Ekele Hope and Angela Omale examine the Nigerian educational system and report that technical education holds the future for her technological development
Background
The role of technical education in national
Development cannot be over-emphasised. In Nigeria, however, technical education was relegated to the background and so craftsmen are fast disappearing; thus young hands who should be understudying them in order to take over from them are lacking.
As a result, industries lack the requisite manpower as products of conventional schools are not well equipped to fill the gap.
Looking at Nigeria and Germany will tell the story. Germany is famous for its machine tools industry, but it is important to note that the industry is populated by artisans.
German’s foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle once said; “Our resources do not lie underneath our feet but between our ears,” referring to education and research.
This is what Nigeria’s education sector should aim at. Nigeria should do more of technical researches and de-emphasise theoretical aspects of learning in preference for practical in schools. Also, over dependence on certificate for job placement in public service should be discouraged,
Principal, Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC), Yaba, Lagos, Reverend Chris Ugorji, once spoke on various issues that had militated against vocational and technical education in Nigeria and proffered solutions.
Ugorji said, on assumption of duty at the FSTC Yaba, he had inherited a system that was decadent, “where things were not done properly, where both staff and students lacked commitment; where parents found it difficult to buy books and pay fees for their children; an environment that was very unfriendly to both teaching and learning.
“Classroom, laboratory and hostel facilities were not enough. No official vehicle for the principal and no good vehicles for students’ outings,” he said.
Wrong perception
Federal Science and Technical College (FSTC) Yaba, Lagos, the leading federal technical college in Nigeria, was established in 1948, a year after Yaba College of Technology. It has produced quality engineers and professionals. Unfortunately, the college had been left uncared for later.
It used to be referred to as motor-parts school where never-do-wells would go. That was the mentality of the public. They think technical schools are meant for those who are not brilliant enough to cope with the conventional schools, who hope to become lawyers, accountants, administrators and the like.
In those days, if somebody went to a technical or commercial school, he would be written off as not being brilliant. People regarded technical students as technicians who would never become engineers or whatever. So that was the very bad mentality we inherited from the colonial masters.
Colonial heritage
Prior to this time, Nigerian educational system was a product of the mentality of the colonial masters. The colonialists taught the arts and social sciences, so most of the people that ruled Nigeria were historians and teachers.
You hardly could see an engineer. That was before we began to produce unemployable graduates who cannot boast of any saleable skills in the labour market. Everybody waslooking for white-collar jobs where they would wear neckties and speak English.
Unfortunately, the universities were not enough to cater for the teeming population of those seeking tertiary education, so more tertiary institutions were established. Each state could have two or three, yet those were still not enough.
People who wanted to go to polytechnics or colleges of technology or whatever, were still regarded as second-rate students, which should not be so.
In Nigeria, it was when young men and women could not pass the higher education examinations conducted by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation (JAMB) to universities that they will consider to go to polytechnics. Then, and many parents wouldn’t want their children to go to a technical school because they will end up as artisans.
This wrong perception continued until Nigeria began to produce an army of unemployable graduates, in an economy where industries lack the requisite manpower .
Where we got it wrong
We got it wrong because our education policy places more emphasis on grammar schools, whose reward was the white-collar jobs at the expense of technical skills, until it became obvious that this could not drive our economy. Necessity, it is said, is the mother of invention, so the very moment it got to that stage, people began to think differently. Now many Nigerian graduates are unemployed because of the lack of the needed skills in industries.
License institutions
License institutions used to produce innovators just like polytechnics, but this time around, they are privately-owned as government alone cannot fund education. Over 20 institutions were licensed, which were called Innovation Enterprise Institutions (IEIs). They could compete with the polytechnics.
These institutions award diplomas and so the polytechnics began to feel threatened and began to play politics with the idea and calling for their scrapping.
For example, products of NIIT will compete with a Computer Science graduate from any university. National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) was asked not to license more. They produced a memo that they took to the National Council of Education, the highest policy-making body; there and then, they
were told, ‘no, we want alternative routes to higher education’.
Skills acquisition
Not everybody will go to higher institutions. Those who have graduated from universities and still cannot get employment can come back and acquire technical skills.
Now, people have realised that they can qualify as graduates without any skill; that is exactly why they began to make u-turn to go to technical colleges to acquire skills that will make them relevant in the labour market.
Emphasis on technical education
It is gladden that the federal government is emphasising more on technical education now. That is the genesis of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TIVET). At the O-level, it is called Vocational Enterprise Institutions (VEIs) and at the tertiary level, it’s called IEIs.
Government is now fully aware that grammar will not put food on a graduate’s table. Nigerian youths must acquire necessary skills for livelihood and nation building.
It is a relief that the federal government is now showing greater interest in technical and vocational education.
Increased interest by NABTEB
In February, the National Business and Technical Education Board, (NABTEB), has expressed satisfaction with the increased interest shown in recent times by the federal and state governments in technical education.
Registrarof NABTEB, Professor Ifeoma Isiogo-Abanihe, disclosed this in Benin, while announcing the release of the November/December 2018, NBC/NYC and ANTC examinations results.
“It is important to observe here, considering the moderate improvement in candidates’ performance in the NABTEB certificate examinations just released, that the renewed interest of the federal government and a number of state governments in technical and vocational education may have started making impact in terms of attracting candidates to TVET, thus, NABTEB examinations.
“This is in line with recent policy directions of the federal government as technology, science and TVET constitute one of the major pillars of the ministerial strategic plan of the federal ministry of education,” she said.
The results released showed that out of the 45,307 candidates who enrolled for the examinations nationwide, 40,848 were registered for Ordinary Level Craft Certificate examinations, while 4,459 enrolled for Master Craft or A Level examinations.
“At the ordinary level, the enrollment of candidates is distributed across 17 engineering trades, seven construction trades, amongst others. It is important to note that out of the 8,191 candidates that sat for Trades examinations, 3,898 were certified at Ordinary Level while out of the 3,679 candidates.
“We are determined to improve on this increase in enrollment for our various examinations through aggressive sensitisation and advocacy activities.”
For quick technological development, Nigeria will be better off with emphasis on technical and vocational education.
Students and instructors in a workshop at a technical and vocational school
