Political economist, Patrick Utomi, has urged the Federal Government to include skills acquisition in primary and secondary schools curriculum as a means to fight poverty, News About Nigeria reports.
Utomi made this call while speaking to newsmen in Enugu on Thursday.
He noted that doing this will retool the educational system in Nigeria which will, in turn, fight poverty and drive national development.
He noted that Nigerians have been battling severe economic hardship since the removal of the petrol subsidy, which increased the prices of food and other commodities, pointing out that the poverty rate in Nigeria increased to 46 percent in 2023, representing 104 million poor Nigerians, according to data from the World Bank.
He, however, noted that Nigeria can reverse the poverty trend if leaders structure its educational curriculum to allow the acquisition of skills and knowledge based on existing resources in various states and regions.
He stated, “In my view, Nigeria has to identify their factor endowments and (determine) which factor endowments they want to build value chains off of.
“Take agricultural endowments, for instance. Now, if a state or region in Nigeria wants to focus on certain endowments and become dominant global players on its value chain, like sesame seeds, which grow well in north-central Nigeria.
“At the primary school level in such a state or region, their curriculum should be structured in such a way that every pupil there knows enough about how to grow and manage sesame seeds.
“Significantly, if apprenticeship was allowed to start from the secondary school level, where students would acquire a particular skill which they would use to sustain themselves.
“Some skills are as simple as plumbing. Nigerians are limited in their capacity to do plumbing work or tiling.
“So, if we can have that dual educational system that significantly incorporates skilling, we can produce better technicians—electrical or mechanical.
“We can also produce better plumbers and better carpenters in our factories. It is going to be more efficient and competitive than if we did not have those skills.”
