Promote Vocational Education, Please

The essence of university has for long been defeated in Nigeria. In the actual sense, not everyone should be in the university, as the university is meant for individuals’ with high level of thinking, innovation,  problem-solving and sound reasoning.
The university is meant to be a research  citadel where new ideas  required to power  local industries and organisation are nurtured, while  evolving new strategies for economic productivity. Untill we go back to the basics of education and learning in Nigeria, we will continue to produce substandard graduates in quality and quantity.
Handicraft is entirely another different world, required for people who harness the practicality of the ideas being developed in the universities, and churn it out in massive industrial productions. I believe both handiwork and education are important in today’s Nigeria.
In Nigeria, the school system has no content of reality of life outside, thus  limiting the capacities of students to get  employment or engage in self employable ventures.
We see many students leave school and cannot represent themselves in any forum, or show intelligence even in the field of study they so prefer. The community see all who have been to school as  people made for white collar jobs (office jobs) and this affects  the students  from venturing into small personal business or engaging  in other innovative thinking.
I perceive this as a failure of the education system and a narrow approach to the celebrated curriculum and therefore, recommend learning at all levels to gather information, generate ideas and discover hidden capacities that are needed for the turnaround in the country.
Vocational education which was once a perfectly respected, even mainstream educational path,  came to be viewed as a track for poor  students. People have huge and diverse range of skills and learning styles.
The dearth of vocational education at the secondary school level has bred a skill shortage in manufacturing sector today. Many of the jobs are  attainable through apprenticeship, on the job  training, and vocational programmes offered at community colleges. They do not require expensive, four- year degree programmes for which many  students are not suited.

Bethel Toby,
Port Harcourt.