Vocational and Technical Education: A Panacea for advancing

Nigeria’s Economy

Vocational and technical education (VTE) is education for work.

Vocational and technical education is functional education, which

makes a worthwhile educational system. It is not new in our part of the

globe. VTE dates back to periods before the Industrial Revolution (1750

to 1830) when the home and apprenticeship scheme was the source of

occupational proficiency. In US primary schools, it is said to have been

popular in late 19th century where it developed into industrial training,

stenography and bookkeeping. However, the name sounds strange in

the ears of most Nigerians, especially those who have had no contact

with this field of study. This may be as a result of their choice of other

fields of studies. Also, the name is strange in the worlds of most

Nigerian Universities where the discipline is not taught.

My first encounter of VTE was in the 1990s; a teacher in Junior

Secondary School (JSS) always told my class that whoever failed to

satisfactorily pass the JSS exams would be made to leave Secondary

School for Technical College. Everyone sat up to his or her work in

order not to fall into that category. It then seemed as if those who were

in the Technical colleges were the never-do-wells. No mention of the

discipline was made after I left Junior Secondary School; it was until I
got into tertiary school to study Business Education under VTE that I

encountered the name again.

What causes me concern, like some Nigerians are concerned is

the inferiority labelling and accompanying neglect of VTE by many

Nigerians. The Nigerian government at various levels is not

exonerated. Attempts to make VTE work has not been at its best. The

National Policy on Education, which has its inadequacies for VTE. The

National Policy on Education (4th ed.) of 2004 in Section 5 requires that

after three years of junior secondary schooling, students will be

streamed, based on examination results to determine academic ability,

aptitude and vocational interest, into senior secondary school,

technical college, out-of-school vocational centre, apprenticeship. This

indicates the preference of bright students for senior secondary

schools against the vocational and technical schools.

We are in a situation in Nigeria, where paper qualification is glorified

and preferred over productive skill. Universities and other degree

awarding institutions turn over graduates yearly, who are

unemployable and cannot be self-employed because of lack of skills.

Still surprising, however, is the preference placed on qualifications of

universities’ graduates over those of polytechnics. Without mincing

words, and without any biases, a university, polytechnic or college of

education (technology) graduate needs relevant skill to be relevant in

his environment. It is with relevant skills that graduates can contribute

meaningfully to the economic advancement of their nation.

A country that fails to provide a functional education, which equips her

youths with skills is bound to face difficult times. Nigeria’s

development depends on the technological capacity of its youthful and

working population, and vocational technical education remains the

solution. Everything we find around us has its place in VTE; The

furniture, buildings, automobiles, electronics, clothing, food production

and preparation, Information and Communication Technology, are

products of VTE, which result in commercial activities (marketing,

bookkeeping, stenography, etc.) If production should cease to exist,

then various commercial activities will no longer be necessary. This will

result in unemployment for Nigerians.

The Nigerian government cannot afford the consequences of

neglecting VTE if Nigeria is to be reckoned with among world

economies. Nigeria’s need to improve power generation, transmission

and distribution relies on technological manpower, which VTE is the

key to.

Only a wholesome, functional education will produce enterprising

graduates, who will employ rather than seek to be employed by others.

This does not fall short of VTE, and will make Nigerian education

competitive with international brands in the UK, Canada and elsewhere

in the world.

Nigeria needs to lessen her dependence on imports and revamp her

export market to include finished products from petroleum, agriculture,

electronics, textile, steel sectors. VTE remains the panacea to these.

If current global food shortages, accompanied by rising food prices is

not to hit hard on the Nigerian populace, Nigerian must give attention

to agriculture, which is an area of VTE. If the annual budget values and

actual expenditures in the Agriculture sector with the intentions to

massproduce grain, acquire fertilizer, commercialise agriculture are

not to be reduced to rubies, VTE needs to take its proper place.

When we talk about Nigerian youths being productive, that can be

achieved when words are matched with action. Nigerians should

support the growth of VTE. It is the bedrock of growing economies like

China, India, etc from where we buy most foreign products.

Most manufacturing companies in the world have plants in China,

where they produce at low cost, making maximum use of technology

and human capital. Hardly, can we say there are no China wares

(ranging from ceramics to electronics) in our homes and offices. The

Chinese mobile phone manufacturers have popularised mobile phones

which allow users to use two GSM networks at the same time, at low

cost compared to other phone manufacturers. The Chinese even make

cars, and lately the car industry in China recorded higher sales than

that of the US. Is it impossible for Nigeria to have same feat? What

could have hindered Nigeria’s advancement in these paths of

technology? There has not been adequate attention given to VTE, we

all know.

Local manufacturers are groaning under harsh conditions of operation,

even as some have been forced to cease operations. Others are left to

compete unfavourably with foreign competitors whose products are

preferred by Nigerians. Can Nigerian consumers’ confidence in locally

made goods be restored without VTE taking its proper place? Certainly

not.

The solution to the poor state of Nigerian roads lies in VTE.

I dare to ask: “Of what value are engineers without technicians?”

These two work hand in hand. Engineers and technicians

(technologists) should be intelligent, have a sound mind and critical

thinking ability to solve problems in technological areas. Technicians

cannot be substituted by engineers. These two groups of experts are

independent and need each other to function effectively. The Council

for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) registers

professionals as engineers, technologists, technicians, or craftsmen; an

indication that needed manpower does not comprise entirely

engineering graduates. Technicians are field workers; they implement

designs prepared by engineers. The success of any engineering design

depends on the technicians involved, while the success of any

technical job depends on the engineering design. Clearly, both

technicians and engineers are equally important.

VTE, no doubt has the key to uplift Nigerians out of poverty and

unemployment. A situation in which over 90% of Nigerians live below

the $2 mark, with over 50% unemployment is not good enough,.

Federal government’s involvement in the Abuja Technology village will

yield result in human resource capacity building and attract

cooperation of diaspora technology experts to develop the economy

and create employment for Nigerians.

Microsoft in appreciating the place of VTE in functional education gives

grant to aid training of physically challenged, female undergraduates,

stigmatised women, women enterpreneurs, in information technology

to enhance their enterpreneurial abilities and employability.

The National Youth Service Corps realised the value of VTE and skills

for graduate employability. It has now implemented inclusion of

compulsory skill acquisition by Corps members during the one-year

National Youth Service Corps scheme.

It is cheering to know that Federal government has shown interest in

human capital development to actualise Nigeria’s power sector goals.

Skills development is a vehicle for attaining sustainable

development. A skilled man is employable. VTE makes a man

employable; an educated man who lacks skill has no advantage over

an uneducated man. VTE is indispensable if Nigeria is to make

meaningful progress in local technology, which can be a source of

revenue for the country. There is no gain neglecting VTE for

engineering. Children and youths and their parents or guardians need

not feel any form of inferiority in taking up VTE. VTE needs to have its

pride of place in Nigeria to move Nigeria up the technology ladder

among countries of the world. Nigerians need to give the needed

attention to VTE. It is a road less travelled by many, and it is true that

success lies on the road less travelled. We all had better woken from

our slumber and travelled up the road that leads to Nigeria’s

technological and economic fortunes. In addressing failing sectors of

Nigeria’s economy, Federal government needs not neglect vocational

and technical education aspects. The following recommendations are

useful in addressing the neglect of VTE in Nigeria:

1. The National Policy on Education should be reviewed to

address stigmatisation resulting from the streaming of

students into vocational institutions. The policy should

provide for VTE to be run as an educational programme in

which students start at a basic level and terminate at

senior level, equivalent to senior secondary schools.

Students from Vocational and technical colleges can then

be admitted into universities or colleges of technology to

study in VTE areas necessary to advance Nigeria’s

technology base.

2. Students in vocational institutions need to be properly

guided to be in areas where there maximum potentials can

be attained. This will require that guidance programmes be

seriously conceived and effectively organised so VTE which

is a prerequisite for functional and productive education

can fully take off.

3. To encourage involvement in VTE, students who have

aptitude for technical work should be carefully selected and

given scholarship to study in technical areas. This is

currently the practice in Engineering and other sciences;

technical education is an equally special field, and students

 studying in that field need to be supported to get the best

that is possible. This support will encourage students who

really have aptitude for technical areas to continue.

4. The curriculum of technical schools should have content

that enables the learners in VTE to solve problems

encountered in their immediate environment. It should be

manner in which real life situations can be addressed that

the students should concern themselves with, rather than

strange content that is unrelated to the personal or

communal needs of VTE students. In the Nigerian situation,

for example, those in electrical should have learning

content that addresses the persistent power problems

encountered in Nigeria.

5. Adequate facilities that are relevant to delivering the

learning content and working in the present time should be

provided. Without facilities, there will be a disconnection

between the learning content in classrooms and real

situations that exist in work places. Without facilities,

teaching will be all about theorising. This should be

discouraged in VTE for relevant problem-solving skills to be

acquired in the end.

6. Teachers and administrators in VTE programmes need to

be high quality personnel, possessing relevant

qualifications for teaching in VTE. Teachers in VTE should

be good in their course areas and possess the ability to

deliver their course content to learners’ in various areas. It

is fact that the quality of an educational system is as good

as the quality of its teachers. Recruitment and placement of

teachers and administrators in VTE should not be done in a

manner comparable to putting a square peg in a round

hole. The need arises for quality assurance in teacher

preparation programmes in VTE.

7. Funding needs to be adequately provided to grow the

technological capacity of Nigeria, starting with funding

programmes in Vocational and technical education from

scratch to finish. It is not enough to have skills acquisition

centres in place to cater for unskilled people, who have

spent a good part of their lives without employable skills; it

is not good enough to have unemployed youths seek

employment in social vices before we adopt a quick fix

skills acquisition through VTE. That will be similar to

providing medicine after death. We do not have to wait for

 damages to occur before we repair them, we ought to be

proactive and not reactive.

It is not a task for government alone, individuals and groups have

responsibilities too; parents, teachers, counsellors, communities,

corporate bodies, mass media, professional associations, etc. Everyone

is a stakeholder. And the time to start is now if we are not to be

daydreamers about advancing Nigeria’s technologically and

economically.

Nwokocha, Kenneth C. is a Postgraduate Student of Vocational Teacher

Education Department at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.