Technology and Vocational Education: A Way Forward to Youth Unemployment in North Central Nigeria

Abstract

Unemployment is a clear global problem that leaves no untouched both developing and developed nation of the world. This scenario is seriously agitating for national attention particularly Nigeria during this economic crisis. This paper has delved into exploitation of technical and vocational education as a way forward towards reducing unemployment in Nigeria. The objectives aimed to identify the causes of youth unemployment and potential solutions for solving the issue. Two null hypotheses were evaluated at the 0.05 level of significance, and two research questions were developed to direct the investigation. A 45-item questionnaire was utilized as the tool to collect data from the two categories of respondents-youth and adults in the research - zone for the study. A 45-item questionnaire was utilized as the tool to collect data from the two categories of respondents - youth and adults in the research zone - for the study, which employed a descriptive survey methodology. For the study, a population of 485 adults and youth from the North central zone was used. Two specialists from Federal University of Technology Minna's ITE Department validated the device. The obtained data were analyzed using the mean and standard deviation. According to the study's findings, among other things, the rate of youth on employment in Nigeria is caused by a lack of vocational and technical abilities that young people in the country need, a lack of guidance regarding careers and a lack of expertise in entrepreneurial endeavours. For these reasons, the government should pay attention to the issue of unemployment in Nigeria. Based on this findings, it was recommended that parents, NGOs, industries and government at all levels; that is federal, state and local government and Nigerian society should give adequate recognition to technology and vocational education by providing adequate funding to obtain necessary tools, equipment and infrastructure for technical colleges and tertiary institution offering the programme. Quality and adequate human resources needed to be recruited to teach in all vocational technical education institutions of learning. In addition to all these, government should be in partnership with industries to create skills centres across The Nation for youth skills development.