Investment In Vocational/Technical Education Will Enhance Societal Development – Don

As the global community commemorates the International Day of Education, a university don, Prof. Isaac Ogundu of Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, has called on Nigerians and the people of the Niger Delta in particular to invest in vocational and technical education.
Ogundu, who is also the dean of the Faculty of Vocational and Technical Education of the university at Ndele Campus, told National Point that society ought to invest in the type of education that would best serve the interest of its citizens and society.
The International Day of Education is marked annually on January 24. The United Nations General Assembly first set apart the day in 2018. One of the motives for the celebration of the day is to reach children who are missing out in learning and education.
This year’s theme, Learning for Lasting Peace was considered relevant because more than one quarter of humanity is living in conflict-affected areas. “Education is supposed to be in context; each society is supposed to find out which education will help its citizens. That is why we have the philosophy and goals of education,” Prof Ogundu said.
He said to get education right, the people must fund the kind of education that will be meaningful and solve the society’s problems.
“In Nigeria, what are the problems we have that ideally, education should solve? Many scholars have said that we have a problem with unemployment. Can we use education to solve this problem? The answer is yes. We can emphasise on vocational and technical education. If people are skilled, if people are self-reliant, which is part of the objective of education, there will be less crime,” he said.
The professor said vocational education emphasizes manipulative skills and can be useful in the construction industry, mechanical technology, electrical and electronic technology, automobile technology and building technology.
He said vocational education will convert youths from being job seekers to job creators and employers of labour.
A final year student of electronics and computer at NNamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Mr. Matthew Onyebuchi, appealed to government to offer scholarship to more Nigerian youths to acquire vocational and technical education. He also advised young people to engage in meaningful trades even while they are pursuing their formal education.