Technical and vocational education will address Nigeria’s economy  —  Dr Ene Wannaji

In this interview with our Abuja correspondent, Abba – Eku Onyeka,  recently in Niger state, the National President of National Association of Technical and Vocational School Proprietors (NATVSP), Dr Ene Wannaji James who doubles as the proprietor, Starlight Education Center in his World Day for Education message marked every 24 January, says the way to go is to embrace technical and vocational education for economic development and growth Excerpts:

What would be your message to the government for education to move forward, in this year’s World Education Day which is marked every 24 January? 

This is not too difficult. It is only political will and the interest of the country. It is only for the government to tell the policy makers to wake up. We want our education system to grow and mature. And  the only way you can do that in the global setting, not only in Nigeria, is to move toward technical and vocational education, because the colonial reading, writing and arithmetic is no more relevant. So the way to go is technical and vocational education; no other way. Go through all the advanced countries of the world, their well being and development is from technical and vocational education. The era of speaking Queen’s English is gone.  Let us face the reality.

What exactly is your interest? 

My interest is that I want the country to move forward economically. I have vision and I know that for the country to survive, we need to embrace technical and vocational education. That is why we comprehensively run technical, vocational, science and grammer education in our school.

Combining the two, how can you achieve your plan? 

Compulsorily, every child here does either vocational or technical subject, in addition to regular science, business and arts subjects. If you are going to be a lawyer, doctor, among others, if you pass  through a technical and vocational school, you are bound to have a skill. As I said earlier, if you go to advanced countries, you would find out that every child is skilled and that is the economic base of all the advanced countries. Germany, Japan, Russia and China don’t speak English. With our beautiful Queen’s  English, we go there to import, and they the leaders of the world today. We don’t  have the base and we should make our children to have interest in vocational education instead of thinking that those in the technical  schools are not brilliant.

Every parent wants to associate with the trend; ‘my child is in so so so and so school,’  ‘My child wrote WAEC at the age of 15’ is not the what we need.  We need sound educational base.  We can no longer continue to blame our colonial masters,  after becoming independent in 1960.

Our policy makers should wake up and involve those of us that are in the field in the system,  because we deal with the society into the grassroots; the children we are going to hand the country over pass through us, likewise their parents who sponsor their education. After four years, another party will come in power and change everything and we continue to be nascent in development,  education and democracy.

Sir, you specialize in arts, why sudden hatred for the same arts?

I did arts, English education from my first degree to doctorate. Having found the truth, I shouldn’t defend falsehood. Technical and vocational education is the answer to the economy.

We have Ph.D everywhere,  but a single HND, if they are upto 20, they can turn things around.Our young people who are technically oriented,  who can do wonders with phones should be encouraged, but government policy wouldn’t encourage them; instead of having WAEC with A,  B in all subjects that are not technically oriented.

Do you mean that government is not doing enough  in the area of technical education? 

As the national president of NATVSP, I am bold to say that government is not doing anything in that area of education. I have visited the six geological zones and saw what they call technical schools; no equipments. The private schools who have interest to revive the technical and Vocational education are not being encouraged by the government. To get equipments, among others, you are scared with tax.

B.sc holders are made bosses to their HND counterparts, what then are you arguing? 

Technical education should have its prime position, for the children who toll that way to see pride in it. It is frustrating that after passing through technical and polytechnics education, you are seen as a sub graduate and nobody wants to be sub human. So the only way out is to get degree in English and similar courses and go grammar. A HND holder can’t be a director or Perm-Sec. Under this condition, nothing will motivate our children to go for technical and vocational education as a line of profession. Today they talk about trade subjects in secondary schools, by putting animal husbandry,  a branch of agric and marketing,  a fraction of commerce.

In a proper technical school,  you make the children go through electrical installation, GSM repairing, fashion designing, among others and with skills,  you can be fending for yor self in the university or any other higher institution,  instead of depending on your parents alone.

Can a person who passed through technical school to polytechnic stand his counterparts who passed through grammar school to university? 

The two curricular are not the same, but the two of them are at par. One designs and the other implements. So they can’t do without each other. A doctor can’t do without a nurse or lab technician. If an architect designs a house, without structural engineer, quantity surveyor, the paper  will just be there.

Which of them can do without the other? 

None.

Have you forgotten that you once told us that a HND holder can do without the B.sc holder? 

A HND holder can design and build,  but not as a professional,  because he wasn’t trained to do that. In the process of interpreting and implementing, the HND holder can build. A medical doctor who has general knowledge of medicine, usually refers his patients to specialists,  because he is not one,  unless he wants to kill somebody. A HND holder has a better chance, because they interprete and give a sketch drawing and implement. However, we have perfect designers. But the problem is that the interpreter and implementor is not seen as important, but the designer. If you grow up in your chosen career, you should be given space to operate and actualize your God-given talent,  so that those coming you will like to be like you.

What wil be your advice to the government  and parents? 

Let the government embrace technical and vocational education, for the country to move forward economically. How many states have technical schools? But you see grammer schools everywhere. So government  has a lot of roles to play. The parents shouldn’t be blamed, because every parent wants his or her child to be important in the system and you don’t subject your child to technical when you know that the government doesn’t want it. Polytechnics are expected to offer pure technical courses,  instead of offering accounting, mass comm,  among others. Studying accounting can’t make you a technician or a technologist. We copy America, but don’t  copy how they survive.