairly
and consistently across all centres.
 
 Sector Skills Councils SSCs
Identify, define and update employment-based
standards of competence for agreed occupations.

Develop NOS

Effectively represent the interests of the trade or

industry concerned, to which the particular NSQ
relates.

Define what the job entails.

 Regulatory Agency

NBTE effectively coordinates the whole system on

behalf of the Government.

Accredits proposals for qualifications submitted by

awarding bodies,

Monitors Awarding bodies offering NSQs, and

Manage and update database for the qualification

 Progress on Implementation
 Trained over 500 Assessors for the delivery of the NSQs and still on going.
 30 External Verifiers trained
 Trained over 90 Internal Verifiers and many more to come.
 NSQ Code of Practice sets out the responsibilities for Awarding Bodies (ABs)
and their approved training centres for the administration, assessment and
verification of NSQs. It contains the regulatory requirements for NSQ
training centres, awarding bodies and the sector skills councils and specifies
their roles and responsibilities.
 Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), Awarding Bodies and Training Centres were
approved to commence operation as soon since the National Occupational
Classification (NOC) have been undertaken.
 NSQ Operational Manual provides an overview of the systems and describes,
step-by­step procedures involved in implementing NSQ assessment and
certification in Nigeria. It provides a system of instructions to ensure that all
stakeholders, industry partners, technical/ vocational institutions and
instructors have a shared understanding of the activities that need to be
undertaken.
 NSQ Database is being developed 25
Available National Skills Qualifications (NSQs)
S/N NOS VALIDATED BY LEVELS
 

1 Travelling and Tourism NIHOTOUR a sector skills council 1 to 3

2 Hospitality and Catering NIHOTOUR a sector skills council 1 to 3

3 Masonry CORBON a sector skills council 1 to 3

4 Carpentry and Joinery CORBON a sector skills council 1 to 3
5 Welding and Fabrication CORBON a sector skills council 1 to 3

6 Electrical Installation CORBON a sector skills council 1 to 3

7 Plumbing CORBON a sector skills council 1 to 3
8 Painting and Decoration CORBON a sector skills council 1 to 3
9 Tiling CORBON a sector skills council 1 to 3
10 Automotive Mechanics NADDC a sector skills council 1 to 3
11 Garment Making NBTE in partnership with MAFITA and 1 and 2
other Stakeholders
12 Furniture Making NBTE in partnership with MAFITA and 1 and 2
other Stakeholders
 Available National Skills Qualifications (NSQs)
S/N NOS VALIDATED BY LEVELS
 

13 Office Management NBTE in partnership with MAFITA and 1 and 2

other Stakeholders
14 Tricycle and Motor cycle NBTE in partnership with MAFITA and 1 and 2
assembly and repairs other Stakeholders
15 Leather works NBTE in partnership with MAFITA and 1 and 2
other Stakeholders
16 Rice Milling NBTE in partnership with MAFITA and 1 and 2
other Stakeholders
17 GSM Repairs NBTE in partnership with MAFITA and 1 and 2
other Stakeholders
18 Computer Repairs NBTE in partnership with MAFITA and 1 and 2
other Stakeholders
19 Satellite Installation and NBTE in partnership with MAFITA and 1 and 2
Maintenance other Stakeholders
20 Refrigeration and Air- NBTE in partnership with MAFITA and 1 and 2
conditioning servicing and other Stakeholders
repairs
 Available National Skills Qualifications (NSQs)
S/N NOS VALIDATED BY LEVELS
 

21 Food and Beverage Service NIHOTOUR a sector skills council 1 and 2

22 House keeping operations NIHOTOUR a sector skills council 1 and 2

23 Laundry and dry cleaning NIHOTOUR a sector skills council 1 and 2

24 NIHOTOUR a sector skills council 1 and 2

25

26

27

28
 How to Acquire a NSQ
Find an appropriate Awarding Body (AB)
Register with a training provider
Agree on the Qualification and level to be pursued
Get an approved Assessor and get inducted
Agree on Training and Assessment Schedule
Acquire Training that fits the NOS Units in the
NSQ
Alternatively go for Recognition of Prior Learning
(RPL)
Generate your evidences and build a portfolio
Submit your portfolio with the AB for Certification
 Our Strategies
To fast track the institutionalisation of NSQF in
Nigeria, there is the need to:
Harmonise training standards: develop additional NOS
Conduct classification of NOS into NSQs
Train Quality Assurance Assessors and Verifiers, and External
Verifiers
Approve selected Centres to become assessment Centres
Develop the capacity of the Managers of Skills Centres
Support Sector Skills Councils to conduct skills gap analysis
Produce a functional Skills Development Policy for Nigeria
Our Strategies Cont’d
Establish a funding scheme for the programme(scheme
of paying the Trainees and Trainers)
Establishing TVET Consolidation Fund
Develop a data bank on the product of the system
Develop a system of incentives for participating
industry/colleges/skills centres
Fast track the placement of holders of NSQs in the
National scheme of service
Legislative framework (NBTE’s Act for the take off )
Awarding Bodies
Training Providers (Workplace or College/Skills centre)
 Conclusion

In order to address the myriad of issues confronting the TVET

sector the Ministry and NBTE have, for the last decade,
implemented various projects and development initiatives that
were aimed at eliminating or reducing the effects of these
challenges in TVET. Most of these initiatives are being run in
collaboration with National and International development
partners such UNESCO, the German GIZ, the British Council
and DFID, the World Bank, UNDP, AfDB, the ECOWAS
Commission, FME, NABTEB, NIHOTOUR, NAPTIN etc.
 Conclusion

 Industry, regulating bodies and other stakeholders should

collaborate with the Board in the Implementation of the
Framework
 Training Providers and ABs should aim to train their Assessors,
Internal Verifiers and External Verifiers
 To overcome some of the challenges, government should adopt
NSQs as a strategy for skills development and
 Formulate a National skills development policy/plan for
Nigeria.
 National Skills Development Council
END OF PRESENTATION

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