Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), said he had sent one of his children to a carpenter's worshop to learn vocational skills. He spoke during the maiden edition of Governor's Education Award held in Lagos.
Fashola told the audience that he was surprised that his son could not fix a plug after six years of sound post-primary education. "I called my son and asked him, what do you want to do now that you have finished your secondary education? He replied, 'I want to do something with my hand.
"And I asked him, can you fix a plug? He said no. Then, I knew there was a problem and we (my wife and I) decided to send him to a carpenter's workshop to acquire some skills,'' the governor said.
This is good. Practical skills is very essential. It has nothing to do with Fashola being a governor but a practical wish for ones son.
Yes, Fashola's initiative for his son is good. There are minor things we ought to do ourselves, without paying for a technical skilled worker.
It is high time the government laid emphasis on Vocational education in Nigeria. Better-still, make vocation subjects compulsory in our high schools, as it was in the 80's and 90's. Gone are those days when vocational subjects are taken seriously in high schools.
l remember vividly in my high school days, Introductory technology (Intro-tech) and Fine Art were compulsory subject in junior secondary school.
In intro-tech we were taught welding, carpentry, brick molding, to mention but a few. And in fine Art, we were taught needle sewing, painting, dying of cloths, textile design and many more.
But nowadays, vocational skills are not acquired in high schools anymore.
In Africa we value certificate without no skills, while in western countries, skills are valued more than certificate.
We must have a re-think!
I think am really in support of is initiative; if you don't know how skill or vacational education is being appreciated in other part of the world or don't live there it might be difficult to understand or appreciate the need for technical skill. What if after graduation Fashola builds a state of the art furniture industry for him to start his life.