Minister of Schooling, Prof. Tahir Mamman, just lately decried low sign-up in technical schools and known as on their heads to urgently discover methods of populating the labs. Stakeholders, nonetheless, reckon that past the quick-fix measure, the talent chamber arm of schooling wants curriculum that’s fit-for-purpose, engaging coaching services and a society that prioritises abilities recognition than certification, IYABO LAWAL stories.
Though successive governments have made efforts to advertise technical schooling, enrolment into technical schools has remained dismal in comparison with basic schooling programmes.
The Nationwide Enterprise and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB) conducts the Nationwide Technical Certificates (NTC) and Nationwide Enterprise Certificates (NBC) examinations for candidates in Might-June, in addition to, the superior stage variations for exterior candidates in October-November of yearly.
Illustrating the grim image right here is the truth that in 2014/2015, no fewer than 76,363 candidates sat for the Might-June NTC/NBC examination; 69,472 in 2015/2016; 58,014 in 2016/2017; 55,480 in 2017/2018; 32,718 in 2018/2019, 23,425 in 2019/2020; 18,372 in 2020/2021; and 15,429 in 2021/2022.
The transition fee on the finish of junior secondary faculty projected by the Nigerian authorities in its Nationwide Coverage on Schooling is as follows: senior secondary faculties at 60 per cent; technical schools at 20 per cent, vocational coaching centres at 10 per cent, and apprenticeship schemes at 10 per cent.
Nonetheless, on the present yearly turnout fee of junior secondary faculties of about 4 million, anticipated enrolments in technical schools needs to be 800,000 (20 per cent), in line with analysis by a college scholar, Jane Itohan Oviawe.
The expansion and growth of any nation rely on the talents of the workforce, which in flip is a obligatory reflection of the standard of the schooling system.
Sadly, as illustrated by the statistics above, technical schooling’s descent into oblivion is accelerating at an inexpensive velocity.
Final August, Mamman, determined to take the bull by the horn by charging the NBTE, and the Nigerian Instructional Analysis and Growth Council (NERDC) to develop a abilities curriculum for adoption and implementation. The minister urged the companies to provide you with a curriculum for all ranges of schooling and make it prepared earlier than the graduation of the current educational session, which started earlier this month.
In response to him, implementing the talents curriculum by faculties nationwide will assist handle the training disaster.
“The one resolution to deal with the talents hole is to reveal the youthful ones to abilities,” the minister said, including that proof on the bottom signifies that after main and secondary schooling, solely 35 per cent of pupils transition to tertiary schooling. Additionally, there are about 65 per cent of younger women and men who will not be at school, not in employment, and shouldn’t have any type of coaching.”
In July this yr, the Federal Authorities pledged to shut the gender hole at the moment skilled within the Nationwide Enterprise and Technical Examinations. Mamman in making the declaration, stated that the schooling ministry was introducing abilities programmes in faculties from primary to tertiary schooling, noting that faculties could be sure to implement the programmes.
“We now have a variety of insurance policies and measures to foster feminine participation in technical programs. I’ve been within the college, and I understand how the numbers are rising quickly in engineering, environmental sciences, medical, and allied programs. As soon as the talents programme is adopted, all faculties could be sure to implement it, and it’s going to be a recreation changer.”
For the NABTEB Registrar, Prof. Ifeoma Isiugo-Abanihe, the bane of low feminine participation in technical schooling is solely the angle of the society.
On their half, the Girls Miners in Nigeria (WMIN) is looking for a evaluate of the technical schooling curriculum within the nation.
In response to the Nationwide President of WMIN, Dr Janet Adeyemi, for Nigeria to reposition its strong minerals sector, there’s a have to evaluate its curriculum, notably on technical schooling, in step with efforts to diversify the economic system.
“We have to guarantee that we rejig our instructional curriculum and have technical faculties. Even uneducated youths have to be introduced into the system and authorized as a result of we want welders, those who would work in foundries, and even software program engineers in the middle of mining, amongst many different expert individuals as a result of the world has modified,” Adeyemi stated.
The Rector of Oyo State School of Agriculture and Expertise (OYSCATECH), Prof. Akinola Akinlabi, couldn’t agree much less.
In response to him, his establishment has been campaigning for abilities recognition, not simply certificates for fairly some time now.
Akinlabi famous that the Girls in Agricultural Technical Schooling and Apprenticeship in Nigeria (WATEA) challenge, sponsored by the French authorities within the faculty, was geared toward encouraging extra girls to take part in agriculture.
In July, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with artisans, beneath the aegis of MasterCrafts Professionals in Oyo State, to reinforce vocational and technical schooling within the nation. The trades comprised car repairs, carpentry and joinery, electrical set up, masonry, welding, and fabrication.
Be that as it could, within the NBTE pointers and construction of the Expertise Growth Centre adopted on June 7, 2023, at a gathering attended by the board officers, sector abilities councils, awarding our bodies, rectors and administrators of the Expertise Growth Centre (SDC), it was famous as “worrisome”, the perennial affect of poverty in Nigeria, particularly among the many youths contemplating the excessive fee of unemployment, which stems from a scarcity of saleable abilities that may assure their employability.
The doc famous that public establishments and personal organisations have tried to cut back the unemployment fee, by establishing abilities growth centres providing coaching in numerous occupational areas.
“However regardless of these efforts, these centres are confronted with quite a few challenges that hamper their progress and progress. Amongst such challenges is the dearth of nationally recognised occupational requirements for unified coaching and evaluation that may result in the award of nationwide certification,” the NBTE doc said.
Consequently, it defined that the contributions of those abilities centres are but to be felt considerably, not as a result of abilities acquisition isn’t going down, however as a result of the popularity and certification of the talents acquired by the trainees couldn’t be ascertained.
It highlighted the Nigerian Expertise {Qualifications} Framework (NSQF). This can be a system for creating, classifying, and recognising abilities, data, understanding, and competencies acquired by people, no matter the place, how the coaching, or talent was acquired.
Spearheaded by NBTE, the NSQF is taken into account the surest means of recognising the competence stage of trainees after buying the talents of their occupational areas.
The doc underlines polytechnics as establishments with the potential to re-orient their coaching in the direction of the Nationwide Expertise Qualification award for each formal and casual candidates, however mockingly, over time, polytechnics solely emphasise the technical side.
In its efforts to entrench vocational coaching within the polytechnics, the NBTE mandated the establishments to ascertain Expertise Growth Centres (SDCs) of their domains to undertake the NSQ coaching. It will allow them to open doorways for the coaching of the casual sector, therefore providing twin awards of Nationwide Diplomas and Nationwide Expertise {Qualifications} (NSQ).
That stated, to carry concerning the desired change, Oviawe emphasised that one thing have to be finished to enhance the enrolment of scholars in technical schooling.
She defined that technical schooling lays a strong basis for coaching future engineers, technologists, enterprise folks, technicians, artisans, and entrepreneurs.
“There’s a want for technical schooling to alter, in any other case Nigeria stands the danger of manufacturing graduates and college leavers who will proceed to roam the streets in search of white-collar jobs, as an alternative of those that must be self-employed, and subsequently develop into employers of labour,” she said.
She famous that the decline in enrolment, low high quality of scholars at entry and better ranges, and the excessive unemployment fee amongst faculty leavers, presently depict the place of technical education schemes in Nigeria.
Oviawe famous the dramatic improve within the unemployment fee within the nation calling for college students to accumulate data and saleable abilities for the non-public sector, or self-employment, which might be achieved by means of early publicity to occupational steering.
On his half, Dr Ola Akinlade, a senior lecturer at Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro, really useful conferences and workshops, follow-up research, discipline journeys, and stocking libraries with technical schooling journals.
In response to him, an occupational convention on technical schooling could possibly be organised for the entire faculty, a category, or a bunch of colleges, and could possibly be for a single day or a number of days or perhaps weeks.
Area journeys and excursions, he stated, carry college students face-to-face with the real-work scenario on the planet of labor. So, organising programmes like these improve college students’ curiosity and foster enrolment in technical schooling programmes.
“Right here, college students are made to go to professionals within the numerous fields of technical schooling programmes to find out about their jobs (how they work; what they do, and {qualifications} for entry into these fields). Area journeys or work visits are a solution to reinforce and develop on ideas taught at school,” Akinlade added.
He additionally really useful that journals, newspapers, magazines, and institutional brochures on technical schooling occupations be offered at school libraries for college students to entry and have present updates.
Like different arms of the schooling sector, a former President of the Educational Employees Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Usman Dutse, famous that technical schooling and technical faculties are characterised by deplorable services and infrastructure, under-funding, insufficient workers, poor incentives, and lack of conducive studying setting.
Dutse stated: “The underside line is that this; the federal government has didn’t acknowledge the significance of technical schooling. The mindset is that it’s seemed down on as inferior, and lacks any pedigree required for a better state of the society.
“That’s the reason you’ll see that enrolment may be very poor, however what the federal government fails to grasp is that each economic system is developed by the perfect of the talents that it has. These are areas the place you develop abilities; the place dependence on the federal government might be diminished and the economic system is improved. Importation will scale back when you’ve expert manpower, and this manpower can create issues in line with the wants of their communities, and their society.”
On the best way ahead, Dutse stated in step with the federal government’s resolve to diversify the economic system, it ought to prioritise youth employment, empowerment, and entrepreneurship, whereas additionally creating the political will to fund the sector.
“Give it enough funding, develop infrastructure, present services, and in addition encourage and provides recognition to abilities acquired. Let the federal government develop confidence within the abilities acquired; encourage industries to patronise native technicians. Let there be synergy between industries and technical establishments in order that they’ll have the ability to affect abilities and develop into employable.”
Then again, he urged dad and mom to encourage their wards to go to technical faculties and place much less emphasis on certificates and college levels.
