The relevance of vocational and technical education to the development of Nigeria cannot be over emphasized, Governments and all levels, corporate bodies and individuals must start to take it more seriously in order to create a more prosperous and economically viable Nigeria. Vocational and Technical education are often wrongfully categorize as one even though they are similar but still they are very different. This post will provide information on the prospects and problems of vocational and technical education in Nigeria and also provide answers to related questions as regards to Prospects and problems of Vocational and Technical Education in Nigeria.
Vocational education as defined According to the Princeton University WordNet dictionary, it is a training for a specific vocation or field in industry or agriculture or trade. It can either be formal or informal and can be in any field and mainly focuses on the acquisition of manual skills. This education equips individuals with the skills and abilities to meet a particular need, therefore it is an almost certain route to self-employment that must be encouraged. Some of the skills include hair dressing and barbing, fashion design, automotive repairs like electrical, mechanical and body works, electrical repairs, plumbing, masonry, carpentry, welding, glass cutting, aluminum works. Vocational education focuses on the acquisition of manual skills, technical education focuses more on the understanding and practical application of the basic principles of science and mathematics.
Technical education is defined by Encyclopedia Britannica as “the academic and vocational training of students for jobs involving applied science and modern technology”. Technical education is designed to equip students with the real life skills to enable them to apply the theoretical knowledge that they have acquired in the real world it trains people to acquire skills in diverse skill set, which include engineering, computing, agriculture, health care, law, business administration, environmental sciences, project management, and a host of other areas.
In vocational education, no formal educational background is needed while technical education needs a formal educational background. Vocational education is focused more on the acquisition of manual skills while technical education emphasizes on practical application of scientific and mathematical principles. Vocational education is usually taught through apprenticeship while technical education is taught through schools such as technical colleges, monotechnic, polytechnics, and universities, especially universities of technology.
- They both equip and develop individuals with practical skills
- Vocational and technical education most often complement each other
- Derogatory Attitude Towards Artisans and Craftsmen
Most craftsmen and artisans who practice vocations are usually seen as school drop outs or never do wells, Nigerians have since practiced the culture of showing respect only to those with white collar jobs in the society thereby discouraging a lot of young people from venturing into vocations.
- Low Pay
The pay package for artisans and craftsmen in Nigeria is quite low and this also does discourages young people from desiring to venture in this field. For example, a bricklayers are pay per day is about the amount their counterparts earn per hour in the developed world.
- Inadequate Training Facilities
Most tertiary institutions lack the skilled manpower and equipment to impart knowledge into their students. Most of our technical colleges, monotechnic, polytechnics, and universities lack the necessary training facilities to train people in vocational and technical education. This mostly affects those involved in technical education.
- Inadequate Funding of Regulatory Agencies
Poor funding from the federal government is primarily responsible for them not carrying out their statutory responsibilities as they ought to.
- Lack of Standards
Government agencies are supposed to set up to standard and give licenses to artisans, crafts men, technicians, technologists, engineers, and all other vocational and technical practitioners without which they cannot practice their trade so as to ensures that a uniform standard is maintained across board.
- Unhealthy Business Environment
Suffocation by the unhealthy business environment, challenges such as unstable power, multiple taxation and unavailability of affordable credit adversely affect most small business.
- Improvement in the Awareness about Regulatory Agencies
Awareness of citizens about agencies that regulate vocational and technical education to enable them become properly oriented and educated in their chosen field for better efficiency.
- Changing Mind-set Towards Vocational and Technical Education
There is noticeable change in peoples mindset with regard vocational and technical education in Nigeria due to the shortage of white collar jobs as a significant number of graduates are now excited to be trained as artisans and craftsmen.
- Increase in Government Participation
The government should encourage vocational and technical education as it is a sure and sustainable way to pull citizens out of poverty.
A disadvantage to vocational education is the low score when it comes to job competition against applicants having a traditional college degree. Vocational college education students enter career fields faster compared to traditional college counterparts. However, many of these jobs are of lower-paying positions.