Vocational-Technical Education in Tropical Africa

Abstract

In all African countries the role of education is a fiercely debated subject, and discussions are sharpened by the growing charges that the present context and structure of education are irrelevant in preparing African youth for meaningful occupations in their country. There has been a general consensus among education policymakers in Africa that a greater emphasis must be placed on vocational-technical education. Yet, there is a growing gap between policy and practice which is further compounded by the perceptions of African youth as to the importance and value of vocationaltechnical education. The well-being of a nation, its standard of living, and its potential for economic and industrial development depend on a large pool of expertly trained middle-level technicians, craftsmen, and other specialists. These are directly related to the priority that a nation places on developing and maintaining an efficient system of vocational-technical education. It was only in the past few years, however, that African countries began to realize that these relationships exist. Presently, technical education tends to be a response to industrial activity in a given region, and its success is dependent on the extent of the immediate demand for lucrative employment of the individuals who were trained. This case-by-case training is a reflection of colonial rule, under which most African countries depended on the European metropolitan (home) countries for their manufactured products, and therefore, had no need to train a large technical labor force. After independence, many African countries began to recognize the need to be self-reliant. An increasing part of the efforts to produce a cadre of welltrained manpower has involved the introduction of vocational-