The Contribution of Science and Technology Education to National Development: The Nigerian Experience

Abstract

In order to enhance Science and Technology Education, it is necessary to understand the contribution of Science and Technology Education to national development. This paper examines the contribution of Science and Technology Education to national development: The Nigerian experience with a view of making it a tool for national development worthwhile. Since societies that discriminate technical education among its counterpart pays a high price in their ability to reduce poverty and develop. Enhancing national development depends on improving the situation of technical education. Reducing the gap in education reduces individual poverty and encourages economic growth and enhances national development. Problems and Challenges to National Education Policies were also discussed as they relate to difficulty in finding, training and retraining of well qualified science teachers, difficulty in keeping up with emerging science and changing teaching practice, public perceptions related to science, difficulty in maintaining a relevant science curriculum at all levels, funding and lack of information. In order to overcome the challenges of science and Technology education, the paper offers recommendations with a view to enhancing the contribution of Science and Technology Education to national development.

Key words: National Development, Poverty, Technical Education, Science & Technology.