Prospects for TVET in Developing Skills for Work in Nigeria

Abstract

Education is considered the key to sustainable development and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is thought to be pivotal to achieving national development goals in Nigeria. However, the country is plagued by persistent challenges of youth unemployment, inadequate skills in relation to requirements in the world of work as well as the vulnerability of youths to sponsors of violent extremism due to unemployment-triggered poverty. The persistent problem of unemployment has been linked to inadequate provision of requisite skills training and knowledge acquisition to students who later ended up unemployed due to lack of adequate employable skills. Using the eclectic approach of data gathering, this paper explores the current status of TVET delivery in Nigeria, the nexus between TVET and skills development, the opportunities for TVET in developing employable and job creation skills in the youth population in Nigeria, and makes recommendation for the repositioning of vocational education in the country through increased funding of TVET programmes, training and re-training of teachers, and provision of targeted TVET programs for cultivating relevant skills needed for access to decent work and life-long learning.

Keywords: TVET, Skill, youth, unemployment