Poverty Reduction: Adopting Vocational and Technical Education as A Veritable Tool for Developing Youths for Gainful Employment and Self-Reliance in Nigeria

Abstract

One of the targets of the nations of the world as prescribed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to terminate poverty by the year 2030. Less than a decade to the deadline for the realization of this laudable situation of “no poverty’ among the people in across the globe, the economic situation in Nigeria is such that more and more people are becoming poorer having weaker purchasing powers to cope with ever increasing inflation rates. Youth unemployment keeps increasing. The paper identifies the gap between the educational content to which most of the Nigerian youths are exposed and the required skills in the markets and industries; thereby resulting in unemployment and underemployment. Technical and Vocational Education with entrepreneurship training has been examined and presented as a more reliable educational model that better prepare youths for fulfilled employment and wealth creation. The paper suggests the roles of different stakeholders in ensuring poverty reduction.