When the Federal Government, through the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), announced earlier this year that Federal Science and Technical Colleges (FSTCs) would be converted into purely technical colleges, the move stirred both applause and unease. According to the NBTE, new admissions into these schools will no longer accommodate science-based subjects; instead, the colleges will focus entirely on vocational and technical training.
The logic is clear and easy to understand. Nigeria is facing a widening technical skills gap. Industries constantly lament the shortage of trained welders, machinists, electricians, and ICT technicians. Meanwhile, graduate unemployment remains high, partly because many young people emerge from universities with degrees but without market-ready skills. By emphasizing technical education, the government hopes to produce a workforce equipped for immediate industrial needs, reduce dependence on foreign artisans, and give young Nigerians practical pathways to employment. Yet, as commendable as this looks, the question remains: is it wise to ask science to take a back seat?
Science has always been more than classroom theory or an abstract discipline. Science is the discipline that tries to explain life, and how different phenomena occur in life and then use this knowledge to make life easier, create innovations and products that help humans live a more productive and healthier life. The fact that many people in Nigeria do not see it as such, and do not even understand or even really value science is a testament of our collective refusal or failure to invest in equipment and infrastructure. Many of the schools teaching science at primary, secondary and even tertiary levels in Nigeria do so without having well equipped laboratories. This has reduced the quality of the science being taught in these schools and has turned it into an abstract study which students and even the general public find difficult to relate with. Sometimes in academic circles it is jokingly said that what we practice in our country is science in the ‘tropics’ and not real science as the rest of the world is doing. Subjects like biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics are the backbone of innovation, research, and industry. They prepare students not only for professional courses such as medicine, Information and computer technology, engineering, and pharmacy but also for emerging fields like biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and renewable energy. To sideline science in favor of technical training is to weaken the intellectual foundations of Nigeria’s future knowledge economy.
There is danger if we insist on adopting this one-sided approach. Germany, admired for its technical education system, runs a dual model where vocational training is integrated with academic foundations. South Korea invested heavily in both science high schools and technical institutions during its industrial rise, which is why it now leads in semiconductors, ICT, and biotechnology. Singapore balances strong polytechnics with science-rich junior colleges. None of these countries abandoned science for skills; instead, they combined the two to create robust education systems. Let us not create a workforce of people who can only ‘do’ but cannot think as a result of not understanding the basic science principles that guide the work they do and the output they produce.
In my capacity as a SIWES coordinator, I have visited industries across Nigeria and witnessed first-hand how industrialization is reshaping the workplace. Increasingly, machines and automation is pushing traditional artisans out of factories, replacing manual tasks with technology-driven processes. About a little while ago, breweries, bottling plants, Car battery producing entities and companies producing detergents used to have thousands of casual and technical workers manning many of their units and carrying out one technical or manual function or the other. Machines and automation is rapidly changing this narrative and this shows that technical knowledge and expertise cannot and should not be acquired at the expense of understanding the underlying science principles. The future is going in the direction of robotics and we cannot have technical people who have zero knowledge of science principles.
The reality of the workplace today shows why science must not be thrown out of the window in our pursuit of technical education. If technical people are trained without a scientific foundation, they risk being confined to routine, low-level tasks, repetitive and low paying jobs without prospects for future. Yet, with science integrated into their training, technical workers can evolve into problem-solvers capable of adapting, innovating, and driving the very technologies that are manning and thus transforming industries in Nigeria.
The world itself is evolving and doing so very quickly, and so are technical skills. Modern technicians are no longer expected to only ‘use their hands’; they must understand the science and technology behind their work. Today’s automotive technician, for an example, must grasp not only mechanical repairs but also electronics, computer diagnostics, Artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and chemistry in battery technology among other things. Without the knowledge of science, technical training risks becoming stagnant but with science foundation technical training will remain dynamic, equipping graduates to innovate and remain relevant in a fast-changing economy.
This is why the door should not be shut on science in technical colleges. What is needed is not an outright divergence between science and skills but a deliberate convergence and blend of technical expertise and science. Technical training should be firmly supported by scientific understanding of the underlying principles. When science and skills converge, students not only learn how to ‘do’ but also why and how they are doing it and they can then think of how to improve it. This approach prepares Nigeria’s youth not just for today’s labor market but also for tomorrow’s knowledge-driven economy.
As the NBTE and the Federal Ministry of Education push this policy forward, it is crucial that they also listen to educators, scientists, parents, and industry leaders. Nigeria cannot afford a reform that solves today’s unemployment crisis at the expense of tomorrow’s innovation. A balanced education system where science sharpens the mind and skills train the hand is the true recipe for national development. The choice before us is not science or skills. The real future lies in science and skills together building a generation that can both work today and innovate for tomorrow.
Taye (PhD) writes in from the Department of Biological Sciences, Lead City University, Ibadan.