From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
House of Representatives Committee on Federal Polytechnics and Higher Technical Education has proposed a a minimum of 15 percent budgetary allocation to the education sector in the country.
The chairman of the Committee, Adebgboyega Isiaka, who disclosed this on Monday, while speaking at the the inaugural meeting of the committee, also proposed that allocation to technical education should not be
than 30 percent of education allocation
Isiaka decried the low level of technological and industrialisation development in the country, noting that it could be attributed partly to the inability of technical educators to utilise scientific ideas to promote technology.
He explained that about 24 percent of students, in the country, receive technical and vocational education. The lawmaker stated that this is very low compared to many developed and developing nations.
Isiaka, while noting that unemployment figure within the youth demography (18-45 years) was put at a staggering 36.5 percent, stated that some of the expatriates from Europe and China receiving huge sums of dollars for various projects in the country are graduates of well-resourced technical and vocational colleges from their home nations.
According to him, “We need to put our money where our mouth is because average federal allocation to the education sector over the last five years is put at 7 percent and according to data obtained from NBTE, total sub-allocation to technical education is just 12 percent out of the total appropriation to education.
“This is considered too low and probably reflects why the World Education Forum global education system assessments report on 140 countries (34 African nations inclusive), ranked Nigeria 124th in the world and 12th in Africa; with a literacy rate of 62.2 percent.”
Isiaka pointed that the country cannot continue producing certificate holders, roaming jobless, when they could connect to right occupations and opportunities in the society by pursuing a different learning trajectory.
“We can change this dogma by switching the subject from “academic versus vocational” to “the shining opportunities inherent in professions as a whole”. We must change the narrative by creating a better mechanism which requires a complete overhaul of the current structure and incentive system.
“This committee is advocating a major shift in our national commitment to education with the recommendation that budgetary allocation to Education should be scaled up to minimum 15 percent of our national budget, while sub-allocation to Technical Education should be upgraded to not less than 30 percent of education allocation,” he stated.