Technological Education and Productivity for National Development: National and Regional Failures (Published)
This empirical paper examined technological education and productivity for national development: national and regional failures. Its purpose was to examine and analyze those variables and offer suggestions for an improvement of the situation. Seven research questions were posed to provide a focus for arguments in this paper. There was a review of literature based on those research questions. It was found that technological education had fared well in policies and curriculum designs not in technological productivity; Dales Cone of Experience, Lancaster-Bell Monitorial teaching method and KISTEC Model were identified as better methods for teaching technological education; productivity continued to be primary agricultural produce and not technological goods with the country remaining underdeveloped; Nigeria failed by not providing an enabling technological environment generally and the South East in particular by taking advantage of technological breakthroughs by the ex-Biafrans. The South East geopolitical zone has failed by its apathy towards developing its natural endowment (technology). The paper concluded that there was need for not only vertical and horizontal collaborative research in technological education and innovations but also the production of technological goods. Several recommendations were made one of which was that there should be an establishment of a National Agency for Technological Inventions and Production (NATIP) that should coordinate technological inventions and their production for national development.
Keywords: National Development, Productivity, national and regional failures, technological education