FCES Oyo holds annual vocational day

The entire staff of the School of Secondary Education (Vocational and Technical Programmes), Federal College of Education, Special Oyo, has organised a vocational Day held to emphasize the significance of  Vocational / Professional programmes in addressing the increasing unemployment rate among the youths in Nigeria.

 Held on Wednesday,  other activities scheduled to mark the Day included the award ceremonies organised for some of the retirees in the school and the commissioning of a new administrative  Block in the department. 

 Speaking on the occasion, the Dean of the school, Mr Isaac  Lawal declared that until Technical Education is given its appropriate recognition in the economy,  efforts of the government to reduce the excesses of youths’ liabilities on their parents and government might remain elusive. 

He noted that these present days students applied to tertiary institutions without a particular focus on what they want to become in life to contribute their quota to the economic development of their immediate environment, as well as to be self-sufficient financially. 

According to him, Technical education provides an avenue, or an opportunity for undergraduates to become self-reliant,  or self-dependent economically after graduation. 

He said:  “Technical education   is essential   for the growth and development of a  nation, especially in the developing economy, such as Nigeria. Technical education is inevitable in this country’s present situation.  The most frustrating challenge in the Nigerian education system is that many of our students often apply for courses such as philosophy, Sociology and psychology instead of going for self-sufficient courses that would make them relevant in society later in life.

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“In view of this development, I will like to appeal to parents to encourage their children to enrol for vocational/ professional programmes that can make them self-employed in society after graduation. 

“ Moreover, In this economic situation in Nigeria,  It is high time government prioritised technical education development through adequate funding to improve learning. Philanthropists in the society should invest in technical education development in Nigeria both in cash and in kind, as government alone cannot finance technical education in the country. 

 “More importantly,  if the Joint Admission Matriculation Board(JAMB) would consider colleges of education in the country to offer provisional admission to students, especially at the Department of Technical Education with a view of regularising it before the completion of their professional academic programmes in the college with the  JAMB, the development would go a long way to increase enrolment in the department. 

Speaking in the same vein, former Deputy   Provost of the college, Mr Sunday, Adeleye, confirmed the significance of technical education in the nation-building process.

 He emphasized that the development of technical education should be the concern of all the education stakeholders in the country, saying that government would need to promote technical education to address the youth unemployment in the country. 

According to him, graduates of technical education have the skills to be self- development with high demand for their services  in the economy. 

Meanwhile, the Provost of the college, Professor  Kamoru Usman, represented by the Deputy of the institution at the occasion, Dr   Adekunle  Adebiyi,  declared that the  Department of Technical Education in the college is well equipped to produce skilful graduates that would contribute to the growth and development of  Nigeria economy. He reiterated that the college would not relent in its efforts to ensure a better academic and administrative environment that would facilitate the achievement of the mandate of the college in all its academic programmes.