Nigeria Launches AI-Powered TVET Revolution as NBTE, COL Host Game-Changing Digital Workshop in Kaduna

In a major breakthrough for Nigeria’s technical education sector, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), in partnership with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), has successfully hosted a first-of-its-kind Trainer-in-the-Loop Artificial Intelligence (TiL AI) Workshop—a bold leap toward fully integrating artificial intelligence into the future of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

The two-day workshop, held from June 19 to 20, 2025, at NBTE’s Centre of Excellence in Kaduna, focused on using AI to develop curriculum-aligned Open Educational Resources (OERs) for Science Laboratory Technology (SLT). This pioneering event is now being hailed as a national turning point in TVET digital transformation.

NBTE Executive Secretary, Prof. Idris M. Bugaje, opened the event by applauding COL’s alignment with NBTE’s long-term digital vision and reaffirmed the Board’s dedication to pushing AI-driven innovation across all vocational disciplines.

“This collaboration is only the beginning,” Prof. Bugaje declared. “NBTE will expand AI-enhanced resource development into other critical areas of need. What we’ve started here with COL will set a new benchmark for Nigeria’s TVET ecosystem.”

Known for his bold reforms in digital education, Bugaje has positioned the NBTE Centre of Excellence as Nigeria’s go-to hub for tech-driven capacity building and innovation in skills development.

The TiL AI workshop falls under COL’s broader Skills for Work (SfW) initiative, which is currently being implemented across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and Jamaica. Leading the Kaduna workshop was Dr. Obasa Adekunle Isiaka, COL’s in-country consultant, who emphasized the role of human-centered AI in crafting quality, relevant, and accessible educational content.

“This initiative isn’t about replacing trainers—it’s about empowering them with AI tools to scale, personalize, and improve learning outcomes in real time,” Dr. Isiaka explained.

Participants at the workshop included educators, curriculum developers, and digital learning experts from across the country, who engaged in hands-on sessions designed to demystify AI integration in TVET delivery.

The implications of this initiative are massive. By combining AI with skilled human input, Nigeria could soon lead the African continent in producing scalable, affordable, and high-quality vocational training content—especially in high-demand fields like science, technology, and engineering.

As the NBTE-COL collaboration gains momentum, plans are already underway to replicate the AI-powered approach across multiple disciplines and institutions nationwide.