Op meant, u should try and do both.

CocoLoca: RIP English from an OBVIOUSLY "vocational student" author!

You bad ghan

Somebody once said that "the real focus of education should be in shaping peoples character and enhancing their intelligence"

Like GentleMimi said, condition and the process by which your were brought-up/raised affect a lot what you believe about life
and everything else and eventually what you become.
Mentality on the other hand is like a skill that you can learn and unlearn at any point in life
based on your changing knowledge and understanding in the journey of life.

That said, OP you have raised a very good point and the earlier this generation understand this simple fact the better.

Paradigm must change and the now most importantly !!!

The whole essence of this topic is that do not rely on paper qualification only. Create job for urself if you can.

Orikinla: From being a tutor and interviewer, I know that majority of vocational students are intellectually re-tarded.
They lack intellectual comprehension.

In education, you are what you have chosen to be. And majority of students in Nigeria are lagging far behind intellectually.

Many so called graduates are as well "educated illiterates"
We have it both ways.

onihaxy: Have you ever wondered why vocational students don't cry of unemployment?, I think its the differences in our mentality.

Academic students in nigeria has this mentality of going to school, graduate with good grades and then becomes gainfully employed by an established organisation while the vocational studentsthe mentality of learning any vocational skills of their choice, (tailoring, barbing, hairdressing, etc) and after their freedom, they become there own boss by establishing themselves and start training others and the chain of self-reliant continues

Back in the 90's, the academic students always mock their counterparts in the vocational line with the mentality that they (academic student) will make a better life than the vocational students. According to a pry song we do sing in my school back then, "if u go to school, ur shoes will be making ko-ko-ka sound but if you don't go to school, your shoe sole will be flat. Meaning that if you go to school, the vocational student will be serving you and you will be there leader, though this theory works back then when there are jobs on ground for graduates after school, but in this era. The table has been turned around, the vocational graduates who are self established are now recruiting academic graduates as their children's home lesson teacher, as their P.A, some has office assistance. The worse part of it is that so many graduates are even going back to this vocational people to learn skills.

It reminded me of back in NYSC days when vocational courses like barbing, catering, event planning, beads making, and so on was introduced, I happen to pick up paint making and learn, the guy who came to teach us then came in a nice saloon car. Came up to the hall and started the lecture, you need to see the gbagaun he was throwing. As he noticed that we were laughing at him, then he paused the lecture and switched over to his life story......

He begin by telling us his academic history. He said he dropped out in ss2 due to lack of funds in 2002. How he was mocked by his friends who proceeded to university. How he went to a paint company to work as a casual staff, there he learnt basic paints making. From there, he attended a seminar on making quality paints, bought the book and then started his life from there. He said 10years later which was 2012 that he came to teach us, he said he has built 2 houses, bought 3 nice cars, became a millionaire and finally. He has trained close to 3000 B.sc graduates.

He ended his story by saying getting rich in life doesn't depend on your qualifications, your english speaking accents, but your level of understanding how to be on your own, identifying people's need and providing solutions to it and then making your own money through it. Every1 in the hall suddenly kept quiet and tears start rolling from the eyes of most of us. The practical training class became a motivational class.
So I think the academic students and graduates of nowadays should stop or minimise the mentality of going to school, get good grades, and start applying for jobs but rather learn from the vocational students who studied to be the boss of their own.

Over to you fellow nairalanders, what is your own view?

Having both is the best

Mods please always do ur job

Dolly-Parton:
Op meant, u should try and do both.

Nope,he did not.Read his post agin.

OP..you should have concluded by saying if one have the opportunity to acquire vocational skills without halting ones academic studies,then d person should take it serious.

childluck:


Many so called graduates are as well "educated illiterates"
We have it both ways.

True.Imagine a graduate saying..''i does not do it''

smh

Education plus vocational skills to me is a perfect combo.If your cerficate fails you in the labour market,your Tools will not
..An Educated tailor will Open a fashion school,with wonder clothing lines.An Educated carpenter would makes lovely upholsteries and even own a show room.
Its best to be educated and still possess a vocational skill IMO

GentleMimi:
You can feel hw those corpers will what?

would have felt after listening to the man....mr teacher can you be humble enough to correct my grammatical error if there is even any?

bolaji73: A touching story.i can feel hw those corpers will felt after listening to the man's tale.a story full of lessons for only the wise ones.

Gbagaun..... And op nice one there ...he's actually not saying yu guys shouldn't go to school what d op is saying is that u could also learn a trade or use ur skills because education is not everything of which it is very true .....if u look well u will notice that graduates now do all dis vocational work because there isnt work put there for everybody so if u have a talent or skill for something u could make use of it to make your life better...although for me I'd suggest u do d both for safety go to school and also engage in something else business... Sowing baking anything u find interesting

GentleMimi: Please,let's not get it twisted.Combination of education and skills beats vocational training anyday,anytime.How many of these ''vocational workers'' are money makers? Just a low percentage.Some peeps are born wif skills,but hone those skills to perfection when they obtain education.A man who is dumb will not succeed in vocational jobs no matter his training.The fact is that a few of these vocational trainees are outrightly successful.Most are just petty petty money makers.But a well honed skill,combined with wisdom and Grace is what makes men billioniars.Dangote did not learn any vocation,neither did he go to school...he was born wif money-making skill!

most of them just make food money, only very few are wealthy.

To be frank,i tink people can't do without d two....WHY? Cos its jus depends on how you utilise the two or each to the best of ur capability....being academical comes first followed by vocational skills,goin thru d two phase wil really boost ur mentalily in fendin 4 urself...none is kinda greater jor......exp:Okonjo is where she is cos of her academical background,trust me when Bill Gates started,he had a vocational background so to say....be on d right side peeps

bolaji73: would have felt after listening to the man....mr teacher can you be humble enough to correct my grammatical error if there is even any?

I did,gently.Your perception took a diff direction.Sorry.

amnestylaw1: This is not further from the truth. Me with my certificates here in Europe, I (we) cannot find a job. But, some of my fellow Yoruba brothers and Igbo friends who learned Welding and Truck mechanic way back in Naija wake up and go to work while I keep posting CVs around the internet. Had I known, I would have learned some trade even if I would not relent in my effort to go to the university.

Europe is big my brother ,Please don't tell
Me you in Romania or Ukraine

Karkarash: so are you trying to insinuate that children should shun education and go and learn barbing,tailoring,painting? why dont you start with your kids

Think of the great men bill gate a dropout,most of them are dropouts but I'm not saying basic education is not important

@ OP this is a good write up. One of the best i have read on NL. I hope people who have graduated from higher institutions will learn from it

I decided to comment on this topic because of how it directly affected me.

I shouted at my younger sister two days ago because of what she said. She said she was better than me because she had a certificate from the NYSC.
Great! Unfortunately, she was a person i trained from JS1 to her final year at Esut Enugu. Secondly, she was in a bungalow house i built while living in Germany.
Truth is, she has a certificate from Nysc and Esut but i dont.
The Irony is that i know everything she studied in the university, every dan thing she studied about psychology.

I have my business with a large capital base. I have a house in town and have cars. Even though i trained her, she still thought that having a certificate is a great thing to do even when she is not brilliant.

Actually i stopped after SS3 but i eventually wentt online to study the same psychology as well, all on my own thrrough google.

After things quieteed down, i called her in front of my mom and started discussing philosophy. While i lectured her on the topics she studied, she couldnt answer my questions. It is all about certificate for her and a few other like her but as long as certificates can be bought in Africa, you better learn some good trade or vocation. When you make it, you can start studying or even buy the damn cert.

Orikinla: From being a tutor and interviewer, I know that majority of vocational students are intellectually re-tarded.
They lack intellectual comprehension.

In education, you are what you have chosen to be. And majority of students in Nigeria are lagging far behind intellectually.

And ur contribution is?

GentleMimi:
You can feel hw those corpers will what?

mimicue:

Gbagaun..... And op nice one there ...he's actually not saying yu guys shouldn't go to school what d op is saying is that u could also learn a trade or use ur skills because education is not everything of which it is very true .....if u look well u will notice that graduates now do all dis vocational work because there isnt work put there for everybody so if u have a talent or skill for something u could make use of it to make your life better...although for me I'd suggest u do d both for safety go to school and also engage in something else business... Sowing baking anything u find interesting

lol.. would have taken it personal,but the law of karma calls me to order.have been doing it to many posters who hadn't been conscious with there grammer.Anyway, i love embarrassing correction cos no moment of embarrassment can easily be forgotten.Thanks dearie....btw...av modified my post..

Academics (Formal Education) ought to be an added advantage in Life. Its a means to a better end, not an end itself. A lot of the World's richests aint academics.

@OP, WHAT IS BEING STUDIED FOR AND GIVEN IN SCHOOLS NOW IS WHAT I WOULD CALL 'HONORARY DEGREES'.

Going to the higher institution now is just to fulfill all 'righteousness'. Students read just to pass examinations, the aim of going to school is just to get that paper called CERTIFICATE.

No one bothers to do research, students do not know the core matter of their courses by the time they are done with school- that is where you find so-called graduates of optometry causing blindness to their patients, doctors killing people, electrical engineers unable to wire a building, etc..... Every field of study have their casualties.

When you are done with 'school' and find yourself unemployable(a result of the incompetent educational system and your own doing), the only reasonable option would be to learn other skills! And that's where you find yourself in the same category with the people you might have laughed at who weren't opportuned to go to school or saw it as a waste of their valuable time.

The Nigeria of today is not one cut out where students should spend 5 or more years studying what they would never practice , most do not even know what their courses are about, talk less of the practicability.

It would be better to have a formal education of about 1-2 years to sharpen your people skills through interactions with diverse personalities while you practice the vocation you are interested in.
I think the formal educaational system should be adjusted to this effect. That would reduce the high level of unemployment, society would have learned citizens and at the same time years wasted searching for admission for courses you would never practice would be a thing of the past.

Success in the world of today is not by carrying paper around that you cannot defend. To be able to compete favourably, one should be able to read and write, interact intelligently with others(something a few years of formal education should do) and be able to stand on his/her own(make money).

Is our educational system as well as the economy of today able to achieve that? Is it worth it 'wasting' all that time in school and end up parading the streets with CVs no one wants to look at, or be a profesionnal terrorist(since doctors, opticians, nurses, engineers,etc have become human hazards of their professions)?.

That is the award winning question.

bolaji73: lol.. would have taken it personal,but the law of karma calls me order.have been doing it many posters who hadn't been conscious with there grammer.Anyway, i love embarrassing correction cos no moment of embarrassment can easily be forgotten.Thanks dearie....btw...av modified my post..

[b][/b]

GentleMimi: Please,let's not get it twisted.Combination of education and skills beats vocational training anyday,anytime.How many of these ''vocational workers'' are money makers? Just a low percentage.Some peeps are born wif skills,but hone those skills to perfection when they obtain education.A man who is dumb will not succeed in vocational jobs no matter his training.The fact is that a few of these vocational trainees are outrightly successful.Most are just petty petty money makers.But a well honed skill,combined with wisdom and Grace is what makes men billioniars.Dangote did not learn any vocation,neither did he go to school...he was born wif money-making skill!

Dangote acquired money-making skills from his uncle, was never an inborn talent took association with his uncle to unleash dat talent skills in trading bro.

Both vocational and academics should go together.

Like rich dad poor dad say universities makes u a employee not n employer

#TeamVocationalTraining.
I came from a family that made their fortune from dirt and grit - car engine rebuilders.
From when i was kid, i dreaded my dad's workshop after school hours.
Through secondary school, i cursed every single day my dad forces me to come to work during holidays.
Money made from that company already sent me to flight school overseas for pilot training. I like machines, i troubleshoot machines and i breathe and love working on any machinery.
Today, i stowed my diploma deep inside my bag, working at something i had always hated, but really loved.
I'm my own man, with a very bright future in manufacturing and service company all thanks to the skills i got from working at my dads.
I now smile as i see the Uni peeps come for IT, and try not to get dirty, but will jump into the labour market tomorrow sweating it for peanuts, when they could make a huge fortune for themselves with a skill and the sound education they got after the initial pain, ridicule and sacrifice.
Nigeria manufactures so little, and the future manufacturers got the future.
Show me someone flaunting his cert, i'll show you a big failure.

In another news

The truth is always bitter,its always better to combine both.My fiance is a graduate of Lagos state polytechnic.She is also a stylist of high repute. She started learning when she was in Jss2,graduated(freedom) in SS2.She sent he self to higher institution with d proceeds of her trade,even abroad. She makes hair for dignitaries n royalties .I can categorically tell you that she's doing better than me..She doesn't wait for one stupid salary,has loads of apprentices,wakes up anytime.Now she makes hair on appointment. The fact is its always better to combine both.U dnt lose.

Education is not the key to wealth.

You can get wealth and be rich WITH or WITHOUT education.


This is the summary of the whole write-up.