The Role of Vocational Skills Acquisition in Reducing Unemployment Among Architecture Graduates in Nigeria

Abstract

Unemployment and its consequences in Nigeria have steadily increased annually spanning a considerable length of time. Before now, this trend has been restricted to certain courses studied in higher institutions of learning but today, there is no field of study that unemployment and the menace has not affected adversely. This study therefore examines the role of vocational training in curbing unemployment in Nigeria. The methodology employed is research survey field visits, interaction with
stakeholders of vocational skills graduates. In addition, secondary data were used. The results were presented using discrete statistics and tables. The result revealed that vocational skills development is a fertile avenue for creating employment in Nigeria. Vocational skills acquisition is also identified to be an area which if keyed into could go a long way in ameliorating the negative impact of unemployment in Nigeria. The paper concluded that with willingness and determination the skill
acquired from a vocational centre the prospective graduate may not have to look for paid employment and hence this avenue could go a long way to reduce unemployment to a large extent. Thus, the study recommends that vocational skill acquisition is strengthened in Nigerian tertiary institutions so that such graduates could be self-employed thereby contributing the aggregate socioeconomic fortunes of the nation.