HISTORIES
DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
Technical education had a slow start and development less quickly
than other forms of education in Nigeria. This was partly due to
the fact that the voluntary agencies which pioneered western
education in Nigeria were unable to increase or popularizes technical and
vocational education on the same scale as literary education since the
former is much more expensive in term of staff and equipment. In the
case, the Christian missions were more interested in a native’s ability to
read the bible than in his ability to turn screws and prime water pumps.
The situation was further complicated by the fact that most of the
British colonial policy-maker were literary men and women who had
studied classics at the universities of oxford, Cambridge and London. The
highest level of technical education is the degree courses in mechanical,
civil, electrical, agriculture and chemical engineering run by all the
Nigerian universities. Below this are the first five post secondary
technical colleges located across there cities in Nigeria, Enugu, Kaduna,
Auchi, Lagos and Ibadan. These colleges train at senior technical level and
offer two or three year course in commerce, accountancy, secretary ship,
civil, mechanical and electrical studies leading to the intermediate
examinations and diplomas of the appropriate British professional bodies
particularly the city and guilds institute of London. Admission to the
technical colleges is on the basis of passing the West African school
certificate examination or the ordinary general certificate of education
(GCE) of London University. In the late 1960s a move to change the name
and functions of the existing trade centers, technical institutes and
collages was made in northern and southern Nigeria. In the northern
states most of the craft schools have been in corporate or change into
technical colleges. The technical colleges in Lagos, Ibadan, and Kaduna
have been upgraded to become polytechnics and as a result their curricula
have been broadened. They now provides courses in higher studies,
leading to the higher National Certificate and Higher National Diploma
(H.N.C and H.N.D).
