Why Nigerian Students Should Embrace Vocational Education
By – ADIGHIBE UCHECHUKWU
There is still a large section of people who remain unemployed even with adequate skills and qualification. A high rate of dropouts, underemployment, and lack of vocational training are acting as barriers to better employment levels.
Vocational education should be embraced in Nigeria to enable Nigerian youths depend not only on Governmental employments but also on what they can be able to produce by themselves, for themselves and for the benefit of others in the country.
In Nigeria we have lots of youth graduates unemployed, these is because lots of them lacks skills and cannot be able to produce something even the country can be able to invest on and make out income.
Many Nigerian youths want to be a Doctor, Lawyer, Nurse, Engineer, etc. No one wants to be a technologist, no one wants to be an inventor, produce or manufacture things Nigeria can be able to export to other countries.
Would you prefer being an employee than being an employer? this should go into our youths mind.
Today, labor market demands are high but in-spite of the people, these demands are not met. This is because they don’t have the right set of skills. With vocational training and skill development, the youth can be made ready to create a sustainable livelihood. This leads to a more inclusive society were more people contribute to its well-being.
Vocational education, provides accredited training in all job related and technical skills and is a part of the non-academic education.
Of the entire number of youngsters who emerge into the job market, not many are job ready. This happens due to the gap between the education imparted to them and the non availability of technical skills.
The prominent sectors that any vocational training provider works for are IT, BFSI, healthcare, travel and tourism, education, telecom, beauty and wellness, etc. They might partner with the government to implement the programs to make them a success. A good vocational education provider always engages the youth at root level and maps them to the available requirements. They provide an intensive training and certification programme and support the youth in securing a relevant job.
Vocational education is a must in any country since it prepares individuals for job, makes them perform better by honing their skills, thus specializing them at their own level.
Imaging when 5000 graduates in a section will be able to manufacture or produce based on what he has learnt in school or even outside the four walls of education.
