The proposed N45,000 monthly stipend for students enrolling in the revived Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme will be disbursed by the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), following the approval of a N120 billion grant for the programme’s takeoff by President Bola Tinubu.
TVET, according to the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Bugaje, is an initiative aimed at reviving the dwindling technical skills among Nigerians and revitalizing technical education.
The TVET portal, which is already accepting applications, features two major categories: Short Term Certificate (STC) and Vocational Education and Innovation (VEI).
According to Bugaje, a former Rector of Kaduna Polytechnic, the last time the technical education sector was vibrant was during the colonial and early post-independence periods.
EdubaseNG gathered that, in addition to the N45,000 monthly allowance, the government will also cover teaching expenses for students, pay industry-based supervisors, and finance the cost of skill certification.
Bugaje said, “The N45,000 is not a loan but a grant. Students who benefit from this are not going to pay back,” adding that it is one of the measures to “encourage more people to enroll in technical education.”
Getting Backing of the Law
To ensure that the TVET initiative outlives the Bola Tinubu administration, the NBTE disclosed that the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, is sponsoring a legislative bill—alongside other stakeholders in the education sector—to establish a National Skills Fund under a new Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).
If passed by the National Assembly, the bill will establish the National Skills Fund, which will continue to finance TVET institutions, “not only those in government colleges but also those in the private sector.”
Both programmes—NELFUND and the proposed National Skills Fund—will be domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Education.
NELFUND had already disbursed N30.1 billion to institutions across Nigeria as institutional loans and N26.6 billion as upkeep loans to undergraduates at government-owned institutions as of June 2, 2025, with 298,124 students benefited from the education so far.
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