Unemployment has been identified as a major challenge in Nigeria. Reports have shown that there is unemployment in the countr...
Unemployment has been identified as a major
challenge in Nigeria. Reports have shown that there is unemployment in the
country more especially among youths. This no doubt breeds all sorts of social
malice and crimes in the society. The culture of making every youth to be
self-reliant, self-employed and employer of labour is strengthening
entrepreneurship trainings to enhance skill acquisition and capacity building
in the school curriculum.
The purpose of this article therefore, is to
draw the attention of the policy makers on the need to strengthen
entrepreneurship training to enhance skills acquisition and capacity building
in Basic Education for sustainable livelihood and self-reliance in Nigeria.
Skill acquisition is the ability to be
trained on a particular task or function in order to become expert on it. It is
a means of making the youths in Nigeria self-reliant as it helps to curb
unemployment among youths. Uduak Ekong and Christian Ekong (2016) citing
Ogundele, Akingbade and Akinlabi agree that skill acquisition and
entrepreneurship in schools in the past reduced poverty among youths. This was
when handwork or craft was introduced as a subject in primary and secondary
schools in Nigeria. It was evident in those days, that skill acquisition and
entrepreneurship trainings contributed a lot to the economic upliftment of the
students and adults by making them self-reliant. Realizing the benefits of hand
work among students then, skill
acquisition was introduced on a more mechanized and modernized level. This no
doubt led to the reduction of poverty among youths who participated in the
skill acquisition programs.
Entrepreneurship on the other hand, is
interdisciplinary training that focus on the tools needed to start a new
business or vocation. As Nigeria is predominantly made up of employed youths,
it therefore requires strengthening entrepreneurship trainings among the youths
from Basic Education in technical and vocational education to encourage
self-reliance.
This can be achieved by allowing local artisans to have their
shops located at the vicinity of the school. School time-table would be made in
such a way that students can shuttle between their classrooms and the nearby artisan
workshops to have their practical regularly and during the holidays.
Other strategies are as follows:
i.
Emphasis
on the teaching and learning of skills acquisition and capacity building in
schools.
ii.
Establishing
and equipping available technical and vocational workshops in schools.
iii.
Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC)
to fund the establishment, equipment and renovate the existing dilapidated
workshops and equipment.
iv.
Conduct
of capacity building for teachers on judicious utilization of the workshops.
It cannot be overemphasized that Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
is very critical for promoting sustainable development according to UNESCO
2015. ESD is therefore an education that allows every human being to acquire
knowledge, skill, attitudes and values necessary to shape a sustainable future.
A call for sustainability and self-reliance entails the principle of
strengthening entrepreneurship in basic formal education and life-long learning
the knowledge, values and skills needed for a sustainable way of life and
achievement of education 20230 agenda.
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