Skill ‘G’ Nigeria Limited has delivered State-of-the–art Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) hands-on equipment to Benue State University. The supply is part of the education transformation project initiated by President Goodluck Jonathan. The project was awarded to Skill ‘G’ Nigeria Limited by the federal government through the Tertiary Education Training Fund (TETFund). This supply of equipment is meant to complete the 2nd and final phase of the expansion/completion project in special science, engineering and technology (set) initiative. The beneficiaries of this intervention include 72 other public state and federal universities.
The project as designed has four components. These components are:
Skill ‘G’ partnered with Gregory University, Uturu Resource Centre for the capacity building/training of the 292 lecturers/ technologists from 73 universities. Four lecturers in the Department of Vocational and Technical Education at the Benue State University received the training.
The next phase is the rehabilitation of workshops and installation of the equipment for use by the Department of Vocational and Technical Education to train students in the technological areas of Autotronics, Electronics, Hydraulics and Pneumatics, Mechatronics, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning, Robotics, and Solar Energy.
The essence of the project, apart from supply and delivery of laboratory equipment, as well as rehabilitation of facilities, is to upscale the skills of teachers and lecturers in modern technology so as to equip them to prepare students for the world of work. The aim is to train both teachers and students who would be able to work across engineering and technology disciplines such as mechanical processes, electrical processes, agriculture, communication, robotics, etc. to identify and use the proper combination of technologies for optimum solutions to today’s increasingly challenging problems.
The teaching and learning laboratories / workshops deployed to Benue State University by this project will go a long way to assist the lecturers and technologists to be more effective in the use of new technology equipment and provide expanded opportunities for effective hands-on learning and teaching of students. This is for sure, a big boost to the effective take-off of the newly approved upgrading of the Department of Vocational and Technical Education to a Faculty of Technology and Industrial Studies.