Reviving Technical Education In Rivers

The magnitude of the role which technical or vocational education plays in the socio-economic life of a clime like ours that has suffered serious, and in fact, debilitating developmental setbacks, particularly in providing the much-needed platform for galvanising the people into greater heights, is indeed, great.

That is why the news that an interventionist body, the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) has fine-tuned plans to revive technical education in Rivers State is heart-warming.

The RSSDA, according to reports, has signed an agreement with a foremost United Kingdom vocational institution, Highbury College, Portsmouth, for the vocational training of the youth in Rivers State at the Workmanship and Technical Training College located at the state Polytechnic, Bori.

At the signing ceremony held at Highbury College, Portsmouth, United Kingdom, RSSDA’s Executive Director, Mr. Noble Pepple hinted that the arrangement is designed to acquaint students with the highest and contemporary standards of practical approaches to vocational training.

Expressing RSSDA’s delight at partnering with the world class UK-based institution renown for technical education, Pepple said: “We are confident that with Highbury’s expertise in education, we can deliver our vision to make Rivers State a self-sufficient and sustainable economy.”

We cannot agree more, especially against the backdrop of the fact that majority of our teeming youths lack the basic skills required to live a self-reliant life devoid of dependency of any sort.

This manpower development initiative by the RSSDA deserves the commendation and support of all as the move would go a long way in ameliorating the anguish of our impoverished, restless, restive but energetic Rivers youth and redirect their hitherto wasted energy towards more rewarding and productive ventures that would, in the final analysis, contribute to the economic rejuvenation of the state.

There is, indeed, no gainsaying the fact that functional technical institutions can change the face of the economy of Rivers State and contribute immensely to the overall economic development of the nation. This probably informed the decision by the founding fathers of the state to establish some craft development centres in the state which, no doubt, contributed to manpower development in the state.

However, The Tide notes that most of the centres urgently require some rehabilitation, if not a complete upgrade, particularly, the Aba Road, Trans-Amadi and Tombia centres. In other words, the curricula of these institutions need to be reviewed in such a way that the centres compare favourably with their overseas counterparts, and also take into cognizance trades and latest developments in the oil and gas industry.

While commending the RSSDA for its forward-looking initiative at promoting technical education in Rivers State through overseas partnership programme, equipping existing ones or even establishing new ones here would save Nigerians the time and money that would have been spent sending youths overseas for craft development training.

It is in this regard that The Tide is delighted at the Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi’s plan to build craft development centres across the state. Already, the Okrika model has since been completed and merely waiting for commissioning.

Governor Amaechi’s effort at running technical education in the state and RSSDA’s, for the first time in the history of Rivers State, point towards a feasible revolution in manpower development of the state which must be supported by all.