University Don Says Nigeria Has Neglected Industrial Technology Education

By Our Reporters

A Professor in Industrial Technology Education, Prof. Kennedy Oji Odu, has said that Industrial Technology Education is a tool for addressing the economic, political and social crises threatening the stability of nations, saying Nigeria has neglected this important field of study.

The university don who spoke at the 89th in the series of Inaugural Lecture of the Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka, on Thursday, defined Industrial Technology Education as “a kind of education which deals with practical skills acquisition for recipients preparing for industries, self-reliance, production and servicing of items fie employment and economic production.”

According to Prof. Odu who spoke on ‘Industrial Technology Education in Advanced Countries of the World: A Sober Reflection for Nigeria,’ said, poor funding, acute shortage of teachers, inconsistency of government policy on TVET, inadequate training facilities and equipment, lack of staff training, retraining and retention, TVET curriculum, poor leadership style in TVET administration, and supremacy tussle between polytechnic and university were some if the challenges hindering the progress of this type of education in the country.

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He urged those in charge of the educational sector to place value on vocational and technical education just as it is in advanced countries like Germany, Japan, Australia, China, United Kingdom, France, United States of America and others.

Continuing, he recommended that Nigeria should make her educational system dual in nature as done by Germany and Japan, where students learn in the classroom and also learn by doing.

He also said it was important for Nigeria to collaborate with some registered organizations with a legal contract or backing between the employer and the apprentice in order to provide a combination of school-based and work place training.

“Nigeria needs to adopt a work-place training through which there will be cooperation between schools and local employers known as work integrated training as it happens in South Korea,” he opined.

Adding that the Nigeria educational content needs more practical content than the theoretical content to enable graduates contribute more meaningfully to sustained technological and economic development in the country.

He said that Nigeria vocational technology education system can follow the pattern of technology education in China, where technology education starts from Junior Secondary Technical and Vocational School and ends in postgraduate schools with doctoral and professional degrees in technology education.

He also recommended that vocational education programmes should be made tuition-free for students in secondary to tertiary level and allowances be paid to students.