The Role of Vocational Education in the Economic Development of Oredo Local Government Area, Edo State
Chapter One
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objective of study is to investigate the problems facing vocational education in Oredo Local Government Area. it is also to investigate the following specific objectives;
- To know if non-availability of finance is affecting the development of vocational education in Oredo Local Government Area.
- To know if vocational education is really helping individual to be self-reliance.
- To know if inadequate infrastructural facilities is affecting the development of vocational education.
- To know if the local government is really helping teachers and students of vocational education etc.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
Documentation on the subject of livelihood substance and economic development through the use of vocational and technical education can be divided into two categories: (1) Studies on vocational and technical education for livelihood and civic participation and (2) Studies on art workshop experiments in Nigerian society. Scholars such as: Foster (1965), Zymelman (1976), Fagerlind and Shah (1989), Bennell (1996), Atcharena and Caillods (1999), Colin (1999), Jeong (1999), Alhasan and Abdullahi (2004), Alam (2007), Alam (2008), Nayak and Kalyankar (2010), Aina (2013) and Offiong, Akpan and Usoro (2013) have had scholarly discourse while groping on the issue bordering on vocational and technical education looking at educational situation of the whole world from different windows with their skilful ability to arrive at individual opinions, decisions and conclusions Foster (1965) opined that “vocational school is a fallacy in development planning of a nation, because the acquired skills garnered from vocational education are mostly not effectively and properly utilized by participants”. Supporting this view, Zymelman (1976) reiterated that “vocational and technical education has been providing a lower rate of return than general education”, but Bennell (1996) faulted the claims of these two scholars when he rebutted that “if participants at vocational and technical education are less ‘academically sharp’ and ‘inadequately intelligent’, the rate of return for any organized vocational and technical venture is always still very high”. Fagerlind and Shah (1989) observed that “the concept of human capital indicates that vocational education and training had been raising the productivity of workers, and ameliorating their lifetime earning ability”. Atcharena and Caillods (1999) are supportive of this observation when they averred that “workers need the vocational and technical training before joining the labour force, and they also need on-the-job training to update their skills”. Jeong (1999) followed the same direction in this argument when he claimed that “before joining the labour force, workers need to be trained to be more productive and to perform their tasks effectively”. Colin’s (1999) is divergent in his own opinion as he focused on the fact that “vocational and technical education has been playing a vital role for national development planning”, but he cautioned that “if the policy makers failed to update their development plan, and the vocational and technical schools are devoid of qualified staff and adequate amenities to offer quality training, the training offered will not be useful”. Alhasan and Abdullahi (2013) generally agreed that education is acknowledged globally as a means for transforming and empowering the youth with skill, knowledge and attitudes to enable them become productive members of the society. The duo: Alhasan and Abdullahi still saw a gap in the Nigerian educational system when they statistically analysed that “Nigeria as a developing country with population of 140 million is still battling with poverty and unemployment problems” despite the opportunity given through education to transform and empower the youth. They focused on the contribution of a revitalized technical and vocational education and training with emphasis on youth empowerment to improve the economic status of the country and welfare of the people. They discussed the issue bordering on the integration of technical and vocational education and training in education curricula and entrepreneurial activities that are aimed at job provision. They however, concluded that the problem of widespread poverty and unemployment could only be solved if priority is given to revitalizing technical and vocational education and training with greater attention to empowering the youth through this aforementioned educational training. Alam (2007) was of a view that human capital theory has a powerful influence on the analysis of labour market. He noted that investment in vocational education and training can produce benefits both to the individual and to the society as a whole. He opined that “the return on investment for society will be a skilled workforce that can enhance global competitiveness and economic growth, while the return of the individual will be a better career path, increased earning and a better quality of life”. In another work Alam (2008) empirically argued on the problem that many countries, most especially the third world countries, while having a large educated population, remain unable to make significant progress because they are sluggish and unable to provide the right type of qualitative education for citizenry.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to the role of vocational education in the economic development of Oredo local government of Edo state
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information on the role of vocational education in the economic development of Oredo local government of Edo state. 200 staff of selected Colleges of Education (Technical) in Oredo local government of Edo State was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the role of vocational education in the economic development of Oredo local government area Edo state
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of vocational education in the economic development
Summary
This study was on the role of vocational education in the economic development of Oredo local government area Edo state. Three objectives were raised which included: To know if non-availability of finance is affecting the development of vocational education in Oredo Local Government Area, to know if vocational education is really helping individual to be self-reliance, to know if inadequate infrastructural facilities is affecting the development of vocational education, to know if the local government is really helping teachers and students of vocational education etc. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected Colleges of Education (Technical) in Oredo local government of Edo state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up heads of department, lecturers, senior lecturers and junior lecturers were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
It has been established that the organizers of vocational and technical education centres in Nigeria have been focusing on how to satisfy the basic physiological needs of the participants while training, mentoring and motivating them for self development and self fulfilment. An authentic vocational and technical education needs to be designed for and organized around the contextual economic opportunities. It is also discovered that economic and social freedom are interrelated, one cannot thrive without the other. Without economic growth social freedom cannot be attained. The purpose of vocational and technical education, therefore, is to provide adequate skill and knowledge to interested participants to be able to cope with the incessant job scarcity in the society, and such skill acquired through this system of education will surely provide social value for participants in order to achieve their country’s developmental goals. If the youth are trained adequately, they will become more productive; a source of skilled manpower and not a burden on the society. They can perform their duty with diligence, effectiveness and best professionalism, and they can as well contribute positively to national development of their country. From the economic and social standpoint, livelihood sustenance and economic development require a sound vocational and technical education that is intended to meet a wide range of human needs.
Recommendation
It is recommended that the existing policy on education in Nigeria should be amended to guarantee the survival of vocational training method to the point where a great number participant will be in a position to pass on the indigenous knowledge acquired therein to the coming generations, and at the same time adapt to modern technology. Furthermore, the vocational and technical training techniques and introduction of workshop practice to students in Nigerian schools should be carried to a level where both will have a symbiotic relationship with other existing courses.
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