By Rasheeda Hamidu
The Federal Government has directed the Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) to ensure the effective implementation of 14 new curricula for environmental and public health Higher National Diploma (HND) programmes.
Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, gave the directive on Thursday in Abuja, during the unveiling of the new HND curricula designed to strengthen technical and professional training in environmental and public health.
The curricula cover specialisations in environmental health technology, public health technology, and epidemiology and disease control technology.
Lawal urged EHCON, NBTE and participating institutions to establish capacity-building programmes for lecturers, instructors, assessors and programme coordinators to ensure a common understanding of the curricula and consistent delivery across polytechnics and monotechnics.
He said successful implementation would require qualified teaching personnel, functional laboratories, appropriate equipment and adequate opportunities for students to gain practical field experience.
The minister said particular attention should also be given to institutional readiness, quality assurance, accreditation, practical training, continuous curriculum review, industry participation, research and the application of emerging technologies.
He called for effective mechanisms to monitor outcomes and address gaps identified during implementation.
According to Lawal, the value of the new curricula would ultimately depend on the quality of graduates produced and their ability to address public health and environmental challenges.
He said EHCON and NBTE developed the curricula collaboratively to strengthen technical and professional training in environmental health and provide professionals with opportunities to specialise in critical areas of environmental and public health practice.
Lawal said the programmes would provide a coordinated framework for producing graduates with the technical knowledge, practical skills and professional competencies required in the sector.
The minister described environmental health as central to public health, noting that air and water quality, food safety and waste management have direct implications for human health and productivity.
He said the specialised programmes were timely given Nigeria’s challenges with poor sanitation, unsafe food, pollution, climate change, poor waste management and environmentally related disease outbreaks.
Lawal added that addressing these challenges would require professionals equipped with scientific knowledge, modern technology and practical skills to protect public health and the environment.
The new curricula are expected to strengthen the capacity of environmental health professionals while improving the alignment between technical education and the country’s changing environmental and public health needs.
For NatureNews, the rollout highlights the growing need for specialised environmental health professionals capable of applying scientific knowledge, technology and practical skills to address Nigeria’s interconnected public health and environmental challenges.
