The need for the development of a national policy on vocational education and training to address the disparity and duplication of intervention programmes has been identified as one of the solutions to tackling youth unemployment in Nigeria.
This recommendation was part of the 12-point communique released at the end of a three-day National Conference on Skill Acquisition organised by The Progressive Institute (TPI), a research arm of the ruling All Progressives Congress, held in Abuja recently.
According to a statement by Wale Abydeen, Head of Media and Strategic Communication, TPI, the conference, which was planned as part of the efforts geared towards the implementation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, noted that there was a huge gap between education output and employment opportunities in the country and pointed out that technical and vocational education and training was grossly undervalued in Nigeria in comparison with university education.
Other observations noted in the course of the deliberation during the conference include lack of progressive structural transformation of artisans from agrarian economy to modern industries, gaps in skill acquisition and training, absence of a national policy on vocational education which had led to the duplication of interventions without adequate coordination across various sectors and agencies, lack of gender inclusivity and barrier to skills acquisition in rural communities among several others.
As part of its recommendations, the conference, among other proposals, called for the establishment of a central coordinating body such as a national commission or a Federal Ministry to facilitate the realization of the federal government’s objective of addressing unemployment among youths as well as existing skills gaps in the economy.
The institute further stated: “The establishment of well-equipped modern skill acquisition centres in each of the country’s six geo-political zones with arterial links to existing technical and related entities.
“The federal government should establish a Nigeria Digital Literacy Management Office in the Presidency through a Presidential Order which would serve as a national coordinating centre on digital matters.
“The government should integrate digital literacy at all levels of the country’s educational system and encourage collaboration between the government, private sector and other stakeholders through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) initiatives to expand skills acquisition for economic development as obtainable in South Korea, Singapore and South Africa.”
The conference which attracted the top echelon of the ruling APC including President Bola Tinubu who was represented by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Muhammed Idris and the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio represented by Sen. Barau Jibrin, Deputy Senate President; national chairman of the party, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje among others, also called for the integration of a six-month compulsory national youths skills acquisition program upon the completion of tertiary education and the promulgation of an ‘’end poverty 2030 agenda’’ through rural Industrialization, as parts of its recommendations.
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