Have you ever wondered why vocational students don't cry of unemployment?, I think its the differences in our mentality.
Academic students in nigeria had this mentality of going to school, graduate with good grades and then become gainfully employed by an established organisation while the vocational students had the mentality of learning any vocational skills of their choice, (tailoring, barbing, hairdressing, etc) and after their freedom, they become there own boss by establishing themselves and start training others and the chain of self-reliance continues
Back in the 90's, the academic students always mocked their counterparts in the vocational line with the mentality that they (academic student) will make a better life than the vocational students. According to a pry song we do sing in my school back then, "if u go to school, ur shoes will be making ko-ko-ka sound but if you don't go to school, your shoe sole will be flat. Meaning that if you go to school, the vocational student will be serving you and you will be there leader, though this theory worked back then when there are jobs on ground for graduates after school, but in this era. The table had been turned around, the vocational graduates who are self established are now recruiting academic graduates as their children's home lesson teacher, as their P.A, some has office assistance. The worse part of it is that so many graduates are even going back to this vocational people to learn skills.
It reminded me of back in NYSC days when vocational courses like barbing, catering, event planning, beads making, and so on was introduced, It happend that i picked up paint making to learn, the guy who came to teach us then came in a nice saloon car. He came up to the hall and started the lecture, you need to see the gbagauns he was throwing. As he noticed that we were laughing at him, then he paused the lecture and switched over to his life story......
He began by telling us his academic history. He said he dropped out in ss2 due to lack of funds in 2002. How he was mocked by his friends who proceeded to university. How he went to a paint company to work as a casual staff, there he learnt basic paints making. From there, he attended a seminar on making quality paints, bought the book and then started his life from there. He said 10years later which was 2012 that he came to teach us, he said he has built 2 houses, bought 3 nice cars, became a millionaire and finally, He had trained close to 3000 B.sc graduates on paint making business.
He ended his story by saying "getting rich in life doesn't depend on your qualifications or your english speaking accents, but your level of understanding how to be on your own, identifying people's need and providing solutions to it and then making your own money through it. Every1 in the hall suddenly kept quiet and tears started rolling from the eyes of most of us. The practical training class suddenly became a motivational class.
So I think the academic students and graduates of nowadays should stop or minimise the mentality of going to school, get good grades, and start applying for jobs but rather learn from the vocational students who studied to be the boss of their own.
In conclusion, academic students can also learn vocations along side to be self reliant, or they should develop the mindset of creating jobs rather than hunting for jobs.
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Academic students in nigeria had this mentality of going to school, graduate with good grades and then become gainfully employed by an established organisation while the vocational students had the mentality of learning any vocational skills of their choice, (tailoring, barbing, hairdressing, etc) and after their freedom, they become there own boss by establishing themselves and start training others and the chain of self-reliance continues
It reminded me of back in NYSC days when vocational courses like barbing, catering, event planning, beads making, and so on was introduced, It happend that i picked up paint making to learn, the guy who came to teach us then came in a nice saloon car. He came up to the hall and started the lecture, you need to see the gbagauns he was throwing. As he noticed that we were laughing at him, then he paused the lecture and switched over to his life story......
He began by telling us his academic history. He said he dropped out in ss2 due to lack of funds in 2002. How he was mocked by his friends who proceeded to university. How he went to a paint company to work as a casual staff, there he learnt basic paints making. From there, he attended a seminar on making quality paints, bought the book and then started his life from there. He said 10years later which was 2012 that he came to teach us, he said he has built 2 houses, bought 3 nice cars, became a millionaire and finally, He had trained close to 3000 B.sc graduates on paint making business.
He ended his story by saying "getting rich in life doesn't depend on your qualifications or your english speaking accents, but your level of understanding how to be on your own, identifying people's need and providing solutions to it and then making your own money through it. Every1 in the hall suddenly kept quiet and tears started rolling from the eyes of most of us. The practical training class suddenly became a motivational class.
So I think the academic students and graduates of nowadays should stop or minimise the mentality of going to school, get good grades, and start applying for jobs but rather learn from the vocational students who studied to be the boss of their own.
In conclusion, academic students can also learn vocations along side to be self reliant, or they should develop the mindset of creating jobs rather than hunting for jobs.
SOURCE
