Future Of Technical And Vocational Education On Manpower Development In Delta State Nigeria
Since inception, the development of human capital has been the focus of the Dr Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa administration christened S.M.A.R.T AGENDA, according to the agent(s) of the administration, the AGENDA is aimed at creating prosperity for all Deltans.
This is a fact that the growth of tangible capital stock of a State or Nation depends to a considerable degree on human capital development. Without adequate investment in developing the human capital which is the process of increasing knowledge, skills and the capacities of people in the State, the possibility of the prosperity for all Deltans might be minimal.
In fulfilling the prosperity mandate, His Excellency Sen. Dr Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa established The Vocational and Technical Board with a clear mandate on capacity building. Technical education is that aspect of education that involves the acquisition of techniques and application of the knowledge of the science for the improvement of man’s surrounding.
One of the board mandate is to prepare the youths for the world of work with which each will become self-reliant and can make contributions to the development of the society. As employers look for new talents every year from new graduates, employers are not only looking for those who have solid education, but graduates that have features that stand out from the rest of the graduating students.
Technical and vocational education is essential education, which is intended to provide the skills and the manpower for industry and other engineering services required by society. Therefore, vocational education programme is designed to prepare skilled workers for industry, agriculture, commerce, etc from the post primary level. That is why the programme includes practical training for the development of skills required by the chosen occupation and related theory.
There is no doubt that technical and vocational education (TVE) plays a significant role in the socio-economic growth and development of a country. Technical and vocational education is a type of education that prepares manpower for sustainable national development. It provides employable skills to reduce poverty, helped to apply acquired knowledge and skills for scientific and technological development and advancement of the nation.
According to various scholars,Vocational and Technical Education is the best way of fighting poverty. Smith says "vocational education in its broad sense refers to the training that enables one to carry on successfully a socially useful occupation". This definition refers to vocational education as training for useful employment in trade and industrial, agricultural, business and home making among others.
Manpower on the hand according to Okorie could be seen as the total supply of person available and fitted for service. Thus vocational education prepares manpower since according to Olaitan "vocational education is a process of getting people ready and keeping them ready for the types of service we need. Vocational education is thus a sine-qua-non for manpower development".
Again Enebe highlights the significant roles which Technical Vocational Education can play in curbing unemployment and in providing the needed skilled labour for industrialization. According to Enebe, “technical education stresses the engineering aspect of vocational education such as electronics, electrical, mechanical and automobile works”. Thus, both vocational education and technical education aim at developing, among others, useful skills for productive purposes.
The world has become aware in recent times of the magnitude of the changes resulting from advances in and the intensive application of technology. Science and technological knowledge have become so important that today; they have replaced capital as society’s most important resources. The efficiency of the system of Technical and Vocational Education of a nation is a major factor that determines its economic well-being, its standard of living, its potential growth and security.
The Dr Okowa led-administration having asserted that the State is in dire need of a good core of intermediate-level manpower in various industries to carry out their programmes, have braved odds and engaged the youths meaningfully through her vocational training e.g the Youths Agricultural Entreprenership programme (YAGEP), Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) etc. thousands of youths have passed through the technical training call OkowaPlus and many more are still undergoing technical training and some getting starter packs. The administration had also explained that prosperity for all is not a rocket science having noticed that craftsmen and technicians are the live wire of virtually all industrial activities.
Without them, the machinery of industries will grind to a halt. Many small and medium industries are now being established in the State by both the private and public sectors of the economy and each of these industries depends mainly on the availability of craftsmen and technicians. Technical and vocational education remains the popular means by which trained manpower is produced for economic and industrial growth of both developed and developing countries in the world. No wonder the Federal Republic of Nigeria, specifically stated in its National Policy on Education that,
“Technical and Vocational Education is used as comprehensive term referring to those aspect of the educational process involving, in addition to general education, the study of technologies and related sciences and the acquisition of practical skills, attitudes, understanding and knowledge relating to occupations in the sectors of economic and social life”.
Today, Senator Dr Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa is fulfilling his promise of tackling youth unemployment and combating poverty through the Vocational and technical support but his efforts must be complemented by the Federal Government and her agencies, the low human resource development in the country needs to be tackled through a coherent and comprehensive strategy that takes full account of the policy linkages and the country’s implementation capacity. In an attempt to boost workforce skills through technical and vocational training, the interaction among educational attainment, workforce skills, population health and labour market laws and regulations must be taken into consideration.
Also building of more technical and vocational schools in every Local Government Area to give more access to vocational and technical courses and training will be the best approach since only few technical schools are in the State.
Information and communication technology (ICT) is an indispensable part of the contemporary world. The field of vocational and technical education has certainly been affected by the penetrating influence of information and communication technology worldwide and in particular Delta State, ICT has made an impact on the quality and quantity of teaching, learning, and research in the traditional and/or distance education institutions using it. In concrete terms, ICT enhances teaching and learning in vocational and technical through its dynamic, interactive, flexible, and engaging content. It provides real opportunities for individualised instruction.
Furthermore, information and communication technology has the potential to accelerate, enrich, and deepen skills; to motivate and engage students in learning; to help relate school experiences to work practices; to help create economic viability for tomorrow’s workers; contributes to radical changes in school; to strengthen teaching, and to provide opportunities for connection between the school and the world. The pervasiveness of ICT has brought about rapid technological, social, political, and economic transformation, which has eventuated in a network society organised around ICT.
Accordingly, the application of ICT makes institutions more efficient and productive, thereby engendering a variety of tools to enhance and facilitate vocational and technical teachers’ pedagogical activities. For instance, CBT and e-learning are becoming one of the most common means of using ICT to provide education to Deltans and Nigerians, therefore the establishment of CBT centres in all the technical schools will be helpful.
The Delta State University (Oleh Engineering Campus), the 3 Polytechnics, and colleges should be up and doing in exposing the technical and vocational trainees to new ideas and technologies so as to be relevant in the world of work and integrate more quickly into the State's economy, as businesses restructure their supply chain and operations to gain from comparative advantages.
Teachers of technical and vocational education must be well grounded and possess the relevant skills that need to be imparted into those they teach. Lastly, it is imperative to establish more universities that will be offering technical and vocational education as a course up to Ph.D. level so as to encourage candidates to choose the course. This is because very few universities have it as a course either at undergraduate or postgraduate level.
Ijebu Afoke Dickson is a social commentator from ISI-EMEVOR, Delta State. [email protected], 08062487522