Functional Vocational Education for Youth Empowerment in Nigeria

Functional Vocational Education for Youth Empowerment in Nigeria

Adeola Abiodun ADEOTI

Department of Fine and Applied Arts,

Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2024.801085

Received: 15 January 2024; Accepted: 23 January 2024; Published: 06 February 2024

ABSTRACT

Nigeria is fast becoming a predominantly youthful nation beset with high rate of unemployment. It therefore becomes pertinent to train the youths in Vocational Education especially textile practice, to tackle the unemployment problem which has reached an alarming proportion. Youth empowerment is geared towards equipping youths with skills for self-employment and nation building. The rate of unemployment and underemployment among Nigerian youths and graduates is on increase, paving way to crime and poverty. Though, the Federal government, International organizations and Non-governmental organizations have programmes on youth empowerment to reduce the problem of unemployment in Nigeria, but it seems that the expected results of these programmes could not be seen. This study identifies the factors militating against the functionality of vocational education in Nigeria and recommendations towards reducing the problem of unemployment and increase the economic growth of the nation are made.

Keywords: functional, vocational education, unemployment, youth empowerment, poverty, apprenticeship.

INTRODUCTION

Vocational and Technical Education has been a fundamental part of national development of many developed nations because of its positive effect on national industrial productivity and economic growth [1]. The high rate of unemployment, poverty and poor socio-economic status of most Nigerian graduates has generated an outcry of many concerned people [2], Non-governmental organizations, parents, government bodies and International organizations, though many nations are faced with the problem of graduate unemployment as Nigeria [3]. But as a nation with diversified employment sectors and unexplored sectors of employment, this problem is expected to be reduced to the barest minimum. Unemployment is a global trend [4],  as evidenced in the findings released by the office of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2023 that youth 18-30 years make up nearly half (47 per cent) of the world unemployed. However, [5] declared that of the world’s 550 million cannot lift themselves above US $1 per day poverty are youth.

More also, ILO reiterated that about 9.2% or approximately 712 million people globally are living on less than 2.15 USD. Despite the fact that many countries have dealt with poverty to some extent, some factors like COVID 19 pandemic, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Israel and Hamas, natural disasters, etc, slowed down the progress of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030.

The high rate of unemployment, poverty and poor socio-economic status of most Nigerian youths graduating yearly from tertiary educational institutions especially has generated an outcry of many concerned people, Non-governmental organizations, parents, government bodies and International organizations. [6] and [7] succinctly remarked that though many countries are experiencing the problem of graduate unemployment as Nigeria does but as a nation with diversified employment sectors and unexplored sectors of employment, this problem is expected to be reduced to the barest minimum. [8] reiterated that Vocational education facilitates the acquisition of practical and applied skills as well as basic scientific knowledge, it is therefore a planned programme of courses and learning experiences that begins with exploration of career options, supports basic academic and life skills, and enables achievement of high academic standards, leadership, preparation for industry-defined work, and advanced and continuing education [9].

The only way to empower the youth is to provide them with relevant and qualitative education in order to make them self-reliant and eradicate poverty [10]. Many nations of the world including Nigeria have considered Vocational Education as relevant in equipping young people with technical skills [11] that would enable them engage in productive work. However, the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) section for Technical and Vocational Education in 2006 observed that vocational education programmes have not led to increased employment, despite the obvious need for vocational services. This might be due to dearth of wage employment opportunities for vocationally trained manpower [12].

Unemployment is one of the economic problems facing Nigeria today. Unemployment can be defined as the difference between the amount of labour employed at a given wage and working levels and working conditions, as well as the amount of labour not hired at these levels. [13] conceived unemployment as “a situation whereby people who are willing to work at a prevailing rate are unable to find job”. This implies that not everybody should be counted as part of the employed in order not to overestimate the official rate of unemployment. The definition given by the [14] seem more embracing. The ILO explained that an unemployed is a member of the economically active population who is without work but is available for and seeking for work, including people who lost their jobs and those who have voluntarily resigned as a result of underpay.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IN NIGERIA

Vocational education is a form of education that prepares persons for gainful employment in a chosen occupation or prepares individuals for enrolment in advanced technical education programmes [15]. Before the advent of Western education in Nigeria, many communities and cultures had developed their own system of informal, formal and vocational education system. Vocational education was done through the system of apprenticeship, whereby young boys and men were attached to master craftsmen where they learned various trades and skills such as carpentry, masonry, blacksmith, foundry, carving and most importantly, textile design and dyeing [16]. Such apprentices could spend from three to seven years depending on the trades they were specializing in, the masters’ skills, competence and exposure, and the ward’s individual ability and performance. At the end of such training, the graduate apprentice was assisted by the family to acquire necessary tools, and local equipment to start his own trade. He would recruit other apprentices to work within his new set-up [17].

The advent of Western education in Nigeria in 1842 especially during the colonial missionaries, trades, and administrators [18], curricula were used and fine-tuned towards achieving the vested interest of colonial masters. After independence in 1960, it became clear that colonial system of Education was no longer suitable for the people of Nigeria as it has failed to produce the type of manpower necessary for development of the society. The expected sustainable youth empowerment was not achieved through the colonial curricula of education [19].

One of the key ways to achieve this, as [20] and [21] opine is through media and information literacy which empowers youth with the knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary to navigate the complex landscape of environmental issues and develop green skills that contribute to a more sustainable future.

The National Policy on Education was designed to prepare individuals for useful living within the society [22]. The choice of any vocational and technical education curriculum model is based on the roles that technical colleges or institutions are expected to play in the society. This means that curriculum must be relevant to societal needs as clearly stated in the National Policy on Education of 2013 under boost national objectives. The Federal Government’s realization of a better citizenry for the nation decided to implement this policy on education of in order to achieve sustainable youth development and empowerment for the nation as a whole to foster a change. This calls for training and retraining of youths in vocational studies in all the levels of education in Nigeria especially textile arts.

Vocational education and training is a form of education that prepares people for work and help them to possess the skills that will make them remain employable and answer to the essential of the economy. [23] buttressed this that vocational education helps learners have vital skills, enhancing their individual progress and encouraging dynamic citizenship. [24] added that vocational educational training increases creativity performance, enthusiasm, exploration and improvement.

Thus, Vocational educational training is training or retraining programme given in schools or classes under supervision and control. The learning skills according to [25] may occur in diversity of learning context, including educational institutions and workplace. In Nigeria, the teaching of skills in the formal sector exists in two types of institutions [26]. These institutions are Technical Colleges and Trade Centres. In these institutions, individuals are provided with needed skills that will enable them become proficient in both the public workplace and private employment.

Vocational educational training is a continuous process of adaptation of the worker’s training towards acquiring the minimum knowledge required. Vocational education training is result oriented, as it brings about skills acquisition and aims at placing new manpower for employment and provide continuing training for those already qualified, so that they can keep pace with modern and emerging work environment. Vocational educational training is by design intended to develop skills that can be used in specific occupation or job [27]. The objectives and content of the curricula of vocational educational training according to the World Bank are derived from occupational standards or more directly from analysis of the tasks that are to be carried out on the job. The effectiveness of these curricula can thus be measured by the extent to which trained beneficiaries can use their skills in employment. The National Policy on Education of 2013 explained the purpose of Vocational educational training as:

(i) To enable individuals acquire vocational and    technical skills.

(ii) To expose the individuals to career awareness by exposing useable options in the world of work.

(iii) To enable youth acquire an intelligent understanding of the increasing complexity of technology; and

(iv) To stimulate creativity.

AN OVERVIEW OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

Empowerment could be broadly defined as the expansion of freedom of choice and action to shape one’s life. This implies control over resources and decisions.  Empowerment could also be explained as the expansion of assets and capabilities of poor people to participate in, negotiate with, influence, control, and hold accountable institutions that affect their lives.

Empowerment according to [28] is the process of enhancing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes. This definition sees empowerment as the purpose of making the individual or groups self-reliant. [29] described empowerment as a person’s capacity to make effective choices; that is, as the capacity to transform choices into desired actions and outcomes. With the above definitions, one can say that empowerment is a process of making an individual to be skillful, having economic and financial stability, with social, moral and psychological development so as to make the individual self-reliant and useful to himself or herself and the society at large. Financial empowerment seems to be one of the most powerful tools in youth empowerment, it should come after the training has been completed and should serve as a startup capital for the trainees at the completion of the training.

Since poverty is multidimensional [30] and [31], poor people need a range of assets and capabilities at the individual level (such as health, education, and housing) and at the collective level (such as the ability to organize and mobilize to take collective action to solve their problems). Empowering poor men and women requires the removal of formal and informal institutional barriers that prevent them from taking action to improve their wellbeing – individually or collectively, and limit their choices.

Status of Youth Empowerment Programmes in Nigeria

Nigeria had established various forms of youth empowerment programmes to train youth for skill acquisition to be self-reliant in various areas, [32], [33], [34] and [35] mentioned the various empowerment programmes established by the Federal Government. These are:

• National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in 1989
• Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) in 1999,
• Graduate Empowerment Scheme (GES) in 2004
• National Open Apprenticeship Scheme (NOAS in 2009)
• Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) in 2012

Hitherto, these programmes are not all that functional. The youth were trained without adequate skills or no appropriate plan for the scheme implementation. There have been and still are many empowerment programmes, poverty alleviation and youth development programmes in Nigeria, but there is a problem of inconsistency, and so, there is no positive outcome of these programmes. [36] stated that Nigeria has witnessed a wide range of poverty alleviation policies and programmes from previous governments. However, despite these concerted efforts by the government, the poverty situation seems to be getting worse. This situation could be as a result of inconsistency, poor administration, and poor programme contents in the youth empowerments programmes.

Youth empowerment programmes are expected to be accessible for every youth regardless of the individual’s social status, class of degree of graduation, course of study and year of graduation. In addition, these programmes are also expected to be reachable to all and not a selected class of people in the society. [37] wrote that for empowerment programmes designed for tertiary institution graduates, such as, Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) and the Government Internship Scheme (GIS) introduced by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2012, from the office of the Presidency, Federal Republic of Nigeria. These programmes are supposed to be introduced to students in their final year possibly immediately after their final exams while waiting for their undergraduate results, or during their National Youth Service year. But this is not the state of affairs of youth empowerment programmes in Nigeria. Graduates are not well informed about most of these programmes, because of the medium of publicizing the programmes and delay in the publicity or advertisement. Also funds allocated for the implementation of these programmes are misappropriated. Therefore, it seems difficult for the youths to effectively access and be part of the programme.

FUNCTIONAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION IMPLEMENTATION

When Nigeria attained her independence in 1960, it became obvious that the education system in Nigeria, lacked vocational values and did not address the manpower needs of an independent Nigeria. Technical education and vocational training have been seriously neglected in Nigeria, and as a result, Nigeria society has become completely unbalanced. It has unskilled labour and some semi-skilled operatives. It also has professional men and clerks, but it lacks the intermediate category of self-respecting artisans which is to be found in every highly developed country [38]

Evidence from published reports, theoretical and empirical papers indicate that investment in vocational education will provide a more direct and useful training that will stimulate and encourage creativity and equip school leavers with practical skills for earning a living as well as contribute to national economic development [39]; [40] and [41; [42].

The above understanding provided the impetus for the curriculum innovation and policy directive which made vocational education compulsory at the junior secondary school level under the 6-3-3-4 arrangement. Thus, within the framework of the National Policy on Education, vocational education is seen as an integral part of general education, and a means of preparing the citizens for occupational fields and for effective participation in the world of work. In some years past, research evidence on the attitudes of the general public towards vocational education had shown that vocational education has suffered enormous setback in Nigeria due to the low status accorded to it in general [43] and [44]

Vocational education is an essential component of strategies to reduce and prevent poverty. Many children drop out of school, because they do not see the relevance of education to their lives. In order to influence the decisions of at-risk children and their parents, education should have a tangible end, particularly in terms of improving future employment prospects. In such circumstances and where youths are concerned, the focus should be on the transition from school to work, either through vocational education or skills training programmes. The skills transmitted through such programmes should prepare young people for gainful employment. These skills can be taught through the formal education system For example, in vocational education institutions, through non-formal education programmes, or through private businesses and apprenticeships. In vocational training, work safety codes must be taught and practiced and well monitored by organizations or communities. [45] and [46] stated that certain factors are crucial for functional vocational education curriculum implementation. The factors are aptly discussed as follows:

1. The Vocational Education Curriculum must be Humanized. The curriculum for vocational education in Nigeria should not be something foreign to technical college students, and should not be chosen just because it is traditional. The vocational and technical education curriculum must speak of today, of real-life problems facing our communities and society and the process of living in its entire ramification. [47] and [48] further explained that humanizing today’s vocational and technical education means making the curriculum responsive to the present situation of Nigeria. Humanizing vocational and technical education means training the youths for sustainable and self-reliant empowerment in Nigeria. Materials chosen in this vocational and technical education curriculum to be taught and utilized for learning should be derived from the need and environmental requirement of Nigeria for sustainable youth empowerment in the nation [49]; [50].
2. Trainees must be Ready to Receive What is Taught. The ability of the trainees to learn depends on that student’s readiness to learn. In any teaching-learning situation, there is a period when effective learning takes place. This learning period varies among individuals even when they are exposed to the same learning environment. Many factors are known to influence the readiness to learn among students. The factors include age, family background, nutritional status, fatigue or lack of it. Others are belief and attitudes of learners. It therefore means that the art of good teaching lies in the ability of the teacher to find out those learning related problems, which students exhibit during classroom and workshop instruction, and utilizing the knowledge about it to structure the curriculum of vocational education in Nigeria.
3. The Learning Experiences must provide the Development of the Ability to Think. In vocational and technical education, thinking is the process of realizing and finding solutions to problems. It has been defined as all those cognitive actions taken by an individual in advance of an action as a preliminary to deciding among alternative thinking. According to [51], it characterized the whole process of solving a problem, which is very essential for handling problem-solving situation or for carrying out tasks in vocational and technical education situations.
4. The Vocational Education Curriculum must be Based on and contain Experiences Intrinsic to the life of the Learner. There are stages in vocational education and when students pass through the pre-vocational to the vocational concepts and characteristics, they develop new ideas, shape their values and can by so doing, solve their individual problems. These students can constantly undergo the process of exploring and testing out ways of getting to where they want to go. In this manner, these students will learn, and this learning process requires direct thinking. These students can in this process discover new materials relevant to the solution of their problems. Such materials must be intrinsic to them because they discovered the materials themselves and found it useful for solving their immediate problems. These intrinsic materials will remain internalized in the students because they have fixed the knowledge into the repertoire of their abilities and understanding.

Vocational education covers every aspect of education and employment; this makes it unique from other forms of education. The neglect of vocational education in Nigeria is socially and economically detrimental because it is robbing the nation the role the graduates would make to national development [52] Since empowerment programmes are geared towards skills achievement, human progress, self-reliance, self-employment and poverty reduction then it implies that youth empowerment trainings cannot be completely efficient if vocational education and training is not incorporated in it, this is because vocational and technical education and training is practical and skills oriented.

FACTORS MILITATING AGAINST THE IMPLEMENTATION OF FUNCTIONAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Demand for vocational education seemed to exist in industrially developing societies, with growth and diversification of industrial structure. As [53] and [54] observed, the lower the overall level of a country’s development, the weaker is the case for introducing vocational curriculum and diversify it. Emphasis on diversified industrial production emphasizes the need for labour force with vocational skills. So vocational education becomes more popular in nations where jobs can be guaranteed. Therefore, it could be said that unemployment rates may diminish, if people have vocational skills.

When discussing problems militating against proper implementation of technical education, the teachers and students always come to mind because it is the teacher that uses the technical equipment, books and facilities in teaching the students during the implementation of the technical college curriculum. [55] undertook a study of the problem facing vocational and technical college and secondary school in Benue State in Nigeria. [56] noticed that the shortages of teachers to effectively use these available tools and equipment in schools are the major problems facing vocational and technical curriculum. He recommended that there should be need to train teachers to effectively make use of the technical equipment in the technical colleges.

CONCLUSION

It becomes very serious to deal with youth unemployment in Nigeria. This can be achieved through casual sector in which all stake holders are involved by way of lending their support to casual sector to ensure that it is not downtrodden. The aims of vocational education in Nigeria will remain unachievable if the problems posed by the contemporary needs are not met. The nation must therefore look ahead by developing approaches for a better implementation of the curriculum that can realize sustainable youth empowerment for the nation.

RECOMMENDATIONS

There should be a clear mission and vision in articulating the role of vocational education within the national education and training system. There should be a greater collaboration between education and employment particularly self-employment in order to help the youngsters acquire the necessary skills from the onset. Teaching pre-vocational subjects in the primary and junior secondary schools should be taken more seriously to raise the interest of students for these vocational programmes. All stakeholders, especially those within the private sector, should provide more funds for the purchase of instructional facilities. The Educational Tax Fund (ETF) should consider vocational education a priority area for funding.

Textile art practice is a very lucrative business that needs training and retraining of people in it to become self-reliant. This is a practice that cuts across every region and corner of Nigeria with local textile practice peculiar to the region. For instance, southwestern Nigeria are peculiar with adire and aso-ofi woven textile. Southeast and south-south region of Nigeria have Akwete woven fabric while the northeastern, northwestern and north central have pit dyeing that are peculiar with them.

Aso-ofi or aso-oke means the cloth from hinterland. The cloth is a type of hand made fabric usually done by weaving (warp and weft) which originated from the Yoruba of southwestern people of Nigeria. This cloth is used and worn by people of high caliber in the olden days because it exhibits the rich culture and beauty of the Yoruba. The ofi is made in strips of about six inches wide and two metres long. The strips are then joined together to make traditional attire of the Yoruba.

Adire means tie and dye. It is a term used to describe numbers of resist dyeing techniques. The techniques consists of folding, twisting, knotting, plangi, stitching or marbling a fabric before applying string or raffia, for the purpose of resisting dyes, followed by the application of dye. This art is recommended for students in all levels of education. The art should be introduced to children early in primary schools so that even if the child is not attending secondary education, he or she will be able stand and be useful to the society and earn a living.

Akwete woven fabric is also an important textile art recommended to be introduced to children in Igbo land because of the diversity of raw materials that could be found around the region for easy production. It is produced in a town called Akwete and also Ndoki in Abia State of Nigeria. This is a traditional Igbo weaving processes with the use of sisal, hemp, raffia, cotton and thread on a broadloom of two yards long and probably 40-50 inches wide standard size. Children of the family are introduced to the craft as early as possible so that they grow to become professionals.

The craft should be taught in schools for its continuity to be well grounded and not limited to the community of the producers. It is usually the women’s profession, this is why it should be introduced to all girl-children in school at their primary level while the boy-children be introduced to the construction of looms. Although, there are two types of looms, the vertical looms are used by women while the horizontal looms were used by men. The craft is easy and this can boost the economy of the community, the state and the nation at large. The government can encourage or even compel workers, students, etc. to put on the cloth on a particular day either to work place or to their various schools as a sort of economy boosting to the local industries.

Pit dying is an predominant in northern Nigeria. The pit is created traditionally in an open yard of a house with no walls or fence but still remains conservative. The dyeing produced at most four different colours of blue, light blue, navy blue and black depending on the length of the processes of the fabric. The materials needed are sourced for locally with little or no stress. For example, the major raw material used for dyeing is indigo leaves (indigofera tinctoria), which could be sourced from local farmers. Potassium is also easy to get because it is a recycled product. This art should be introduced to children at primary school level for continuity of the craft.

Government should protect all our crafts from foreign players so as to make the craft useful and grow the economy of the nation. The local textile industries in in Nigeria are suffering set back because there is lack in government policies over the foreign competitors. The competitors are coming en-mass with designs of Nigerian local textiles at cheaper rate thereby making the local industries struggle with low patronage. Policies of the government should include banning the imported fabrics tat can jeopardize the effort of local textile industries.

There should be less emphasis on certificates or examinations in implementing the curricula content of the various programmes. Acquisition of practical skills like textile arts should be stressed on the final outcome. Government should post minimum of five vocational and technical teachers, textile artisan inclusive to the technical colleges to handle the different areas, such as Accounting, Agriculture, Home Economics, Fine and Applied Arts and Technical education.

Since it is observed that most Nigerian graduates are unemployed as a result of insufficient jobs in their field of study, it becomes necessary to emphasize the rtance of textile arts for youths seeking for admission into tertiary institution so that they can easily be self-employed on the completion of their programmes.

No programme can thrive without financial support for take-off, therefore, financial provision for its take off should be provided for the beneficiaries of the empowerment programmes on the completion of the training, this is realizable since vocational trade is not capital intensive. Also, textile arts should be introduced and implemented in all forms of youth empowerment praogrammes, graduate internship and youth employment training schemes.

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