Technical and Vocational Education at Basic and Post Basic Levels of Education: Implications for Poverty Eradication and Youth Unemployment in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examined the concept of Technical and Vocational education at basic and post basic levels of education: implications for poverty eradication and youth unemployment in Nigeria. Additionally, it identified the strategies that the universal basic education can adopt to harness unemployment and youth restiveness in Nigeria. Youths unemployment and poverty in Nigeria is high. Basic education is focused to promote functional education and skill acquisitions, creation of jobs and poverty reduction. Technical and vocational education is designed to awake and instill the spirit of entrepreneurship in students and equip them with business skills, which can enable them become employable after school. Also, this paper discussed how successful educational policies will enhance the lives of post U.B.E students and the communities at large. The paper covered a number of issues: It delved into the conceptualization of education, universal basic education; post basic education and career development, vocational enterprise institutions (VEIS), Technical and vocational education, and the challenges of the basic level of education in Nigeria. The paper recommended that Technical and vocational centers should be built by government and non-governmental organizations in all primary and secondary School across all local government areas in Nigeria. Secondly, students at the basic and post basic levels of education should be exposed to technical and vocational education subjects, it should be made compulsory subject, for it can make our school children to become creative, and self employed during their time of studies.