Vocationalism as a concept refers to a form of education which in addition to providing general education and training, involves the study of applied science and the acquisition of practical skills and knowledge with occupational orientation. Its primary purpose is to provide skills and manpower for industry and other technological services required by society. It involves training provided by vocational schools, technical colleges, polytechnics and universities, training provided by industry through on-the-job and other training programmes and apprenticeship training in the non-formal sector.
In Britain, the shift towards vocational and technical education took place when there was the realisation that economic success of any state was dependent on manufacturing rather than art, an imagination which is perceived as leisure pursuit.
Pre-vocational education during Callaghan’s time (according to Maurice Holt 1987) saw a lot of initiatives by many organisations such as the Department of Education and Science (DES), Manpower Service Commission (MSC), among others, to establish schemes such as Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI), so as to encourage positive shift towards vocational and technical education with aim also to promote in people the belief that youngsters should be trained as self-sufficient competitors in business and industry, ready to fight in the world markets.
Nigeria, like Britain, in 1982 saw the massive turnout of the products of liberal education at all levels of education, the majority of the school leavers became unemployed. To solve the problem of unemployment, the government decided to shift priority from the traditional liberal education to technical and vocational education in the hope of educating and training the individuals at all levels to be self- reliant.
Nigerians’ philosophy of education derives from the broad national objectives which are well articulated in the National Policy on Education (NPE) for the country. The policy is based on the integration of the individual into a sound and effective citizen and the provision of equal educational opportunities for all citizens at all levels both within and outside the formal school system.
The philosophy, however, recognises that general, vocational technical education are both essential aspects in the process of preparing an individual for a living.
In other words, vocational and technical education will produce the range both in quality and quantity of technical manpower required for the transformation of Nigeria into a technological society. In this regard enormous emphasis has recently been placed on vocational education at the federal, state and local government levels.
Recent statistics show that about 40 per cent of the primary school leavers do not enter secondary schools, and about 50 per cent of secondary school leavers do not go further in higher academic pursuit.
Vocational education is, therefore, regarded as essential for furnishing the youth and adults with saleable skills that will enable them secure jobs at appropriate levels when they leave school. The highest possible welfare is achieved only when each individual produces to the limit of his capacity. For this reason, the necessity for equipping each person for some occupation is a fact that even the most primitive society has recognised.
Although the Nigerian government is positively geared towards rapid expansion of vocational technical education, the problem lies in the attitude of those charged with the responsibility of administering vocational education. Good teachers of vocational and technical education have often been difficult to find. Sometimes, those responsible for recruitment and management of personnel for vocational education and general decision-making have been largely ignorant of and apathetic towards the logistics and mechanics of the vocational education process.
They may be competent administrators of other aspects of education, but they are not well qualified to plan vocational and technical education. Thus, the general lack of equipment and facilities for expansion and the relatively slow development of vocational technical education in Nigeria can largely be attributed to a lack of technical know-how, indifference and general inefficiency of some charged with the planning and administration of vocational and technical education.
The government’s “spirit” is thus very willing, but the machinery for implementation is so far weak. Several appeals are increasingly being made at the federal and state levels for educators to monitor programmes and produce appropriate technology to facilitate the successful implementation of vocational and technical education programmes. With the present commitment both financially and morally on the part of various governments in Nigeria, vocational/technical education will certainly achieve the important place it deserves in the economic development of the country.

By: Chen Orngu
Orngu wrote from Nsukka.