EFFECTIVENESS OF SKILL ACQUISITION PROGRAMMES AMONG TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN UNIVERSITY IN RIVERS STATE
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EFFECTIVENESS OF SKILL ACQUISITION PROGRAMMES AMONG TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN UNIVERSITY IN RIVERS STATE
Abstract
The study examined the efficiency of skill acquisition programmes among technical education students at Rivers State universities, with Rivers State University serving as a case study. The study was specifically focused on investigating the level of resource availability for technical skills acquisition among technical education students in university in Rivers State,
determining resource adequacy for technical skills acquisition among technical education students in university in Rivers State, determining the frequency of resource utilisation for technical skills acquisition among technical education students in university in Rivers State,
and determining the frequency of resource utilisation for technical skills acquisition among technical education students in university in Rivers State. The study took into account three significant theories: Human Capital Development Theory, Signalling Theory, and Systems Theory; nonetheless, the study was anchored on Systems Theory.
The study used a survey research approach and enlisted individuals at random. A total of 596 replies were validated from the enrolled participants, with all respondents being technical education professionals and students at River State University in Rivers State.
The study found that there were plenty of resources available for instructional materials, lecture halls, workshops, and libraries, but little for machinery, equipment, power, and gas. More scarce resources should be made available in the classroom to improve the development of technical abilities.
CHAPITRE ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Education, as a change agent, prepares students for the workforce. This can only be accomplished if adequate educational resources and experienced instructors are available to teach the graduates the requisite skills. Technical education is a kind of education that encourages the acquisition of core scientific knowledge as well as practical and applied skills.
That education is meant to educate people for profitable employment (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2013). It is akin to trainings that lead to the acquisition of practical experience in the workplace in a work-oriented society.
Technical education is a term that has recently been coined to describe retraining in educational processes that include the study of technologies and related disciplines, as well as the acquisition of skills in a number of economic and social domains.
After secondary school, higher education is defined as education provided by institutions such as universities, colleges of education, polytechnics, and monotechnics, as well as institutions that provide correspondence courses. The concept can be found in the National Policy on Education (1998).
The stated goals of Nigerian tertiary education policy are as follows: to contribute to national development through high-level relevant manpower training; to cultivate proper values necessary for individual and societal survival;
to develop people’s intellectual capacity to comprehend and appreciate their local and external environments; and to acquire both physical and intellectual skills that will enable people to be independent and use technology.
Universities are tertiary educational institutions that place a high focus on teaching graduates technical skills that will assist them in finding jobs or becoming self-sufficient in the workforce. According to the Federal Polytechnic Acts (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2006),
at least 70% of a student’s education must be in the sciences and technical domains in order to produce technicians and technologists for technological advancement. The goals and objectives are to produce graduates who use their brains,
hearts, and hands to study at the bachelor’s and higher levels. The Program’s goal is to develop technologists and technicians who are immediately employable.
Every human being’s life is significantly reliant on expertise. Many technicians earn more than some university graduates since they gain more practical skills rather than theoretical ones,
as compared to graduates who were only exposed to academic knowledge throughout their schooling. It has the potential to take you to unexpected places. Skill acquisition refers to the ability to learn a specific activity or function and become an expert at it.
The high rate of unemployment in many parts of the world today, particularly in Nigeria, is deeply sad. It is one of the causes influencing the world’s rapid growth in crime. Many recent graduates in the United States are still looking for work. This is a result of our large educational system, which places a greater emphasis on theory than on actual learning.
It is undeniable that the proportion of young people unemployed on the African continent is higher. The main reason these young, active people in our society are unemployed is that they lack the abilities to back up what they acquired at their educational institutions.
All of these graduates did not study a single skill while in school, such as graphic design, hair styling, construction, electrical maintenance, and so on. Their unemployment rate will decrease if they learn new skills.
According to Schumpeter (1994), entrepreneurship is the ability to recognise and seize economic opportunities while making the most use of one’s limited resources. This is described as “maximising one’s use of scarce resources.” Entrepreneurship, in its most basic meaning, refers to the mindset and set of competencies required to uncover new opportunities for financial investment and to manage a successful organisation.
In this more modern sense, entrepreneurship is more vital than money. Entrepreneurial activity is more fundamental than capital since it results in the formation of capital (Tawari, 2002). As a result, business owners are recognised as one of the most important drivers of economic growth.
They contribute by engaging in labor-related activities, transferring capital goods, converting raw materials into finished commodities, and finally, effectively distributing the items to final clients.
As a result, entrepreneurs are those who seek out and seize business opportunities, gather the cash and other resources needed to develop them, assess the environment’s options and direct resources towards the most profitable ones, and ultimately assume responsibility for the management and/or effective execution of opportunities.
An entrepreneur is someone who is comfortable taking and implementing risks in order to achieve a specific goal. He or she is always ready to adjust to changes in the corporate environment and knows where to turn for help when it is needed. He or she also understands where to go to obtain aid when it is needed (Schumpeter, 1994).
As a result, Nigeria’s higher education institutions will eventually begin to train high-level professionals who are typically obsessive, focused, eloquent, and resourceful. As a result, graduates are more likely to be charismatic leaders who approach job creation, income creation, and the creative use of talent with introspection.
A well-planned macroeconomic framework must also provide opportunities for young Nigerians to contribute to the rise of wealth, the creation of jobs, the abolition of poverty, and the reorientation of values (NEEDS, 2005). This is also evidenced by the recent surge in interest in entrepreneurial education programmes offered by academic institutions, parastatals, and non-governmental organisations located around the country.
This new vision and values, if fully executed, will shed light on Nigeria’s small and medium-sized firms. As a result, expanding access to higher education while focusing on developing entrepreneurial skills will provide the optimum environment for economic growth.
As a result, it is the responsibility of higher education institutions to provide young people with the necessary training so that they may start and maintain profitable businesses with a decreased risk of failure.
Higher education improves human resources in a variety of ways through participation in activities such as these. Investments in higher education will so continue to contribute to national economic growth (NEEDS, 2005).
Higher education institutions in Nigeria are responsible with teaching both students and professionals, such as managers, scientists, engineers, and technicians, who may assist the creation, adaptation, and spread of innovation inside the country. According to Tawari (2002), the rate of economic growth is negatively associated to the rate of development of higher education in a country.
The value of skill development in the education sector cannot be emphasised, considering its critical role in the development of the country’s human capital and employment. A well-educated man is so expected to produce a talent that will benefit everyone in society.
This will also help his personal development and boost his social self-esteem. The ability of a country to realise the potential of its workers is the one element that defines its productivity.
Theories and practises in education promote the development of ideas as well as progress in science, technology, economic development, political stability, and other sectors.
The development of the individual and, in particular, the country will be benefited by the skill, competence, knowledge, and understanding gained. One of the primary goals of education is the development of mental, physical, and social talents and competences as a person’s instrument for living and contributing to the improvement of his community.
Today, Nigeria need qualified workers who are also entrepreneurial and self-sufficient. Furthermore, there is a demand for skilled workers who can comprehend and adapt to changes in the increasingly complex nature of technology. People with scientific expertise who can handle environmental challenges and improve them for human use and convenience are also needed.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Employers of labour frequently express concerns about the employability of graduates from higher education institutions after noting that some of the graduates lack the requisite skills, which could reduce their productivity if employed. Graduates from these universities are expected to be able to create jobs as well as find paid labour.
The economic success of any country is dependent on the acquisition of suitable abilities. Whether or not graduates of technical and vocational education institutes are employable is determined by the compatibility of the acquired skills to the demands of the economy.
Universities, in particular, and institutes of technical skill acquisition in general, must ensure that the skills taught and acquired in schools meet the needs of employers.
The biggest challenge that Nigeria is currently dealing with is young unemployment. These young individuals make up a higher share of Nigeria’s population who are involved in economic activity.
According to Awogbenle and Iwuamadi (2010), data from the Federal Bureau of Statistics revealed that 80 million Nigerians, or 60% of the country’s total population, are under the age of 24.
In addition, 1.6 million of them are underemployed, totaling approximately 64 million of them. This means that a lot of resources that may be deployed to boost income and develop the economy are being squandered. Young people, like other segments of the population, have needs that must be satisfied (Nnabuife, 2009),
but since the 1980s, their ability to engage in meaningful labour has been restricted (Davies, 2006). As a result, rage manifests itself in a number of vices that lead to national instability.
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate how diverse skills acquired by youth can save them from unemployment as a result of government action by making loans available to them. As a result, the purpose of this study was to provide answers to some of the difficulties presented and to make recommendations.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The study’s main goal is to investigate the effectiveness of skill acquisition courses among technical education students at a university in Rivers State. More specifically, the study aims to;
Investigate the amount of resource availability for technical skill acquisition among Rivers State university technical education students.
Determine the resource sufficiency for technical skill acquisition among Rivers State university technical education students.
Determine the frequency of resource utilisation for technical skill acquisition among Rivers State university technical education students.
Examine the curriculum content’s suitability for the acquisition of technical skills among technical education students at a university in Rivers State.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
To guide the study, the following research questions were posed:
What is the amount of resource availability for technical skill acquisition among Rivers State university technical education students?
To what extent are the resources appropriate for the acquisition of technical skills among technical education students in Rivers State’s universities?
How frequently are resources used for technical skill acquisition among Rivers State university technical education students?
How adequate are the programme contents for the acquisition of technical skills among technical education students in Rivers State universities?
1.5 Research Theories
To direct the research, the following hypotheses were developed:
H01: There is no statistically significant link between resource availability and
Acquisition of technical skills among technical education students at a university in Rivers State.
H02: Resource adequacy is not significantly connected to technical skill acquisition among Rivers State university technical education students.
H03: There is no significant link between the frequency of resource utilisation and the acquisition of technical skills among technical education students at a university in Rivers State.
H04: There is no significant link between curriculum material adequacy and technical skill acquisition among Rivers State university technical education students.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study is critical because it provides critical information on how to improve higher education and better prepare undergraduates for the workforce. It will also serve as a document for students and anybody else who reads it to become more aware of the critical significance of enrolling in entrepreneurial skills development education programmes
in order to gain the necessary skills to thrive in a down economy. The study’s findings are also intended to raise awareness of the importance of technical education among aspiring graduates.
The study is also important for outlining the need for education planners and administrations of Nigerian university institutions (both private and public) to focus their efforts on incorporating entrepreneurial development courses into the curricula and programmes of tertiary institutions. Finally, scholars and researchers will benefit from this study because it will be used as a resource for future research and references.
1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this research would be to investigate the effectiveness of skill acquisition programmes among technical education students at a university in Rivers State. This study will specifically focus on identifying the purpose of technical education in Nigerian universities, determining whether technical skill acquisition economically empowers youths,
determining whether technical skill helps undergraduates take the risk of venturing into applying the knowledge and skills obtained from school for self employment, and determining whether skill acquisition provides undergraduates with enough training to enable creativity and innovation. River State University will host the research.
1.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This study will only look at the learning of entrepreneurship skills and their benefits among undergraduate students in Lagos. This study will specifically examine the extent to which higher education influences students’ desire for entrepreneurship,
determine whether higher education promotes the development of students’ entrepreneurship skill, and identify ways in which students’ entrepreneurship skill can be developed during higher education.
The population of this study will be River State University students, therefore the sample size was limited because just a few respondents were chosen to answer the research instrument, so the results cannot be generalised to other institutions outside the state.
1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Youth: The period of one’s life when one is young, commonly referring to the period between childhood and adulthood. It is also defined as “the appearance, freshness, vigour, spirit, and so on of a young person.”
Entrepreneurship is defined as the creation or extraction of value. According to this definition, entrepreneurship is defined as change, often involving risk above what is normally faced when beginning a business, and may contain values other than monetary ones.
Employability refers to the ease with which polytechnic graduates can find paid employment or work for themselves based on their talents.
Technical Skills: Polytechnic graduates must be able to recognise and use specific equipment and machines in order to complete specific job or perform specific processes.
Technical Skills Acquisition: This is the process of learning technical skills that will allow polytechnic graduates to be employable or self-sufficient.
1.10 RESEARCH ORGANIZATION
The research is divided into five chapters. The first chapter discusses the study’s background, problem statement, objective, research questions and hypothesis, significance of the study, scope/limitations of the study, and definition of words. The second chapter is a review of the literature, with an emphasis on the conceptual framework, theoretical framework, and empirical review.
Similarly, chapter three, research methodology, covers the research design, study population, sample size determination, sample size, abnd selection technique and procedure, research instrument and administration, method of data collection, method of data analysis, validity and reliability of the study, and ethical consideration.
The fourth and last chapter, chapter four, comprises the data presentation and analysis, while the fifth and final chapter (chapter five), contains the summary, conclusion, and recommendation.
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