NBTE to stop physical accreditation of institutions

The executive committee of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has said effective from August 2024 there will be no physical accreditation or other quality assurance activities in institutions.

This was contained in a statement issued by the head, media unit, Fatima Abubakar and made available to the Nigerian Tribune in Kaduna on Sunday.

The statement said the decision was taken at its 197th executive committee of the board, saying,”In response to the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and the Federal Government’s strategic emphasis on digitally-driven policies, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) has unveiled a technology-driven quality assurance process for Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.

“Developed under the leadership of the Executive Secretary, Prof. Idris M. Bugaje, this approach leverages technology in all quality assurance activities, reduces personnel deployment, and minimizes physical contact.

“The board aspires to deliver more efficient, effective, and transparent quality assurance processes, ensuring cost-effectiveness and the integrity of all its regulatory functions.

“Thus, at its 197th Executive Committee meeting held on Thursday, 18th July 2024, the NBTE acknowledged the tremendous progress made in driving its digitalisation policy, describing it as a significant leap forward.

“The board has now fully transitioned to a digital platform for all quality assurance processes. Effective August 2024, there will be no more physical accreditation or other quality assurance activities in the institutions under the Board’s purview.

“This transition has led to a significant increase in digital activities on the platform and has been largely successful. Some of the successes recorded so far by the digitalisation policy of the board.”

The statement noted that there has been a substantial increase in the number of institutions and stakeholders engaging with the board’s digital system, now totalling 489. This includes 59 new institutions requiring registration and 430 institutions with expired programs requiring accreditation, reaccreditation, and those initiating requests for a resource inspection.

It also said the digital assessment and documentation processes of seventeen (17) institutions across the six geo-political zones have been completed and approved by the Board. The breakdown is as follows: South West (SW) – 5, South East (SE) – 4, North East (NE) – 1, North West (NW) – 4 and North Central (NC) – 3.

To this end, the board encouraged all polytechnics, other technical Institutions, and relevant stakeholders under its regulatory purview to embrace these technology-driven digitalization processes for a more efficient, effective, and transparent quality assurance exercise that ensures cost-effectiveness and integrity.