Expert: Nigeria is yet to tap the full potential of vocational, and technical education.
The country is yet to tap the full potential of vocational and technical education according to the School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) of the Federal Science and Technical College, Yaba, Lagos.
Ladi Lawanson, Chairman of the committee, disclosed this on Saturday in Lagos at the 2022 Valedictory Service of the college.
According to him, the vocational training space in Nigeria has not been exploited in terms of exposing the citizens resulting in a negative impact on its quest for technological advancement.
“I have long held the view that Nigeria has not exploited enough vocational training in terms of exposing the citizens.”
“I think we have this unidirectional mindset that everybody must be a white-collared job professional, which is not true. It is not realistic for our national objective.”
“That is what drives my passion in accepting to serve in this capacity and to help to bring as much awareness and support to that key sector of our livelihood, which will help us to unlock the potential of these young ones. It will also propel them to be able to contribute meaningfully to the economy and the development of the nation,” the chair stated.
Lawanson noted that the SBMC’s partnership with the Federal Government is to ensure the full realization of the mandates of its unity colleges.
According to him, one of the key reasons why such a committee was set up by the Federal Government is to support the government by attracting partners, funding, ideas, and knowledge to support the schools.
“I am pleased to inform you that our committee has worked very hard and in this dispensation, there are two major projects that we have been able to successfully attract to the college.
“The first is the renovation of the welding and fabrication workshop. We have reached out to an oil and gas company called Axella Nig. Ltd, not only in terms of renovation of the workshop to the tune of N23 million.
“It is also to be able to make linkages between what we are teaching them here and the industry out there. Part of the attraction also is that once they have been trained properly, we will now make the linkage for them to be employed there as required,” he stated.
The committee chair said that oftentimes, students were sent to school without thinking about how best to get them engaged thereafter, noting that this had led to the high rate of unemployment among the youth in the country.
He stated that the committee was thinking well ahead of such development by finding the connectivity in addition to imparting knowledge to the students of the college.
According to him, the Axella project and the other, which is the partnership with the Lagos State Government Computerisation Vehicle Inspection Service (LACVIS) will further assist the students in the development and acquisition of modern skills.
Lawanson, a former Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, noted that the partnership with LACVIS will entail its state-of-the-art computerized system to perform diagnostics on cars, which was part of the mechanical subjects, offered in the college.
According to him, he is optimistic that the 800 graduating students would add value and affect their environment positively with the knowledge and skills acquired as they go into the larger space.
David Omada, the Principal of the college said that collaboration and industrialization were gradually taking the college to its rightful place in the science and technology space.
Omada noted that the college had recorded significant growth in terms of skills and knowledge acquisition in line with its mandate.
He added that the infrastructural turnaround in the college had been one of the priorities under his watch, noting that they were key to comprehensive teaching and learning, which had brought about huge academic successes in all public examinations by the students.
“We have been progressing steadily in all spheres, in a bid to meet up with the mandate of this college. If you look around, you will see many ongoing projects going on. There is for instance a 12-room science laboratory which started under my watch. Hopefully, before the resumption of the new session in September, it will be completed. We also have an ongoing nine-classroom building under construction, which will also be completed soon, coupled with the renovation of the assembly hall and others scattered around the college premises.”
“We have been able to also attract partnerships with some companies who are set to assist us. One of them is the renovation of the Fabrication and Welding Department. They have done the roofing and we are expecting another courtesy visit from the SBMC chairman. We are also expecting another company to renovate our automobile workshop, we have a lot of them partnering with us to fulfill the mandate of this college” he said.
According to Omada, these collaborations will positively impact skill acquisition, as they will improve the student’s ability in the area of technology and science education.
He added that the college was also set to partner with the World Bank, in a bid to improve the technical training of students.
“In a few months to come, we will witness our Nigeria Innovation Development and Effectiveness in the Acquisition of Skills (IDEAS) project, a World Bank project which entails the renovation and equipping of our workshops.
“This will attract huge financial investment. We will be having construction generally, which will cover areas such as building, concreting, furniture, carpentry, fabrication and welding, painting, and decoration, among others. We also have a partnership with the World Bank in the area of ICT and catering and we are expecting work will commence in all these areas by September” he said.
The principal said today’s economy was hinged on industrialization, noting that it was reading for the various collaborations.
He said that the entire goal was about skill acquisition, noting that the more the skills, the more innovations, and breakthroughs.
According to him, industrialization paved the way for small-scale businesses, which were the drivers of the economy and the gateway to self-reliance.
He lauded the staff of the college for their unrelenting efforts in ensuring that the students were fit for purpose as they go into the larger world.
Omada then admonished the students to be good ambassadors of the college and strive to hold their own anywhere they find themselves.
