Business education provides specific business-related skills and education which are crucial in succeeding in the corporate world. In Nigeria, business education is taught across various educational levels, up to the tertiary level. The skills and knowledge obtained from business education prepare students for independence. The importance of business education is broad, ranging from contributing to national development to developing relevant skills to earn income, among others. This article will highlight the importance of business education in Nigeria.
The importance of business education in Nigeria will be addressed below:
- Business education is important to the country as it makes Nigerians with an appreciation of business education inculcate skills that make them employers of labour. So, job creation is a spin-off of business education in Nigeria, thus adding to the economic development and growth of the country.
- Business education offers Nigerian citizens, across several levels of education, necessary information on the political framework of the country which will inform them on how best to contribute to the economic development of Nigeria.
- Business education imbibes in people the culture of prudent use of financial resources, which cuts down on impulse spending. So, as citizens make judicious use of their resources, they will be able to make use of the excess resources to invest in projects in the country which drive the economic development of the nation.
- With Business Education, advocates and promoters of viable industrial and business enterprises are produced in the country.
- Another importance of business education in Nigeria is that it provides students with the chance to acquire basic skills which are relevant in business occupations.
- Business education also plays an important role in assisting to develop students’ interest in the numerous occupations available in the realm of the business world.
- Business education also equips students on how to execute business activities which are common to many professional, industrial, and agricultural services.
- Business education is important as it develops students to understand and appreciate how Nigeria’s economic system functions. With this knowledge, they can make informed decisions.
- Business education also provides students with the skills which they need to be able to thrive and achieve success should they choose to pursue the business career path.
- Business education also imparts necessary knowledge to students who in turn become qualified graduates in business education who are competent in teaching business subjects in secondary schools in Nigeria.
- Business education at the senior secondary level offers students the appropriate training that would help them fit into the world of work or anywhere else they may find themselves.
- When people receive business education at the secondary level, it enables them to become responsible citizens and also become intelligent consumers of goods and services.
- When individuals receive business education, it allows them to develop proper values towards work, which make them tend to contribute more economically to the nation. This helps in toning down violence, corruption, and malpractices, among other things, in the nation.
- Entrepreneurs in Nigeria with business education knowledge will understand how government policies affect them as businessmen (or businesswomen).
- Entrepreneurs who are equipped with business education will know how to organise and operate their businesses, including managing staff, and resources, with meagre resources and still make a profit.
- Businessmen who lack the skill and knowledge of maintaining a complete and accurate financial record usually find themselves in one trouble or another. But, armed with business education, such entrepreneurs can keep adequate records of their financial transactions, which prevents the collapse of their businesses.
- An entrepreneur who is equipped with business education and can keep financial records of his business will be able to retrieve these records to serve as a guide to financial planning and welfare of himself, and his family.
- The knowledge of book-keeping (or recordkeeping) derived from business education will also enable a person to keep a proper record of his personal and family transactions. This way, the person can be able to separate business accounts from personal transactions without the other suffering.
- Business education provides entrepreneurs with skills in understanding customers and staff, and how to retain them.
- Also, business education gives businessmen the skill in handling difficult customers and staff, as man-management is a core aspect of business education.
- Business education enables entrepreneurs to know how to advertise their goods and services for optimum results. He will know where to advertise and the strategies to employ to appeal to potential customers, as well as how to monitor competition and other media most appropriate to the customers.
- Business education encompasses bookkeeping, office practice, business communication, business mathematics, secretarial duties, marketing, and word processing, among others. Book Keeping enables a businessman to understand ways of recording business transactions, know how to accurately keep financial resources and improve arithmetic skills. Secretarial Duties, on the other hand, enables entrepreneurs to be able to develop human relation skills, use initiative and tact, handle minor routines, and more.
- Business education is equally important to the physically challenged person as the skills and knowledge acquired can be applied in setting up a business or being employed. Hence, even the physically challenged who has obtained a business education is meaningful to himself, and the society at large.
Though business education had a slow beginning in Nigeria due to the neglect it faced, however, over the last few decades its growth and development can be compared to other disciplines. This positive transformation of business education in Nigeria is a result of recommendations from several committees.
In Nigeria, business education is taught across various levels, ranging from Junior Secondary School, Senior Secondary School and tertiary level. At the Junior Secondary and Senior Secondary School levels, the components of business education may include bookkeeping, commerce, shorthand, typewriting, office practice, economics and financial accounting. At the tertiary level, business education equips the students both in the theoretical and practical orientation of the business world. The curriculum at the tertiary level usually consists of Business Education, Business Administration, Education, Teaching Practice and the Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES).