Redesigning Education Curricula as a Panacea for Unemployment and Poverty Reduction in Nigeria

Abstract

Unemployment and poverty are twin scourge that are global phenomena. The rate of unemployment and poverty in Nigeria amidst plenty of natural and human resources has earned the country the image of a paradox. In spite of numerous policies and programmes initiated to address them, available statistics show that both phenomena are on the increase yearly. This paper advocates for a re-think in the country’s educational curricula as one of the cardinal measures for unemployment and poverty reduction; in that light, it canvasses for a paradigm shift from emphasis and insistence on credit passes on core science subjects as prerequisite or sine qua non for studying Technical and Vocational Education courses and Training, to interests of prospective students in the area. It concludes that the shift will not only swell geometrically the number of students admitted to study such courses each session, it will produce graduates armed with requisite skills to take up self employment consequently reducing rates of unemployment and poverty on the one hand. On the other hand, it will also pave way on one prong for “artisans” who are practicing technicians with the “technical-know-how” to enroll in technical and vocational education courses and acquire the “technical-know-why” in their practices; one the other, graduates and teachers who have become informed and interested in the area could benefit from the new arrangement, thereby placing them and other professionals on good stead for unlimited technological exploration, innovations, inventions and discoveries propelled by advanced technological manufacturing and mechantronics.

Keywords: Redesigning education