**8. Conclusions**

The nature of STEM and TVET reveal striking similarities, with both having the mandate of producing skilled-bound graduates that can proffer solutions to Nigeria's ailing economy through problem-solving and critical thinking and the acquisition of functional skills for self-reliance, productivity and poverty eradication. This chapter reveals that the initial effort by the Western world to establish Western/formal education witnessed very little or no emphasis on STEM and TVET education but provided a platform for education development. Thus, different commissions instituted by pre-independent education bodies made recommendations that provided the roadmap for what later evolved as STEM and TVET. The growing needs of Nigeria, as they took over the affairs of their country, at independence, yearned for an educational system that could address emerging realities. Thus, Nigeria saw the need to revise the previous curriculum that seemingly addressed colonial and other foreign needs to reflect the needs of the Nigerian Society. This yielded results as Nigeria laid and is still laying much emphasis on STEM and TVET. This has resulted in increased education funding with a reasonable proportion voted to STEM and TVET, development of a curriculum that addresses the concerns of STEM and TVET that have proven to be of collaborative relevance in addressing the needs and aspirations of Nigeria in terms of national development.

This chapter therefore concludes that the mandate of education to produce graduates with functional skills can best be achieved through effective and continuous STEM and TVET collaboration. Unarguably, therefore, collaborations among disciplines can be very useful in the production of graduates with competencies who can efficiently fit into the demands of the twenty-first century. Considering the similarities of STEM Education and TVET in structure, approach and delivery, educational institutions cannot afford to ignore such collaborations. In order to uphold their mandate, therefore, practical activities can be better achieved through collaboration strategies. This, therefore, requires training to enhance skill development.

*Collaboration in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (Stem) Education… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.114148*
