printing education and poverty eradication in nigeria

JORIND 11(1), June, 2013. ISSN 1596-8308. www.transcampus.org/journals; www.ajol.info/journals/jorind

PRINTING EDUCATION AND POVERTY ERADICATION IN NIGERIA

Abdulrasheed Afolabi and Fatai Omoyeni Jimoh

Department of Printing Technology, Yaba College of Technology

E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

One of the key goals of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is the eradication of extreme poverty and

hunger. In the Nigerian context, unemployment is a major cause of poverty which can be eradicated through

empowerment and wealth creation. Printing technology, a technical based course offers benefits in this regards.

Today, digital technologies have brought a paradigm shift to the business models used in the printing industry. For

this reason, an analysis of the printing curriculum being currently used in the polytechnics offering courses in

printing technology is undertaken to find out how responsive the curriculum is to the needs of the contemporary

printing industry. The findings show that the printing technology curriculum, although digital technology focused, is

hugely production-based, requiring diversity to meet the current thinking in today’s printing and graphic

communication industry. To this end a number of recommendations are made to strengthen printing education in

Nigeria.

Keywords: Poverty, printing education, curriculum, digital technology

Introduction

Poverty is a plague that has attracted global attention.

The reason is not far-fetched: no part of the world is

free of its ravaging effects, particularly the developing

countries. Little wonder then that when world leaders

met in September 2000 to formulate the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs), the eradication of extreme

poverty and hunger topped the list of goals. Others

include: achieving universal primary education,

promoting gender equality and empowering women,

reducing child mortality, improving maternal health,

combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases,

ensuring environmental sustainability, and developing a

global partnership for development. The first MDG,

eradication of extreme poverty and hunger is the focus

of this paper.

Evidently, unemployment is one of the root causes of

poverty, not only in Nigeria but in other parts of the

world. Poverty can be eradicated through empowerment

and wealth creation. A vital tool of empowering people,

particularly the youth, is education and vocational and

technical education has a vital role to play in this

respect.

The National Policy on Education (2004) refers to

technical and vocational education as a “comprehensive

term referring to these aspects of the educational

process involving, in addition to general education the

study of technologies and related sciences and the

acquisition of practical skill attitudes understanding and

knowledge relating to occupations in various sectors of

economic and social life.”

Vocational and Technical education, Ihekwoaba (2005)

highlights, “is the type of education given to individuals

to enable them get useful employment or to use their

skills to create employment for themselves and others.”

Too much emphasis cannot be placed on the importance

of vocational and technical, not only in empowering

people for wealth creation but for the overall

development of a nation. Kondo (2003) affirms that

technical education and training is not only a tool for

socio-economic development of a nation, but also a

strategy for the successful development of the

manpower needs of the labour market. In the same

vein, he points out that “enhanced education and

training is the best way out of the poverty, illiteracy

unemployment cycle”. To this end, UNESCO & ILO

(2002: 21) advocate that technical and vocational

education should prepare trainees for occupational fields

by providing them with a foundation for production and

satisfying careers. UNESCO & ILO recommend that

technical and vocational education should:

a. Lead to the acquisition of broad

knowledge and generic skills

b. Offer both thorough and specialized

preparation for employment

c. Provide the background (in terms of

knowledge skills, altitudes) for continuing

education in individual’s working life

Vocational and technical education equips trainees with

skills and knowledge to earn a living through meeting

human needs. Individuals and organizations have

myriads of needs which must be fulfilled through the

process of exchange. Exchange, as Kotler and

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Armstrong (2010) explain, is the “act of obtaining a

desired object from someone by offering something in

return.” In essence, when individuals and organizations

seek to fulfill their needs, they offer one form of

remuneration or the other to whosoever has the capacity

or ability to meet that needs.

The opportunities to earn a living in a country like

Nigeria are as numerous as the needs of the population

of the country. Officially, the nation’s population figure

stands at 150 million. A population of this size requires

needs that are more than the oft cited food, clothing and

shelter. Information is another human need which can

be met through the use of print products (amongst other

media). This provides demands for the printing industry.

As Afolabi (2011) argues, the printing industry is one of

the sectors of the Nigerian economy that contributes

substantially to the Gross Domestic product (GDP) of

the nation. This should not come as a surprise; there is

no aspect of the human life that does not have

something to do with using print products (the list is too

long to be included here). Such an industry, in addition

to contributing to economic development, provides jobs

for many Nigerians and non-Nigerians.

Methodology of study

This study is an analysis of the printing curriculum

being currently used in Nigerian polytechnics offering

programs in printing technology. Essentially, the aim is

to find out how responsive the curriculum is to the

needs of the contemporary printing industry. To achieve

this, two sets of documents are analyzed using the

research method of document analysis. Document

analysis is relevant to this study as Savenye and

Robinson (n.d) list it as one of the qualitative research

methods that can be used to generate data to answer

questions in educational technology based research.

The two sets of documents are: the old Printing

Technology Curriculum and Course Specifications

(1989) and the current Printing Technology Curriculum

and Course Specifications (2009). Both documents were

formulated, approved and released by the National

Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the statutory

body for the regulation and control of polytechnic

education in Nigeria. For the records, the 2009 edition

of the curriculum is the product of NBTE’s efforts to

make printing education relevant to the realities in the

Nigerian printing industry.

Conceptual framework

This study is guided by the concept of knowledge

economy. Knowledge economy as popularized by Peter

Drucker, places value on knowledge and education.

This is often referred to as human capital. Knowledge

economy considers knowledge and education as a

business product that can be exchanged for some form

of remuneration. In other words, knowledge is a

productive asset. Knowledge economy can be defined

as:

The concept that supports creation of

knowledge by organizational employees and

helps and encourages them to transfer and

better utilize their knowledge that is in line

with company/organizational goals

(en.wikipaedia.org/wiki/knowledge_economy).

Powell and Snellman (2004) argue that the key

component of knowledge economy is a greater reliance

on intellectual capabilities than on physical inputs or

natural resources.

Printing education in Nigeria

While informal training in printing commenced with the

emergence of printing with the setting up of the Hope

Waddel Press in Calabar in 1846, formal education in

the profession started in 1952 at the Yaba Technical

Institute (which later metamorphosed into Yaba College

of Technology). According to (Adeniyan, 2010), the

National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma

in Printing Technology, were introduced in 1977 and

1978 respectively. Beside Yaba College of Technology,

other polytechnics offering printing technology are:

Kaduna Polytechnic, Institute of Management and

Technology, Enugu, Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Kano

State Polytechnic and Hussaini Adamu Federal

Polytechnic, Kazaure, Jigawa (Afolabi, 2012).

It must be mentioned at this juncture that printing

technology is referred by different tags in the world

today, the most popular ones being: graphic

communication, graphic arts technology, imaging

technology, and print media technology.

Career opportunities in the printing industry in

Nigeria

The printing profession of today is a mix of technology,

craft and communication skills. According to the career

guide of the Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation

(2008):

…the print and graphic arts industry now has

to contend with customers with ever rising

expectation, just as the complexity of jobs

increases. It is therefore not unexpected that

the industry now requires individuals with a

high level of skill sets, including verbal and

written communication means skills computer

literacy critical thinking and problem solving.

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The printing industry, like other sectors of the Nigerian

economy, relies on skilled manpower to run profitably.

So, the opportunities in the printing industry are endless

if the thinking is stretched beyond commercial printing

(the most popular segment of the industry in Nigeria).

Traditionally, printing has been considered a

manufacturing process. However, with the influx of

communication and information technologies into the

industry, printing has metamorphosized into a

communication process. Based on this line of thinking,

numerous job prospects are available for graduates of

printing programs in; the commercial printing industry,

publishing industry, packaging industry, advertising

industry, government institutions (publications units)

and corporate affairs units of organizations.

Presentation and discussion of findings

Research question: How responsive is the curriculum

of printing education in Nigeria to the various

technological developments in the printing industry?

To have value a curriculum must be relevant to the

realities in the industry. Today the printing industry is

highly driven by digital technologies. Wilson (2001)

opines that the onus falls on educators to maintain an

up-to-date and relevant curriculum that best equip and

empower students for the labour market. Unfortunately,

most of the printing programs currently being run

revolve around the traditional offset printing process.

Faiola (1999) says there has been a radical re-

organization of the workplace because of the emergence

of digital technology. Specifically, he notes, printing

firms changing to new digital based technology has

necessitated a change in the type of employees they

seek. According to him;

In formal interviews and questionnaires given

to experts in digital GC (graphic

communications) operations, they unanimously

conclude that colleges must produce a new

generation of qualified students who are

equipped to meet the present and future

standards of the industry.

The watch word for printing companies these days is

“Hire for the future, not the past.” Thus, individuals

who want to build a career in the new printing industry

must cultivate the new skills – business management,

financial management, strategic planning, IT,

marketing, consultative selling, etc. In light of the

above, it must be stated that though the new curriculum

is digital technology focused some essential courses in

digital technology are still missing. To fill up this gap,

there is need to introduce a broad-based course in

information and communication technology at the HND

level. Such a course will help build a foundation for

printers who will be working in a multi-media world.

Research question: How well does the printing

education curriculum empower students with

marketable skills that assure them of a place in the

thriving printing industry?

Acquired skills can only be marketable when they

satisfy the needs of the printing industry. Dharavath

(2003) states that technological developments in the

printing and graphic communication industry are

changing the job descriptions of workers in the industry.

On this basis, he advocates the integration of

technological and managerial changes into the

curriculum of training so that skilled and relevant

workforce can be made available for the industry.

Beside technical skills which seems to top the list of

needs in the contemporary printing industry, other skills

are equally as important. High premium is also placed

on visual literacy skills, communication skills and

marketing skills.

Visual literacy skills in a printing curriculum

Visual literacy is defined as “the ability to interpret

images as well as to generate images for communicating

ideas and concepts” (Stokes 2002:10). Printing involves

the design and reproduction of texts, graphics and

images to pass messages to readers and users of print

products. Against the backdrop that most people have

gone visual (there is a greater preference for visually

stimulating messages) acquiring visual literary skills

becomes as important as technical skills. As Stokes

(2002:11) notes: “…..a great deal of information is

better presented visually rather than virtually.”

Lester (2011) in the preface to his book Visual

Communication: Images with Messages comments on

the debate on whether words communicate better than

images. According to him, words gained prominence

over pictures with the widespread use of Johannes

Gutenberg’s commercial printing press in the late

1400s. Consequently, reading and writing was

considered more important while visual literacy was

relegated to the background. However, the rise of the

cinema, television and the computer has reversed this

trend and visual literacy is gaining back its ground. We

now live in a visually intensive society. The question to

ask is “how can print students be trained to meet the

needs of a visually intensive society?” To produce print

professionals that are relevant to industry trends, they

must be well grounded in visual communication.

Unfortunately, the present curriculum may not achieve

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much given its scant provision for the teaching of visual

literacy skills.

While the visual literacy content for the 2009 ND

curriculum may be said to be fair (20% of the course

contents; there are 3 courses in these respect. “Desktop

publishing”, “Design for print 1” and “Design for Print

II”) that of the HND program is far from being

adequate. The percentage content is 13% (2 courses:

“Desktop publishing” and “Design for print”). This is

hugely inadequate for training future print professionals

that would later find themselves in a world where the

visual needs of consumers are on the very high side. At

this rate, print educators run the risk of producing

graduates who may be less visually literate than their

clients! To fill this lacuna, there is a need for adding a

course targeted at teaching the basis of visual literacy at

the HND level.

Marketing skills in a printing curriculum

The profound changes that have taken place in the

printing industry have changed so many things,

including the business models adopted by print

companies. At the heart of this trend is the paradigm

that contemporary consumers have communication not

printing needs. Consequently, business success

apparently lies in printers learning to understand how

and why their clients need to communicate and to whom

they need to communicate (Webb, 2008). In essence, to

survive in a new media world, printers must transit from

being manufacturers (churning out reproduced version

of print products) to communication solutions provider

who must understand the needs of their clients and

provide a blend of print and other media solutions at a

profit.

In addition, marketing communication is a veritable tool

for increasing profitability in the current printing

industry that is riddled with intense competition. To

survive in this terrain, it is not enough to acquire the

best hands. It is also vital to communicate how these

unique selling points can add value to prospective

clients. Besides, customers’ needs for print are changing

so rapidly that print companies must be on their toes to

unearth consumer preferences and needs. Henderson

(2004) observes that the market for the print industry

has become limited due to the aggressive competition

from the Internet and other electronic communication.

Consequently, print items are being used less and less

and in some cases being completely replaced with

online production and services. Many printers, in the

words of Henderson, are unprepared for this challenge.

Preparation entails having a full grasp of marketing

management issues. At the risk of overstating it, any

printer in the present age must be ready for competition.

Unfortunately, the 2009 curriculum especially at the

HND level does not have a single course in marketing.

If marketing management - a vital tool for competition

in a modern market place - is not taught in a printing

program, how can printing students be prepared for life

after the classroom?

Conclusion and recommendations

Teaching marketable skills in print and graphic

technology programmes will make graduates

employable in order to be valuable agents in the fight

against poverty. To achieve this, the new printing

education curriculum needs a review. Courses like

Industrial Survey, Accounting and Commercial and

Industrial law that are no longer taught in the new 2009

curriculum should be incorporated because of their

importance in developing the entrepreneurial

competence of students. Also, courses like Information

and communication technology, Visual Communication,

Marketing, and Printing Technology and Society are

necessary for inclusion in the 2009 HND curriculum.

The inclusion of the suggested courses will no doubt go

a long way in strengthening the curriculum so that high-

quality printing graduates with skills relevant to the

needs of the society can be produced.

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