…to Boost Vocational Skills Education; Entrepreneurs Commend Initiative
In a bid to encourage more vocational and technical education, the Lagos State government is set to establish additional five technical colleges with the existing five to make ten across the five IBILE divisions of the state.
Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Tolani Alli-Balogun dropped the hint at this year’s Lagos Youth Skills Day themed Equipping tomorrow’s leaders with skills for a brighter future held at Ikeja.
Speaking on the relevance of technical education to innovation and development, the Commissioner urged parents, caregivers and community leaders to champion the campaign on vocational skills to increase enrollment of students who will become problem solvers in the society.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Technical Education, Mr Omotola Giwa-Moore, said the Lagos Youth Skills Day celebrated every July 15, was to create awareness and encourage more students to embrace vocational skills to be self reliant rather than waiting for white collar jobs which are not readily available.
In an address of welcome, the Executive Secretary, Lagos State Technical and Vocational Education Board, Ms Moronke Azeez, said there is need for more awareness on the productivity of vocational skills to national development.
Ms Azeez who identified some of the challenges of technical colleges to include lack of equitable access to the Internet by students with a call for the review and upgrade of curriculum to meet the global digital innovation for diversity of skills to stay competitive in the twenty first century economy.
Meanwhile, some Vocational skills entrepreneurs have commended the Lagos State government for its initiative to establish more technical colleges in the state, with a call to include financial literacy and moral values in the school curriculum.
One of them who specialized in the furniture industry, Mrs Feyisola Abiru, said such moves would encourage more students to embrace technical schools.
Mrs Abiru who has been in business for the past thirty years assured students of technical colleges of job opportunities to be self reliant and financially independent.
A Realtor, Dr Saheed Mosadoluwa who said shared his experience of rising from being a bricklayer, urged youths to shun all forms of social vices and learn a skill to become employer of labor and contribute meaningfully to the development of the country.
The Lagos Youth Skills Day was attended by representatives of the five Government Technical Colleges in Lagos, from Ikotun, Ikorodu, Odomola-Epe, Ado-Soba and Agidingbi who engaged in heated debate on the relevance of technical colleges to national development.
Reporting by Yemisi Dada