Youth unemployment is a major challenge in our social and economic life in Kano, which requires new employment strategies. Printing industries provide important employment opportunities; nevertheless, the inadequately skilled workforce that they have is hindering their development. This study has analyzed the importance of vocational training in providing jobs for young people in the printing industry in Kano Metropolis printing industry Fagge Local Government; we have used different methods with the 65 respondents and 17 interview participants. This study has shown that training young people in trades creates a lot of jobs and teaches them the latest printing technology, business knowledge, and business skills. Many of the graduates find employment or start small printing businesses. Nevertheless, problems such as outdated curricula, lack of funding, lack of modern training materials, and limited financial support for start-up projects are hampering the effectiveness of training. Moreover, the employers themselves show incompetence due to the lack of digital and automatic printing knowledge they have.
The study recommended curriculum reform, increased government and private sector funding, increased industry collaboration, and full financial support for vocational graduates. A full public-private partnership will go a long way in filling the technology gap by providing hands-on printing industry expertise. Policy makers should provide the strength for printing businessmen to employ those who have graduated from vocational training; this will increase the creation of jobs.
This study will conclude that vocational education plays an important role in reducing unemployment among youth, but it depends on reforms in the institutions, investment in the printing sector of modern technology, and alignment with the needs of the industry. Solving these gaps will improve the results of employment and will also lead to the improvement of business activities; this will also contribute fully to the economic development of Kano.