BY LAW IBITOYE
The Rector, Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti, Dr. Temitope John Alake has said acquiring vocational and manipulative skills are panacea to mirage of problems bedeviling Nigeria, saying the core mandate of the Institution is to train students to be job creators and not job seekers.
The Rector who hinted that the purpose of education is to acquire acquisition skills to make ends meet without necessarily waiting for white collar jobs.
Dr. Temitope disclosed this during a press conference to showcase his one year achievements in office.The Rector who said “Having certificates this days does not matter but the services you can use your hand to do or services you can render with your certificate. The purpose of education is to acquire skills acquisition.We train our students to have manipulative skills to be job creators ; No one passes through Polytechnic that will not be job creators because the digital economy is already reducing the need for man power”
The Rector who said Polytechnic Technical Arena would help the society to grow, urged parents and the students to cue into the new trend .While appreciating the Federal government for making it compulsory for every Polytechnic students to acquire skills that is different from their primary course of study, Saying such method would help the society to wither some of the challenges its facing.
While reeling his achievements in the last one year, the Polytechnic Boss hinged it on: Diligence, Integrity, Sacrifice, Excellence, Creativity and Team work which he said had helped kept the institution running progressively.
According to the Rector, “Tertiary Education Trust fund has been supportive through different intervention lines, such as infrastructural development, Capital Project Arena, some of the institution’s projects ongoing were gotten through TETFUND and Internally Generated Revenue line . These are all the intervention lines that have been helping us”
Presently, we have two gigantic projects financed by TETFUND; Hostel to be commissioned soon after the perimeter fencing and Civil Engineering complex, A block of four class rooms under construction was built with Internally Generated Fund (IGR), Students car park almost 70 percent completed, Mass communication complex and School of environmental Studies are under construction.The school now benefit from Infrastructure Maintenance Line”
The Rector stressed further that his administration has successfully migrated the Institution’s light from 11KVA – 33 KVA.” After we migrated, we are having an average of 15hours light in 24 hrs which has reduced the cost of burning diesel to generate light via this the bill of the Institution reduced from 15million naira to 7 million naira. Aside that we have replaced over thirty aged long wooden poles in the campus to concrete poles while efforts are on to replace the remaining ones in no distance time”
The Rector who attributed the relative peace on the campus to prioritizing the welfare of the members of staff and the students. He said the rights and benefits of the staff are promptly met ditto the students.” Staff now benefit from TETFUND Development Allocation.
After the removal of fuel subsidy, the management bought transportation buses to convey them to and fro campus at a subsidized rate of #100 per trip which has helped the staff”
The Rector said the array of achievements did not just surface,” I prepared for the job having served under six Rectors, whom i had acquired several experiences” He said the job was demanding but Commended the staff of the Polytechnic for their dedication to duties, professionals saying they are qualify to take up any academic challenges”
While commending the host communities for the cordial relationship, the Rector said there is plan to turn the Institution to semi- Agrarian with mass food production to impacts the society, saying such move would help address scarcity of food.
To achieve massive production of food and for the institution to continue in its vocational and technical driven, the Rector pleaded with philanthropists and old Students Association to provide the institution with : Tractors, Pen -houses and hostel buildings among others. He said government alone can not adequately fund education.