Establishing the Nexus between Technical Education and Industrial Development in Nigeria
Keywords:
Nigeria, technical education, Industrial developmentAbstract
The role of education (especially technical education) in the development of great countries
of the world is not doubtful. Ordinarily, one expects such a result in Nigeria, given the
abundance of human, natural and financial resources in the country. However, this is far from
being realised in the country and calls for a critical inquiry into the forces behind low industrial
development in Nigeria. This study critically evaluates the role of technical education in
Nigeria’s industrial development. This evaluation reveals that technical education and
industrialization in Nigeria are bedevilled by several challenges. Therefore, the work argues
that as far as technical education in Nigeria is still battling with the challenges of underfunding,
lack of basic facilities and workshops, weak government policy and poor implementation,
inadequate power generation and supply, corruption, political influence, problems related to
curriculum and the colonial mentality of being a form of education for the educationally
disadvantaged individuals, which still drives the current discrimination against graduates of
polytechnics, monotechnics, and universities, it will continually lack the impetus to ensure
rapid industrial development in the country. Pertinently, far-reaching suggestions for achieving
industrial development in Nigeria through her technical education and training programme
are proposed.
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