THE RATIONALE FOR PLANNING VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION FOR NIGERIAN YOUTHS

Abstract

There is enough evidence in Nigeria today that the numbers of unemployed youths are already considerable and appear to be increasing rapidly in all the corners of the Federation. The implication of this is that if nothing is done, the result would be catastrophic for the nation since it may lead to the creation of a new generation of armed robbers and at best “social rebels” and delinquents for Nigeria. The objective of this paper is not to provide a panacea to the afore-said problem; it is rather an attempt to examine the occupational training needs of Nigerian youths and some of the  obstacles to vocational education programmes. Some planning and management issues that may have to be considered if such vocational needs are to be met are also analysed. The technicalities and other modalities involved in technical and vocational education do not fall within the realm of this paper and are therefore left for the experts to tackle.