Global Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Vocational Education for Socio-Economic and Technological Development of Nigeria

Ovbiagele, Abraham Otaigbe

This paper seeks to view vocational education as a panacea for national development. It highlights the importance of vocational education in a nation’s development process and the deliberate attempts at ensuring the realization of its national potentials. In the early 50s and 70s, secondary school leavers let alone those of tertiary institutions always had jobs begging for them with all benefits. This phenomenal change in trend in the employment world calls for greater emphasis and expansion of vocational educational opportunities to overcome the problems of unemployment which has become a big social challenge in Nigeria. The paper believes that Nigeria as a nation need to invest more in vocational education if its ambition of joining the technology driven, global link and realize its millennium development goals is to be realized. The study advocates that government at the federal, state and local government levels in Nigeria should redirect their energy and interest into vocational education in other to empower graduates for self-relevance and develop the needed employable skills. These three-tiers of government should provide funds to build and upgrade facilities, acquire the necessary vocational laboratories, working equipment and to recruit, train and retrain well-qualified and motivated manpower for quality service at all levels.