Human Capital Development in Technical and Vocational Education and

Training (TVET) for National Development

By:

Dr Omeje Hyginus Osita

Tel: +2347036062515 Email: [email protected]
School of Industrial Technical Education,
Department of Building/Woodwork Technology Education
Federal College of Education Technical (Umunze), Anambra State

and

Okwor Jonathan. U
Tel: 08035731472 Email: [email protected]
School of Sciences, Department of Computer Science Education
Federal College of Education Technical (Umunze), Anambra State

and

Omeje Benedicta, Anene

Tel: 07068097006 Email: [email protected]
Faculty of Vocational Technical Education, Department of Agric Science
Education
University of Nigeria Nsukka

Abstract
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 The focus on human capital as a driver of economic growth for developing countries
has led to an undue attention on Technical and vocational Education and Training (TVET).
Developing countries have made considerable progress in closing the gap with developed
countries in terms of TVET skills and competencies, but recent research has underscored the
importance of TVET skills and competencies for economic growth. This results to a shift in
attention to issues of school quality and, in that area; developing countries have been much
less successful in closing the gaps with developed countries. Without improving the quality of
human capital in the area of TVET, developing countries will find it difficult to win their long
fought battle towards achieving economic development and sustainability. This paper
highlights on the concept of human capital development in TVET and National development,
TVET and the challenges of human capital development in Nigeria, and the concept and
importance of TVET for human capital development in Nigeria. The paper concluded that a
lack of investment in human capital development, has led to mediocrity and fake scholars in
higher education. Also the paper argues that in human capital framework, the economic
prosperity and progress of a nation depends precariously on the stock of its physical and
human capital. The paper therefore, recommended amongst other things that government
should as a matter of urgency, reduce the large skill gaps and mismatches hindering economic
diversification by building institutions to manage structural transformation and ensure
linkages between the education system and industrial policy; and by pursuing industrial
policy that focuses on upgrading the skills of domestic workers.

Introduction

Education is recognized worldwide as a means for transforming and empowering

communities. The youth especially gain skills, knowledge and attitudes to enable them

become productive members of the society. Education promotes sustainable development,

and is recognized in Nigeria as a priority area of development intervention as is reflected in

policy documents. The Government of Nigeria has developed key policy documents over the

last ten (10) years. The Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan (PRSP), National Economic

Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), and the Vision 2020 to mention but a

few, all emphasizes the importance of education in development.

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is broadly defined as

“Education which mainly leads the recipients to acquire practical skills, knowhow and

understanding, necessary for employment in a particular occupation, trade or group of

occupations (Atchoarena & Delluc, 2001). Such practical skills or knowhow can be provided

in a wide range of settings by multiple providers both in the public and private sector.

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 The role of TVET in furnishing skills required to improve productivity, raise income

levels and improve access to employment opportunities has been widely recognized (Bennell,

1999). Developments in the last three decades have made the role of TVET more decisive;

the globalization process, technological change, and increased competition due to trade

liberalization necessitates requirements of higher skills and productivity among workers in

both modern sector firms and Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE). Skills development

encompasses a broad range of core skills (entrepreneurial, communication, financial and

leadership) so that individuals are equipped for productive activities and employment

opportunities (wage employment, self-employment and income generation activities).

The Concept of Human Capital Development

Human capital is the stock of knowledge, habits, social and personality attributes,

including creativity, embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value

(Kwon, 2009). Put in another way, Human capital is a collection of resources and all the

knowledge, talents, skills, abilities, experience, intelligence, training, judgment, and wisdom

possessed individually and collectively by individuals in a population. These resources are

the total capacity of the people that represents a form of wealth which can be directed to

accomplish the goals of the nation or state or a portion thereof. It is an aggregate economic

view of the human being acting within economies, which is an attempt to capture the social,

biological, cultural and psychological complexity as they interact in explicit and/or economic

transactions. Hence, many theories explicitly connect investment in human capital

development to education, and the role of human capital in economic development,

productivity growth, and innovation has frequently been cited as a justification for

government subsidies for education and job skills training.

Semantically, the concept of human capital is the mixture of human and capital. In the

economic perspective, the capital according to Boldizzoni, (2008), refers to factors of

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production used to create goods or services that are not themselves significantly consumed in

the production process. Along with the meaning of capital in the economic perspective, the

human is the subject to take charge of all economic activities such as production,

consumption, and transaction. On the establishment of these concepts, it can be recognized

that human capital means one of production elements which can generate added-values

through input.

The method to create the human capital can be categorized into two types. The first is

to utilize ‘human as labor force’ in the classical economic perspective. This meaning depicts

that economic added-value is generated by the input of labor force as other production factors

such as financial capital, land, machinery, and labor hours. On the other hand, most of

researcher have accepted that his thought viewing the capacity of human being is knowledge

and skills embedded in an individual (Beach, 2009). Similar to Beach’s thought, a few

researchers show that the human capital can be closely linked to knowledge, education, and

abilities (Garavan, 2001; Youndt, 2004). Also, Rastogi (2002) conceptualizes the human

capital as ‘knowledge, competency, attitude and behavior embedded in an individual’.

There is the second viewpoint on human capital itself and the accumulation process of

it. This perspective stresses on knowledge and skills obtained throughout educational

activities such as compulsory education, postsecondary education, and Technical and

vocational education (De la Fuente & Ciccone, 2002). Despite the extension of that concept,

this perspective neglects that human being would acquire knowledge and skills throughout

his/her own experience. The third is closely linked to the production-oriented perspective of

human capital. Romer (1990) refers to the human capital as ‘a fundamental source of

economic productivity’. Rosen (1999) refers to human capital as ‘an investment that people

make in themselves to increase their productivity’.

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 Similarly, Frank & Bemanke (2007) defined human capital as ‘an amalgam of factors

such as education, experience, training, intelligence, energy, work habits, trustworthiness, and

initiative that affect the value of a worker's marginal product’. Considering the production-

oriented perspective, the human capital is ‘the stock of skills and knowledge embodied in the

ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value’ (Sheffin, 2003). Furthermore, some

researchers define human capital as ‘the knowledge, skills, competencies and attributes in

individuals that facilitate the creation of personal, social and economic well-being’ with the

social perspective (Rodriguez & Loomis, 2007).

Consequently, human capital simultaneously includes both of the instrumental

concept to produce certain values and the ‘endogenous’ meaning to self-generate it. In order

to dependently/independently create these values, there is no doubt that leaning through

technical-vocational education and training can be an important terms of defining the concept

of human capital. Considering that experience, skill and competences can be included as a

category of knowledge; the human capital is therefore knowledge embedded in individuals.

TVET and the Challenges of Human Capital Development in Nigeria

Due to global economic changes, necessitating implementation of TVET strategies in

developing countries, workers have been displaced. Consequently, this poses great challenges

because they need retraining for new occupations. Again, the impact of insurgency has

necessitated emphasis on Skills development to replace skills lost across a wide range of

occupations. Insecurity depletes scarce human resources. Insurgency also reduces the

capacity of TVET systems to deliver their functions, since it decreases the supply of highly

trained personnel and causes deterioration in the quality of the system.

The UNESCO 2002 noted that TVET is the “Master Key” for alleviation of poverty,

promotion of peace, and conservation of the environment, in order to improve the quality of

human life and promote sustainable development. Nigeria can reorient itself towards

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sustainable development, using human capital development through TVET as a vehicle for

socio-economic and technological transformation. It is therefore critical that Nigeria, through

TVET meets the challenges of increased unemployment, poverty, food insecurity,

environmental degradation, insecurity and bad governance.

The human capital development is important for economic growth, poverty

alleviation, youth and women’s empowerment and social inclusion. Nevertheless, the role of

TVET is absent to a large extent in most policy documents, hence the need for good

governance. This gap is particularly ‘puzzling’. Governments and donor countries

consistently emphasize the need for concerted efforts to build the human assets of the poor.

Yet TVET is accorded limited importance in donor financing schemes and discussions since

the late 80s’ (Bennell, 1999).

To this end, several countries; developed and developing, such as Italy, Brazil, China,

Sweden and Japan have given more recognition to human capital development in TVET

through adequate funding. As a result, students get exposed to vocational training and to a

culture of scientific investigation and application at an early age. In Europe, at least 50

percent of the students in upper secondary education pursue some form of technical or

vocational education.

In recent times, challenges such as technological evolution, knowledge-based

economies, and globalization, have forced many countries both developing and developed to

seek new ways to maintain competitive advantage. To develop a competitive advantage, it is

important that countries truly leverage on the workforce as a competitive weapon. Therefore,

a strategy for improving workforce productivity to drive higher value for the countries has

become an important focus. This is why most countries seek to optimize their workforce

through comprehensive human capital development.

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The Concept and Importance of TVET in Nigeria for Human Capital Development

The UNESCO and International Labour Organization (ILO) Recommendations on

TVET characterize it as:

a comprehensive term referring to those aspects of the educational process involving,

in addition to general education, the study of technologies and related sciences and the
acquisition of practical skills, attitudes, understanding and knowledge relating to
occupations in various sectors of economic and social life (UNESCO, 2002).
Accordingly, the responsibility for activities related to TVET is shared among all

bodies planning for, implementing, monitoring and evaluating programmes. TVET is

administered differently in various countries, and several ministries and bodies can be

involved, but with a common objective. Again, all TVET programmes aim at increasing the

employability of individuals, and work for the benefit of the community and sustainability in

general. TVET must be the master key that can alleviate poverty, promote peace, conserve the

environment, improve the quality of life for all and help achieve sustainable development

(UNESCO, 2004).

TVET is of paramount importance in developing, competitive economies and better

societies. International and regional developmental organizations as well as country planners

and decision-making bodies are nowadays focusing on TVET to boost economies and

promote equity. Research shows that the level of workforce skills is a major determining

factor in growth rates. Recent research also shows that the level of skills in a workforce

predicts economic growth rates far better than average schooling levels (World Bank, 2011).

A look into the international arena gives specific evidence of that importance. It is shown, for

example, in the selection of ‘Skills Development: Expanding Opportunities for Marginalized

Groups’ as the theme of the EFA Global Report 2012; in the Third Global TVET Congress in

May 2012; in plans to issue the OECD Skill Strategy during 2012; and in the selection of

‘Education and Skill’ as the topic of 2012 Global Youth Video Competition. The World Bank

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Group’s Education Strategy 2020 (World Bank 2011) stresses the importance of skills and

many more examples, both international and on the country level, could be given.

To meet the growing demand for skills, many developed and developing countries are

adopting policies that clearly focus on skill development and TVET as means to ensure that

people will be more employable, and more productive once they are employed (or self-

employed). TVET policies cover the preparation of tomorrow’s workforce for competitive

labour markets.

As Nigeria grows into a middle income country there is a recognized need by the

Federal Government of Nigeria and development partners to diversify the base of the

economy and to undertake higher value-added activities through increased productivity. In

order to attain such an aspiration Nigeria requires strategic industrial and investment policy

approaches, including human capital development policy, to enhance productivity of and

returns to work in the existing economic activities – the agriculture, garment, tourism, and

construction. This could be achieved by up skilling and mobilizing the workforce, as a

strategy for a broad-based industrial and technology-oriented economy, and by linking the

formal education system and technical and vocational education training (TVET) to industrial

policy.

To support the Federal Government of Nigeria in developing industrial policy, the

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has responded by providing policy

researches and advices. Working together with key government institutions and ministries,

UNDP has published different discussion papers on background policy analyses and

researches in areas that are pertinent to industrial competitiveness and human capital

roadmap.

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Conclusion

A lack of investment in human capital development, as noted earlier, has led to

mediocrity and fake scholars in higher education. Ancient and contemporary human resource

development and social capital development thinkers have been confronted by the role of

human capital development in national development for decades. They recognize the critical

roles human capital development and physical capital development play in individual

worker’s productive capability, the prosperity of a nation, as well as improving the overall

living condition of the people. According to Becker, the key focus of human capital theory is

how education increases human productivity by improving human knowledge and skills, and

increases an individual worker’s productive capacity, future income, and lifetime earnings.

Thus, the decades of neglect of education, particularly TVET, have a far-reaching negative

consequence on the well-being of the citizens as well as the pace of nation development. . As

Becker (1993) has observed, general education creates general human capital and technical

and vocational education provides specific human capital. In human capital framework, the

economic prosperity and progress of a nation depends precariously on the stock of its

physical and human capital. No nation can talk about manpower planning, economic growth

and development, as well as creation of employment to improve the lives of the citizens,

without bringing education (formal, nonformal, and informal)—teaching and learning—into

the equation.

Recommendations

This paper attempts to provide the following specific recommendations for an

effective human capital development in TVET for national development. Government should

as a matter of urgency:

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 (1) Improve the educational attainment of new labour market entrants, ensure quality

primary education for all, and significantly increase the share of people with quality

secondary and higher education

(2) Increase the productivity of the existing undereducated and unskilled labour force

through new continuous learning pathways.

(3) Break the vicious cycle of systematic underinvestment in education and skills

building

(4) Reduce the large skill gaps and mismatches hindering economic diversification by

building institutions to manage structural transformation and ensure linkages between the

education system and industrial policy, and by pursuing industrial policy that focuses on

upgrading the skills of domestic workers.

Finally, in order to support a sustainable core human capital and industrial

development, a number of supplementary policies and actions are necessary, among which

policies and actions in the education and skills building sector are paramount. In this regard,

the study proposes taking the above mentioned actions on education, TVET, investment in

education and training, and coordination.

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