Funding of Technology Education in A Distressed Economy: Challenges, Implications, and Strategic Pathways for Nigeria

Technology Education (TE) is vital to economic diversification and youth employment, but there is always a challenge of funding, particularly in economies in distress. This study focused on sources, adequacy, challenges and implication of TE funding in Nigeria which is currently experiencing inflation, fiscal deficit and currency depreciation. The design used was descriptive survey and document analysis design. The primary data was gathered from the 420 administrators, lecturers and students of the 7 public Universities and Polytechnics in Southwest Nigeria with the use of a validated “Technology Education Funding Assessment Questionnaire (TEFAQ)” having Cronbach α = 0.87. The secondary data was retrieved from the documents of TETFund, NUC, and Budget office documents from 2018 to 2024. The data were analyzed by mean, standard deviation, percentage, and content analysis. The largest source of funding was from government subvention and TETFund allocations, accounting for 78% of TE budgets. The adequacy of funding, however, was rated low with a mean score of 2.19 in the cluster. Due to inflation, real funding fell by 34% from 2018-24. While budgetary underfunding, delay in funding, dependence on government, limited contribution of the private sector, and lack of accountability were identified as key challenges. Consequences include outdated equipment, limited implementation time, and a lack of employability of graduates, as well as delayed entrepreneurship development. Nigeria needs to diversify the sources of funding for TE in an ailing economy by making use of PPPs, levies on sectors, alumni endowment fund and internally generated revenue from TE workshops. There is a need for performance-based funding and fiscal discipline. Originality/Value: This research is empirical and gives policy options for sustainability, not relying exclusively on oil revenue, during the era of economic crisis.

Keywords: Funding, technology education, distressed economy, TETFund, sustainability, Nigeria