By Jimoh Ahmed & Kayode Olabanji

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Substandard technical education occasioned by poor funding and lack of training tools have worsened the high rate of unemployment and the nation’s technological and economic stagnation, educationists have warned.
They opined that technical education if well funded, particularly with the present economic downturn in the country, would have been the best option in addressing the nation’s backwardness in technological advancement and unemployment .
The educationists submitted that the high rate of unemployment in Nigeria would not have been if the right impetus was given to technical education.
Those who spoke with The Hope included a former Acting Permanent Secretary and retired Principal of Government Technical College, Owo, Apostle Tunde Taiwo, a lecturer in Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, OAUSTECH, Okitipupa, Mr Leke Ogunfeyimi and the Principal of Government Technical College, Okitipupa, Engineer Omotola Faye .
Others are: Vice Principal, Special Duties, Government Technical College, Owo, Mr Ayodele Thompson and a Mechanical Engineer, Alhaji Lateef Jubril
Apostle Tunde Taiwo posited that if technical education had been given its place of pride, many of the technical schools’ graduates apart from being gainfully employed in the factories would have established their own small scale businesses as employers of labour thereby reducing the rate of unemployment in the country.
According to the former Chairman of the Association of Principals of Technical Colleges in the Southwestern Nigeria, Ghanians, Togolese and some other technologists and graftmen from African countries are now dominating the technical jobs in the country.
Citing the cases of United States of America, China and Japan as industrialised nations of the world, he said the place of technological education is “very essential in economic development of any nation.”
He therefore recommended the 1-4-30 formula of the World Bank for the country.
He explained that formula 1-4-30 is having four technologists to one engineer and 30 craftsmen.
According to him, when craftsmen produce quality products, the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, will increase and the country will earn more foreign exchange and the Naira will appreciate.
He declared that the country needs technologists, craftsmen and there will be good life for the people, good roads, amenities and jobs for the people.
A university lecturer at the Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, OAUSTECH, Okitipupa, Mr Leke Ogunfeyimi called on the Federal and State governments to bring back technical education to boost Nigeria’s falling economy.
Ogunfeyimi, described technical education as the foundation and the bedrock of technological advancement.
“It is meant to explore the technological intuition and talents in an individual. It is also meant to advance the inborn technological talents.
According to him, some universities and polytechnics have now introduced technical schools’ curriculum into their curricular, but noted that there is no way they would be efficient about it.
The death of technical schools in Nigeria began when the Nigerian government introduced the 6-3-3-4 system of education. The first three was designed to replace technical education, perhaps not deliberately. But, it began to defeat the purpose of technical schools,” he added.
In his own comment, the Principal of Government Technical College, Okitipupa Engineer Omotola Faye said, Technical Education is designed to offer youths the opportunity of improving themselves in their general proficiency, especially in relation to their present or future occupation.
“But it is quite unfortunate our government did not value its importance to economic development. This is part of the reasons unemployment is rampant in Nigeria,” Faye said.
According to the Principal, “In any nation’s economy, technical education is required to prepare young people for the jobs of the future.”
“Technical education has been neglected in farms of adequate funding, personnel, modern facilities, staff motivation among others, which consequently are robbing the country of economic development.
“Urgent steps needed to be taken by the Governments in tackling unemployment through technical education.
But in a Technical College environment where there is no electricity, success cannot be ascertained because here in Okitipupa, there is no electricity, we depend on generator.
Vice Principal, Special Duties, Government Technical College, Owo, Mr Ayodele Thompson said that technical education remains the key to the industrial and economic development of the country.
Thompson however regretted that technical education is being relegated nowadays.
According to him, admissions into technical schools were not encouraging. He called on government to provide an enabling environment for those interested in going to technical schools.
He called for the recruitment of teachers to cater for the inadequacies in the schools.
A mechanical engineer, Alhaji Lateef Jubri noted that in this era of unemployment, technical education can assure one of a job or source of income in terms of technical skills.
“If a country parades technicians with skills, it undoubtedly accelerates the pace of development. On the other hand, technicians do not need to look for jobs, if they start their own business; they can provide job opportunities for other educated people as well.”