Education Ministry Explores TVET Sports Training for Young Nigerians
The Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, is considering whether courses run by the National Institute for Sports (NIS) can be brought into the federal government's Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) push. This would bring TVET sports training to young Nigerians so that they gain skills employers want. It would also expand the job market and give the sports sector a lift.
The minister said this in Abuja while meeting NIS Director-General, Comrade Philip Shaibu. The two men discussed how the education and sports bodies could work more closely together.
He believes education and athletics should reinforce one another. A well-designed programme of study in this area, he noted, could nurture talent, open up careers and feed an economy built around athletics that can last.
A Shared Curriculum Framework for Sports Education
Alausa pointed to a shared curriculum framework drawn up with the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), the National Sports Commission, sports specialists and the private sector.
The framework spans six areas:
- Exercise and Sports Science
- Science of Coaching and Athlete Development
- Business and Management in Sport
- Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine
- Data Analytics and Technology in Sport
- Sports Law
It is meant to back structured athletic programmes at tertiary institutions, specifically universities, polytechnics as well as colleges of education, offering pathways that reach well beyond conventional physical education.
How TVET Sports Training Could Work
Alausa said the TVET platform at national level might take in a number of NIS activities. These include foundational training, coaching, and the maintenance of sporting facilities, once the necessary clearances and conditions of the programme are met.
According to him, trainees could possibly enrol on programmes at the institute's centres, which are in eight states. Short courses lasting up to half a year might also be considered where they fit.
Further consultations, he said, would be needed before a framework for putting this into practice could be settled.
The minister emphasised that spending on sports infrastructure has to go hand in hand with a trained workforce able to keep facilities in line with international standards.
He said young Nigerians could find work in areas such as pitch maintenance, grounds keeping and games instruction. He added that building expertise at home might reduce the dependence on foreign labour.
What the National TVET Programme Has Achieved So Far
Alausa also cited figures reported for the national TVET programme. He said that about 1,200 centres have so far trained, or produced graduates numbering, upwards of 250,000 people over the last year to year and a half.
He observed that around 98 per cent of the facilities are operated by private providers, and that every trainee receives ₦30,000 monthly as an allowance.
In his view, matching vocational training to what the sports sector requires could open up more jobs, improve how facilities are managed and help build a sports economy that lasts.
NIS Director-General Makes the Case for Grassroots Sports
Earlier, Shaibu praised the minister's education reforms and the fresh priority given to practical trade and technical training.
Drawing on his time as Deputy Governor of Edo State, he argued for making sports part of the school system.
He pointed to a scheme in Edo State that set aside five per cent of the 30 per cent given to the ongoing evaluation grade for sports. It covered pupils at both the primary and the secondary levels.
He said the shortage of trained games teachers and accredited coaches is a major obstacle to growing sports at the grassroots.
The NIS Director-General also drew attention to the institute's spread into all six geopolitical zones and the more than 1,000 trainers it has produced in a single year. He also pointed to a 2025–2035 blueprint aimed at making it more sustainable and less reliant on government funding.
Among the efforts he described were bringing back its certificate courses in executive management, fitness and coaching, and tightening the certification of coaches. They also included training groundsmen and opening career paths for athletes who are retiring.
He called for the basic training course run by the institute to be folded into the TVET system. He also called for firmer institutional backing to widen how many people it can train and to secure its finances.
Alausa restated the ministry's pledge to work alongside the NIS and the National Sports Commission. The aim is to tighten the link between schooling, skills training and the development of sports.
According to him, giving young Nigerians practical skills that industry can use would widen job opportunities and grow local capacity. It would also support a sports sector that can sustain itself through TVET sports training.
