The new school curriculum will prepare students with competitive skills and enable them to work after school, education experts say.

It will equip them with blue-collar skills which are in high demand globally.

Blue-collar jobs require physical skills but they also involve skilled jobs that are technical in nature.

Experts say Nigeria?s new curriculum will equip students with 21st-century skills, enabling them not only to become self-reliant but also to transform into employers of labour.

Nigeria?s new basic education curriculum includes 15 skills and trades such as plumbing, tiling, floor works, POP installation, event decoration and management, as well as bakery and confectioneries.

It also Involves hairstyling, makeup, interior design, GSM repairs, garment making, satellite or TV antenna installation, CCTV, intercom installation and maintenance, solar installation and maintenance.

Olajumoke Mekiliuwa, a senior lecturer at Federal College of Education (Technical) Akoka, Lagos, said that acquiring digitalisation and vocational skills is the way forward.

?Every child needs personal life skills and vocational knowledge to cope in today?s world,? she said.

Mekiliuwa said in order to adequately inculcate vocational skills in a child, there is a need for societal attitude change towards blue-collar jobs in Nigeria.

The introduction of vocational skills into the basic schools? curriculum is a good step by the government to curb Nigeria?s surging unemployment and underemployment rate in the country.

Earlier this year, the federal government announced the introduction of 15 new skills into the curriculum of primary and junior secondary schools. It is expected to commence in January 2025 across the country.

Victor Brown, a special educational needs teacher, said the new curriculum will give school children practical skills and the vocational expertise to become self-employed and employers of labour.

?Getting a taste of different trades allows students to discover their interests and capabilities. It also helps students become less reliant on official work by learning how to create their chances.

?Besides, students with vocational skills are more marketable to companies. Finally, the advancement of a country is facilitated by a trained labour force which this aims to achieve,? he said.

Isaiah Ogundele, an educationist, said the introduction of skills acquisition into the curriculum is a good idea by the government as it has a lot of benefits such as reducing reliance on imported goods, and boosting job opportunities, among others.

?The curriculum, if properly and carefully implemented, will reduce rural to urban migration; local industries will spring up, and curb 100 percent reliance on importation. It will also create more job opportunities, among others.

?This is what the 6-3-3-4 system would have done, but corruption will always kill a brilliant programme in Nigeria once money is involved,? he said.

?It will eradicate some of the vices in our country that are very common among the youth,? he said.

Jobs and self-employment

Experts believe that technical education is critical to the development of Nigeria?s economy. Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) is that aspect of education that leads to the acquisition of practical and applied skills as well as basic scientific knowledge.

Omowale Ogunrinde, founder of Field of Skills and Dream (FSD), sees this as a good omen to the country.

?The Nigerian youth waste years in universities paying so much for studies and graduate without jobs.

?We are a people who do not believe in skills acquisition. However, that?s what keeps everybody who is somebody in business.

?Our youth need to get the type of skills industries need to be employable and that is where tech education comes in.?

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria?s unemployment rate stood at 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2024, representing a third consecutive increase since the second quarter of 2023.

Experts argue that unemployment will continue to be a major challenge to the country unless the teeming youth population are empowered with relevant contemporary skills that will help many of them to become employers of labour.

Jessica Osuere, a senior lecturer at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), said that the expansion of the curriculum to include 15 skills is highly laudable.

?As managers of education, we have severally lamented about this lack of basic skill sets among our graduates across the board.

?Our education has been highly theoretical even in the sciences and technology, which is why you see someone studying engineering that cannot couple engines,? she said.

Osuere reiterated that empowering the youngsters with tech and vocational skills will lead to innovations, create more jobs, and eradicate poverty in the country. (BusinessDay)

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