Technical and Vocational Education

Technical and vocational education (TVE) has been an integral part of national development strategies in many societies because of its impact on productivity and economic development. Despite its contributions the leaders of Nigeria have not given this aspect of education the attention it deserves. And that is one of the reasons for the nation's underdevelopment. This article focuses on the dearth of skilled technical manpower in Nigeria and argues that technical education holds the key to national development.1

Technical education "is a planned program of courses and learning experiences that begins with exploration of career options, supports basic academic and life skills, and enables achievement of high academic standards, leadership, preparation for industry-defined work, and advanced and continuing education."2 And vocational education and training "prepares learners for careers that are based in manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic and totally related to a specific trade, occupation or vocation." In other words, it is an "education designed to develop occupational skills."3 Vocational and technical education gives individuals the skills to "live, learn and work as a productive citizen in a global society."

The provision of vocational and technical schools has a long history. Before the Industrial Revolution (between 1750 and 1830) the home and the "apprenticeship system" were the principal sources of vocational education. But societies were later forced by the decline of handwork and specialization of occupational functions to develop institutions of vocational education (Duffy, 1967).4 Manual training that involves general instruction in the use of hand tools was said to have developed initially in Scandinavia (c.1866). However, vocational education became popular in the elementary schools in the United States after 1880 and developed into courses in industrial training, bookkeeping, stenography, and allied commercial work in both public and private institutions. As the Columbia Encyclopedia (2001) noted some of the early private trade schools in the United States include Cooper Union (1859) and Pratt Institute (1887), the Hampton Institute (1868) and Tuskegee Institute (1881). The agricultural high school (1888) of the University of Minnesota was the first regularly established public vocational secondary school that introduced extensive public instruction in agriculture.5

The number of public and private vocational schools has greatly increased in the United States since 1900. There was an impetus on vocational education during World War II (1939-1945) when the armed services had great need for technicians that the civilian world could not supply. There was a further upsurge on vocational training from the Servicemen's