The endemic unemployment in Nigeria has been blamed on many students and graduates lacking basic occupational skills and inability of most secondary schools and tertiary institutions in the country to teach their students to be self-reliant but rather to be job seekers.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works in the state, Dr. Ifreke Ekpa who stated this during the weekend at the first graduation of Slawd Peters Engineering Training School, Etinan affiliated to Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori, noted that “In fact, the problem of unemployment in Nigeria is because schools do not train students to be self-reliant but rather to be job seekers.
According to him, “Many able-bodied and highly qualified persons who could not secure gainful employment have remained economically dependent on their parents. This is because they lack the necessary occupational skills to be self-employed and to effectively function in today’s world.
“These occupational skills can be provided by technical and vocational education – that aspect of education that involves the acquisition of techniques and application of the knowledge of Science for the improvement of man’s surrounding.
“Technical and vocational education prepare one for the world of work with which the individual becomes reliant and can make contributions to the development of the society. It is what distinguished industrialized nations like China and the Asian Tigers and no nation that what to stand out in today’s world can neglect the place of technological innovation and skill training in school curriculum”, Ekpa remarked.
He reasoned that “Experts are of the views that Technology Education is increasingly recognized to be central to both the origins of technological development and challenges and to the prospects for successfully dealing with them. It is, therefore, important for students or graduates to have skills in innovation in technology education and entrepreneurship to fit into the global market on which today’s economy depends on”.
“The provision of vocational and technical schools has a long history. Before the Industrial Revolution (from 1750 - 1830), the home and the “apprenticeship system” were the principal sources of vocational education. But societies were later forced by the decline of handwork and specialization of occupational functions to develop institutions of vocational education”, the Permanent Secretary observed.
Ekpa recalled “Manual training that involves general instruction in the use of hand tools was said to have developed initially in Scandinavia. However, vocational education became popular in the elementary schools in the USA after 1880 and developed into courses in Industrial Training, Book-keeping Stenography, and allied commercial work in both public and private institutions. As the Columbia Encyclopedia (2001) noted some of the early private trade schools in the United States include Cooper Union (1859) and Pratt Institute (1887), the Hampton Institute (1868) and Tuskegee Institute (1881). The agricultural high school (1888) of the University of Minnesota was the first regularly established public vocational secondary school that introduced extensive public instruction in Agriculture”.
He cited “The United States of America is not the only society that appreciates skills acquired through vocational and technical education. The Dutch School system is said to pay attention to “high standards in Mathematics and the provision of vocational education at ages 14-16 for a third of all pupils, and widespread vocational education at 16 plus. And secondary (high) schools in many other development-conscious nations have vocational centers that offer vocational training for lifelong trade together with general academic studies.
“For instance, India and the “Asian Tigers” could not have become what they are without massive investment in technical education. However, because of recent changes in world economy many vocational and technical schools have shifted emphasis to training in the computers and information technology.
“In Nigeria, we are yet to appreciate skills acquired through vocational and technical education. Such skills and training are not seen as fundamental for national development, economic development, but for the school dropouts”, He pointed out.
“We must, therefore, come to understanding that Technology Education is a critical agent of technology development, either as a way of developing human capacity, increasing the shield work force for modernization, industrialization, environmental development or as developing capability and empowerment. This is the reason I opine strongly the need for employers of labour particularly governments to stop disparity between University graduates and holders of Higher National Diploma in the country as a surest way of bursting technological growth”, he added.
The Permanent Secretary commended Slawd Peters Engineering Training School, Etinan in Akwa Ibom State for training artisans in different technical areas, who with affiliation to Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori, are now to become sought-after engineers by ExxonMobil Nigeria Plc and other blue-chip companies.
He equally lauded the Rector and management of Rivers State Polytechnic, Bori for their affiliation to the school, expressing the hope that the vision and effort in this direction shall stimulate higher technological development and yield greater dividends to both parties, enjoining patriotic Nigerians to support Slawd Peters Engineering Training School in training and in meeting the society’s required manpower drive as Akwa Ibom was moving into its industrialized phase.
The Permanent Secretary further called on them to recommend its graduates for gainful employment opportunities, build more classrooms and hostels and donate to the school, equip the school with more teaching and learning aids, saying “Let some blue-chip companies institute research grant to enable the school embark on modern techniques in Technology Education. And let wealthy individuals institute awards for best graduating students in different fields in the school”.
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