Distinguished members of the House of Representatives have expressed overwhelming support for the bill which makes the teaching of vocational studies in secondary schools curricula across the country compulsory.
The bill was sponsored by Honourable Joseph Asuku Bello of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Kogi. The bill seeks to include into the mainstream the study of vocational subjects such as Woodworks, Tailoring, Catering, Photography, Videography, Business Studies, Printing and Stenography, Farming and Agriculture, Automobile, ICT, Electrical/Electronic Work, etc.
Hon. Joseph Asuku expressed hope that the bill would reduce the high rate of unemployment and poverty in the country. He said there was the need to include the subjects into our educational system right from Junior Secondary School to Senior Secondary School levels. This, he believed, will transform all the secondary schools into skill acquisition centres and “by so doing we will be ‘catching them young.”
He said: “The Bill intends to: make the development and teaching of vocational subjects compulsory for all secondary schools (whether public or private), failure of which attracts penalty as provided in Sections 1 and 2 of the Bill; Make it mandatory for every secondary school graduate to have a credit pass in at least one vocational subject as prerequisite for further studies in higher institutions in Nigeria as provided for Section 1(2) of the Bill.
“Over the years, the growing rate of unemployment, especially of our teeming young population, is alarming and worrisome. For example, data for the second quarter of 2020 from the National Bureau of Statistics, reveals that about 21.7 million Nigerians are unemployed, out of which a staggering 13.9 million of them (which is more than the population of Rwanda and several other African countries), are youths within ages of 18 to 30 years,” he said.
The bill to mandatorily include the study of Agricultural Science in Secondary Schools Curriculum in Nigeria sponsored by Hon. Yusuf Buba Yakub was first read in 2019, and had its committee report adopted by plenary in April 2021. The bill quickly passed by the majority of the chamber without objections.
The bill has to be signed by the President to become law. President Muhammed Buhari has insisted on diversifying the economy by opening new frontiers in agriculture. This bill appears to be the right step to achieving this winsome economic plan.
