The Role of Vocational Education in Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Economic Recovery in North East Nigeria

This study examines the role of vocational education in supporting post-conflict reconstruction and economic recovery in North East Nigeria, with specific focus on Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe States. The devastating decade-long Boko Haram conflict has displaced millions, destroyed educational infrastructure, and decimated local economies across the region. Vocational education, with its direct links to productive employment and economic participation, is increasingly proposed as a cornerstone of recovery programming. However, the theoretical and empirical basis for this claim in the specific post-conflict Nigerian context requires rigorous examination. This study employs a critical development theory framework alongside mixed-methods research, combining longitudinal impact evaluation of three post-conflict vocational programmes, political economy analysis, and ethnographic study of vocational training and reconstruction dynamics in four communities over two years. Quasi-experimental methods estimate programme employment and income effects. Qualitative data examine social cohesion, reintegration, gender, and community development dimensions of vocational education in post-conflict settings. Findings are expected to reveal that vocational education contributes significantly to individual economic recovery but that community-level reconstruction impacts require complementary investments in infrastructure, market development, and social healing. Theoretical contributions include a post-conflict VTE development model grounded in empirical evidence from the Nigerian context. Policy recommendations are directed at government, UN agencies, and NGOs operating in post-conflict educational recovery programming. Keywords: post-conflict reconstruction, vocational education, North East Nigeria, economic recovery, Boko Haram