The Microsoft Encarta Dictionary defines education as; “the imparting and acquiring of knowledge through teaching and learning, especially at a school or similar institution.” The United Nations’ Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on its part defines it as “the process of facilitating learning or acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs and habits”.
Many nations of the world have imbibed the culture of offering quality education for their citizens with a view to providing high standards of living. For example, the first five largest economies of the world (USA, China, Germany, Japan and India) are equally known to be in the fore front of countries with robust and functional education system.
After the American Revolution (1775-1783), the founders of the United States argued that education was essential for the prosperity and survival of the new nation. Thus, Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, proposed that Americans give a high priority to a “crusade against ignorance.”
Till date, America offers comprehensive free and compulsory education to her citizens to higher school level (12th grade) which is Nigeria’s equivalent of secondary school.
Education in the country have been found to be the most effective tool for continually reducing the prosperity gap between the rich and the poor in the society while at the same time promoting development with the spread of knowledge.
In Britain, education is compulsory for all children between the ages of 5 and 16. The Universal Basic Education policy recommends a program comprising 6 years of primary education and 3 years of junior secondary education in all nations of the world. And in line with the UNESCO policy on education, Nigeria formally legislated on an education pattern that entails the 6-3-3-4 system that ensures compulsory education of her citizens for 9 years from age 6 to 16. This rule came into effect in 1999 even though the practice was actually initiated in 1976.
However, the education of citizens has since taken a new and retrogressive dimension in the country. Today, there are about 18.3 million out-of-school children in Nigeria according to UNICEF. Bad as this finding is, many more young people are currently dropping out of schools due to heavy burdens of payment of tuition fees.
To worsen the matter, even those who are accessing education in the country are becoming very poorly educated due to inability to procure learning tools like computers and relevant textbooks. The public school managers are no longer dedicated towards qualitative education while the private ones are out of the reach of the down-trodden members of the society who can hardly feed themselves.
It is heartwarming however to note that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has set some machineries aimed at resolving the technical education deficit in Nigeria motion.
He recently approved the federal government’s offer of grants worth N45,000 to each technical school student in Nigeria. According to the proposal which is awaiting passage into law by the nation’s legislators, the grants to these categories of the Nigerian youths are not to be repaid by beneficiaries after schooling.
With this leap in the country’s education system, the much desired production instincts in Nigerians are expected to be awakened and directed towards enrolments into science courses that are currently driving the economies of nations such as the United States of America, USA, China and the rest.
Laying emphasis on this type of education stands to produce skills needed to close the per capita income gap between Nigeria abysmally placed at about $2,600 and that of the USA which stands at $89, 000.
One of the greatest advantages of technical education is that it will move many Nigerians from a state of unemployability (the biggest problem with the unemployed youths) to that of employability.
Those responsible for supervising public school examinations in primary, secondary and tertiary schools must endeavour to put measures in place that will ensure appropriate punishment for erring pupils and students who have become partners in crimes with private school proprietors as examination cheats.
On the whole, the bottom line remains the fact that failure to Leverage on the new policy on technical education to further boost teaching and learning in the country will further deepen the depth of poverty in the land adjudged the 6th most populous in the world. And this will not be fair to hopeful Nigerians with hope on the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Almed Tinubu.
