JIIDS:


INTRODUCTION
Education is a right of every individual. It unlocks the development of personal and national potentials of citizens of a country and the world at large. Currently, emphasis is shifting away from the general education that encourages mere acquisition of certificates to skill-based education which centres more on what one can do and the ability to apply requisite skill in real work environment. In Nigeria, the rising unemployment has helped to heighten the need for vocational and technical education. This article therefore discusses the importance of Vocational and Technical Education, the way forward and conclusion.
THE NEED OF VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION
1. Vocational and Technical education prepares one for the world of work with which the individual become reliant and can make contributions to the development of the society. As employers look for new talents every year from new graduates, it is important to not only have a solid education but graduates that have features that stand out from the rest of the graduating students. With the economy being more globalized than ever, it is important to have a background and a skill set that allows graduates to become immersed in the global economy right from graduation (Cote, 2007).
Leadership is not a major cause of Nigeria's under-developed status. Nigeria can become an economic power-house (and realize its visions) only if proper attention is given to education and technological development and promotes and rewards creativity, and channel its material and human resources to productive use.
2. Youth Empowerment In this 21st century characterized by knowledge explosion, the emphasis should be on production of self-reliant citizens. VTE empowers Nigerian youth with requisite employability skills that should be sustained. VTE schools produces men and women who, at the end of their education should be able to put into use the skills they have acquired while in school. Institutions should partner with industries and other businesses to enable students fit into the wider society on graduation, either as individual workers in paid employment or self-employed person and functional members of the political society.
3. VTE also empower the people socially and economically so that they will be able to participate in the making of decision regarding policies affecting their lives, to make the citizens and nations to be self-reliant in the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Ogundele, Akingbade and Akinlabi (2012) revealed that youth empowerment is influenced through acquired skills.
4. As a channel for entrepreneurial skill acquisition, VTE play the role of improving the economic situation of Nigeria through production and distribution of goods in different areas of specialization. This is achievable through the training of the students in different specialized fields. In the long run, this will help the students to establish their own enterprise as seen in China, Turkey, India, Japan among other countries that have succeeded economically through vocational education.
CONCLUSION
Improving skill acquisition through VTE will no doubt solve Nigerian's multiple problems regarding human capital development, empowerment, unemployment and economic instability. The world has recognized that no meaningful social and economic progress could be recorded when majority of the populace is unemployed. This is why nations are striving to overcome the problem of unemployment especially among its youths and Nigeria is not left out. Since many programmes introduced to tackle the issue of unemployment in Nigeria has failed the nation, it now becomes obvious that the easiest way to achieve the goal is by improving skill acquisition through vocational and technical education for youth empowerment and sustainability.

Written by: John Idems- Programme Coordinator, FISD CADEP

JIIDS:


INTRODUCTION
Education is a right of every individual. It unlocks the development of personal and national potentials of citizens of a country and the world at large. Currently, emphasis is shifting away from the general education that encourages mere acquisition of certificates to skill-based education which centres more on what one can do and the ability to apply requisite skill in real work environment. In Nigeria, the rising unemployment has helped to heighten the need for vocational and technical education. This article therefore discusses the importance of Vocational and Technical Education, the way forward and conclusion.
THE NEED OF VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION
1. Vocational and Technical education prepares one for the world of work with which the individual become reliant and can make contributions to the development of the society. As employers look for new talents every year from new graduates, it is important to not only have a solid education but graduates that have features that stand out from the rest of the graduating students. With the economy being more globalized than ever, it is important to have a background and a skill set that allows graduates to become immersed in the global economy right from graduation (Cote, 2007).
Leadership is not a major cause of Nigeria's under-developed status. Nigeria can become an economic power-house (and realize its visions) only if proper attention is given to education and technological development and promotes and rewards creativity, and channel its material and human resources to productive use.
2. Youth Empowerment In this 21st century characterized by knowledge explosion, the emphasis should be on production of self-reliant citizens. VTE empowers Nigerian youth with requisite employability skills that should be sustained. VTE schools produces men and women who, at the end of their education should be able to put into use the skills they have acquired while in school. Institutions should partner with industries and other businesses to enable students fit into the wider society on graduation, either as individual workers in paid employment or self-employed person and functional members of the political society.
3. VTE also empower the people socially and economically so that they will be able to participate in the making of decision regarding policies affecting their lives, to make the citizens and nations to be self-reliant in the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Ogundele, Akingbade and Akinlabi (2012) revealed that youth empowerment is influenced through acquired skills.
4. As a channel for entrepreneurial skill acquisition, VTE play the role of improving the economic situation of Nigeria through production and distribution of goods in different areas of specialization. This is achievable through the training of the students in different specialized fields. In the long run, this will help the students to establish their own enterprise as seen in China, Turkey, India, Japan among other countries that have succeeded economically through vocational education.
CONCLUSION
Improving skill acquisition through VTE will no doubt solve Nigerian's multiple problems regarding human capital development, empowerment, unemployment and economic instability. The world has recognized that no meaningful social and economic progress could be recorded when majority of the populace is unemployed. This is why nations are striving to overcome the problem of unemployment especially among its youths and Nigeria is not left out. Since many programmes introduced to tackle the issue of unemployment in Nigeria has failed the nation, it now becomes obvious that the easiest way to achieve the goal is by improving skill acquisition through vocational and technical education for youth empowerment and sustainability.

Written by: John Idems- Programme Coordinator, FISD CADEP