BY ABUBAKAR YUSUF
For the Universal Basic Education Commission UBEC, the task of impacting and imparting Basic Education and knowledge goes beyond ordinary, as the emerging world also desire vocation/entrepreneur from the early stage, even while learning at Basic Education level, so as to prepare Junior Secondary School students (JSS 1-3), for the challenges ahead.
Since this idea of developing children to master skills acquired, so as to prepare them for Enterpreneurial exploitation after the Junior Secondary School as obtainable in both developed and developing world, the desire of the commission to inculcate simultaneously practical skills and knowledge cannot be overlooked.
The demand for the 21st century is competitive and dicey along with the digitisation, there is no doubt , preparing the junior school pupils for all round development of their capacity and capabilities at the tender age would be a priority needed.
The recent re-introduction of Vocational Education laced with Enterpreneurial skills and development by the commission across the country will not only solidify Basic Education, but deepened the desire for vocation, given the provision of equipment like the state of the art Structures, Laboratories, Workshops, Computer Laboratories to acquaint the junior school pupils ahead of the emerging challenges.
While embracing the provision and requirements of SDGs 4 goals in it’s activities, the commission under Hamid Bobboyi had gone ahead to adapt both environmental, indigenous and practical realities on ground to complement the efforts of pupils, whose indulgence also engaged in acquisition of practical knowledge, even after school hours.
Considering all variables, the decision of the commission to set up over 100 vocational schools and enterpreneurial development learning across the country, with over 51 schools across 17 states ready for commissioning, has justified the efforts to hurriedly bring on board vocation and entrepreneur learning side by side with the curriculum of Basic Education in the country .
The relentless efforts of the commission paid off with the commissioning of a maiden vocational education school at Nagari Junior Secondary and Vocational School (JSS) at Birnin Kebbi recently and three others located at Wamako, Wurno, Sifawa, the three Senatorial district all in Sokoto State.
With the sole aim of the commission allowing students through vocation and entrepreneur assessed self reliance, develop some skills and knowledge, master them and also deploy them after graduation from the junior secondary school, will be the best thing that will happen to the country.
For the commission, the zeal to introduce such practices and knowledge at Junior Secondary School level after graduation, was geared towards equipping pupils with vocation and enterpreneurial skills to prepare them ahead of future challenges and exposed them to different ways of human capital development.
The positive development will guarantee at the early stage of Junior Secondary School graduation allowed the pupils access to series of potentials, employable opportunity at that tender age and also prepare them into realizing and developing other potential areas, towards acquisition of both practical knowledge and development.
Having acquired state of the art equipment in about 100 locations across the country, the Universal Basic Education Commission UBEC, in a short time have internalized the new curricular in the day to day activities of Junior Secondary School (JSS), and by extension instill a permanent vocation and knowledge in pupils at the early stage.
Written BY ABUBAKAR YUSUF on yus.abubakar3@gmail.com.
