The Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kenedy-Ohaneye, recently advocated for vocational training to be incorporated into school curriculum as a valuable initiative that would have numerous benefits for students, women, and the country as a whole. ENE OSHABA examines the prospect of the initiative.
Nigeria faces high rate of youth unemployment hence the advocacy for the introduction of vocational training in schools to equip students with practical skills that would make them more employable upon graduation.
Findings over the years have shown that one of the root causes of Sexual and Gender Based Violence is the poor economic status of women which subjects them to a dependency level that has made them vulnerable to different forms of abuses.
It is also a known fact that many students in Nigeria aspire to white collar jobs, which can lead to fierce competition and limited opportunities. Vocational training encourages a broader perspective on career choices.
It is as a result of this that the Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kenedy-Ohaneye, is championing advocacy on the need for the boosting and building of confidence of upcoming generation/students by engaging them in seminars and workshops to keep them updated with contemporary trends on entrepreneurship.
While raising this awareness among parents, educators, and policymakers about the importance of vocational training and its potential impact on the country’s development she assured strongly that vocational training and incorporating it into the school curriculum in Nigeria can better prepare its youths for a diverse range of careers, reduce unemployment, and contribute to raising economically empowered women.
Diverse skills development
The Minister in her presentation at the Anambra Summit, recently, suggested that part of the learning hours for Fridays in the secondary schools be dedicated for projects where skills acquisition could be learnt.
She appealed to ICT hubs to partner with schools in training students on digital skills, stressing that teaching skills like coding, programming, production of soaps, matchbox, baking, among others, in the school will equip students with income generating skills that would sustain them in the future with, or without white collar jobs.
Vocational training covers a wide range of skills including carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, auto mechanic, sewing, catering and more. This diversity can meet the needs of various industries and markets
Vocational skills when acquired empowers one to become an entrepreneur and start their businesses. This can lead to job creation, economic growth, and reduced reliance on formal employment or white-colar jobs and high economic dependency rate of women.
It therefore becomes pertinent to ensure that students receive recognized certifications upon completing vocational training programmes which can boost their employability.
Reducing SGBV
The minister since assuming office has continued to reiterate her vision of ensuring that persons who still violate existing laws which prohibit violence against women – the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act, 2015 as well as Child Rights Act, 2003 are made to face judgement faster, through the mobile courts being championed by the ministry in collaboration with relevant stakeholders such as the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), International Federation of Women Lawyers, Traditional and Religious Elites, Women Societies among others.
Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye decried rising statistics of female genital mutilation (FGM), which she remarked has spread from the previous five, now to eight States with perpetrators feigning ignorance of knowing that the practice is prohibitive.
“To be forewarned is to be fore-armed and that is why we are sensitising perpetrators of the crime against Nigerian women and girls including those still in the habit of practising demeaning widowhood rights against and children that just lost their fathers, to be ready to answer to the VAPP and Child Rights Acts. Thereafter, enforcement will follow,” she said.
She also expressed concerns over the maternal mortality rate of 512 deaths per 100,000 live births, stating that this is nowhere near the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)’s target of 70 per 100,000 and is not acceptable, stressing also the need for a revamp of women and children’s hospitals across the nation.
She queried the rationale behind donors, especially development partners ploughing funds to eradicate these scourges effecting Nigerian women and children yet, there has been little or nothing to show for it yet did not withhold their funds until things were properly done with positive results.
“My plan is not to probe the past but to plan what we should all be doing from now on, going forward,” she said.
The women affairs minister who further revealed that her economic empowerment vision transcends how things were done, expressed the desire to have Nigerian women, especially the deprived ones in the local communities, identified and encouraged to form women cooperatives to be empowered with skills and vocations assisted with state and donor funds as loans.
It is believed that vocational training programmes can meet local needs so therefore can be tailored to local needs and industries, ensuring that women and girls are equipped with skills that are relevant to their communities.
She assured further that the ministry would not stop at that but find local and international markets for their products so that the women will contribute better to their family development. “By this, gossip time for women will be reduced; they will nag their husbands less, and their husbands will live longer.
“We have been seeking the partnership of the Minister of Education to allow inculcating skills and vocational training of students in Nigerian schools where students are taught the production of sanitary pads, toothpick, match stick and boxes, dress making and such others; that when we bring in some machines and equipment that will enhance the production of these items and we find markets for them, such rewarding things will be beneficial to the students when they are through with their studies and some of them go into bigger mode of production.
“We are also seeking the cooperation of the Minister of Interior for us to replace and re-equip the female inmates of some custodial centres in the country with better, newer and more efficient work tools like dress making machines and other needed machines to revolutionize the reformation of the non-condemned female inmates,” the minister added.
“It will not be business as usual and the time for the take-off of the vision of the mobile court, women economic empowerment, school-children vocational development and tools and equipment for inmates of custodial centres are within this first 100 days in office,” she said.
Benefits of vocational skills
Speaking exclusively to Blueprint Weekend, the Head of Department at the Department of English, University of Abuja, Prof. Razinat Mohammed, said the minister’s call for the inculcating of vocational training in schools’ curriculum was a laudable idea if well implemented.
The university don, who is also a Professor of Feminist Literary Criticism, Gender studies and Cultural studies, maintained that vocational training can improve the overall quality and efficiency of the workforce which benefits industries and the economy.
She added that it could lead to employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, contribute to poverty reduction and an improved standard of living for individuals and families especially women, just as she emphasized the need for collaboration with local industries and businesses to create internship and apprenticeship opportunities.
On how to incorporate vocational training in schools’ curriculum she suggested that a comprehensive curriculum that integrates vocational training alongside academic subjects should be developed, starting at the primary and secondary school levels.
She also urged for training and employment of qualified vocational instructors who can provide high-quality training to students nationwide.
She, therefore, called on the government to invest in modern facilities and up-to-date equipment to ensure that students have access to the tools and resources needed for effective training.
She further called for the strengthening and implementation of career counseling programmes to help students identify their interests and guide them toward appropriate vocational training paths.
“I support this idea of vocational skills training for school children because many countries that used to be “third world” countries like China and India have tried it and it worked, in fact it is compulsory in these countries and you cannot be admitted into university without a vocational skill which is very good.
“If someone drops out of school and not able to continue, for instance, if the person have a handcraft like carpentry or tailoring and so many other skills, the person can be able to take care of his/herself so I support this idea because it’s a good one and has worked in other places. If she can implement this it’s going to be laudable,” she assured.
UNICEF backs fight against SGBV
In support of the ministry’s zeal to combat the scourge of sexual and gender-based violence, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) noted that there are prevalent cases of sexual and gender-based violence in Lagos, FCT, Ebonyi, Cross Rivers, Adamawa and Sokoto states.
This was contained in a statement by the Special Adviser, Media to the Minister of Women Affairs, Ohaeri Osondu Joseph, in Abuja.
The UNICEF Deputy Representative, Programs, Ms Rownak Khan, who stated this during a visit to the ministry added that Female Genital Mutilation is also prevalent in Ebonyi, Imo, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Rivers, Ondo, Edo and Kwara states and Child marriage in Sokoto, Katsina, Jigawa, Kano, Yobe and Borno states, emphasizing the need for strong institutional framework and enforcement capacity to investigate and address sexual and gender-based violence, female genital mutilation and child marriage.
Ms Rownak Khan noted the risks and deprivations children experience in Nigeria, charging the Women Affairs Ministry to promote the rights, general welfare of children and women and enhancing their ability to realise their full potential, including the transformative actions currently undertaken in collaboration the UNICEF to improve the protective environment, strengthen systems to leave no child behind and accelerate actions towards the attainment of Sustained Development Goals 5, 8 and 16.
Speaking further, she disclosed that though there is a weak institutional capacity, “A national survey to obtain administrative data indicates that there are well over 122,968 children (5,558 girls and 117,410 boys) known to be in detention facilities across 26 states in Nigeria between 2018 and 2022, urging that alleged offenders and survivors of violence require specialized services that are age and gender-sensitive to safeguard their rights and to enable them access quality response services.”
Responding, the minister reiterated the ministry’s resolve to vigorously push to combat against female genital mutilation, adding that processes have being designed such as the whistle blowers, community-based awareness campaigns, media engagement, investigation and use of Mobile courts to prosecute and sanction culprits.
“We also plan to work towards reviving local women meetings across the country into cooperative societies as part of measures to further empower women in Nigeria to engage in meaningful ventures that will enhance their economic capacities to support their husband and contribute meaningfully to national growth,” said the minister.
