Integrating Preventative Health Education into Formal and Non-Formal Technical Education: A Review

Abstract

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, such as polytechnics and technical colleges, are structurally designed to equip students with practical, industry-relevant competencies. However, the health literacy and preventative health behaviors of trainees within these environments remain vastly under-researched. This review paper evaluates the strategic imperatives, current frameworks, challenges, and prospects of integrating preventative health education into both formal and non-formal technical education sectors in Nigeria, with specific contextual insights relevant to Yobe State. Operating within the conceptual parameters of Human Capital Theory and the Health Belief Model, the study systematically reviews educational policy documentation, institutional architectures, and empirical literature spanning the last decade.
The findings reveal that while TVET curricula are heavily oriented toward technical, digital, and mechanical competencies, they suffer from a systemic omission of structured public health modules. This leaves students vulnerable to prevalent regional health challenges, including outbreaks of infectious diseases (such as cholera, meningitis, and Lassa fever), occupational hazards, and a lack of baseline preventative health awareness. Non-formal technical education tracks, such as localized apprenticeship systems, suffer from even steeper health information deficits. The paper proposes a dual-pathway integration framework: the formal anchoring of preventative health modules into General Studies (GNS) curricula across polytechnics, and the development of community-based peer-led health interventions within informal apprenticeship clusters. Operationalizing this structural convergence is essential to protecting the physical capital of the technical workforce and fostering sustainable national industrial development.