While many people argue industrial skills are more important for economic growth, I believe that governments should actually prioritize investing on higher education since it is the sector that has more potential in this particular matter.
Industrial skills are indeed a pillar for a sustainable economy. Most economies heavily rely on the import and export of various materials. This directly or indirectly involves the application of these skills, as they are part of manufacturing activities. Therefore, investing on them can help a nation develop the outputs it obtains from this sector. For instance, suppose a country is rich of a particular resource, such as minerals or oil, and expends it to some extent through its population with expertise related to industry. Increasing the number of people with this expertise allows the state to utilize its resources fully-to the maximum degree that ensures sustainability-and grow its economy, fulfilling its potential.
On the other hand, the huge role of higher education in nations’ economies is that it supplies them with professionals in a range of sectors, such as healthcare, construction, leadership/management, and so on. Countries rely on them not only for their role in the economy, like developing technology or medicine for export, but also for various facets of the general day-to-day activities and well-being of almost all people, including those with industrial skills. The reason for why I believe the government should invest on this is that the size of the population that makes it through is relatively small (compared to the population with industrial skills), especially in developing and undeveloped countries. For example, in many undeveloped nations, there are a lot of individuals with skills of producing goods like clothes, which are industrial. Such states, however, often lack people with strong educational backgrounds. Thus, I reckon that the economy will benefit more than it would if the investment were on skills related to industry provided that the investment is on higher education.
In conclusion, while spending on the improvement of manufacturing expertise can have a significant advantage for economic growth, I believe that it is better if the investment is on higher education. This is because in most cases, the latter is what needs it more.