ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY ASSURANCE INPUTS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMME OF COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study was carried out to assess the quality assurance of inputs into the implementation of technical education programme of Colleges of Education in North-central Nigeria. Survey research design was adopted for the study. Check list and interview schedule were used for data collection. Three experts validated the instruments, two from University of Nigeria Nsukka and one from Federal College of Education Pankshin. The reliability was determined using Cronbach Alpha method of establishing reliability. The coefficient of reliability obtained was 0.89. Population for the study was the five colleges of education in North Central Nigeria that offer technical education programme at NCE level and 140 input items as contained in NCCE minimum standard for implementation of technical education programme. Five copies of the checklist (one for each school) were used to obtain information on availability and adequacy. Percentage and mean were used to analyze data obtained from observation and interview schedule on availability and adequacy respectively. The study found out that 80% of the required personnel input are available, 78% of the required facilities are available, 84% of equipment/ machines and tools required are available in Colleges of Education in north central Nigeria. 40% of personnel are found to be adequate, 27.3% of facilities were found to be adequate. 26% of automachanic equipment/machine and tools, 45.5% of building technology equipment/machine and tools, 25.8% electrical/electronic technology equipment/machine and tools, 31% of metal work technology equipment/machine and tools and 34.8% of woodwork technology equipment/machine and tools were found to be adequate. It was therefore recommended that government should inject more funds to Colleges of Educations to enable them provide adequate inputs for the implementation of technical education programmes for quality assurance.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

A nation cannot survive the present technologically advanced world without focusing on quality human resource development. Quality human resource development can only be achieved through quality education (Anaele, 2010). Some countries of the world, today, are described as developed or advanced, due to their technological feats and manoeuvres (Uzoagulu, 2011). They got to these positions through co-ordinated quality Technology Education. The importance of Technology Education to a nation’s development therefore cannot be over emphasized. Quality Technology Education is a product of a number of factors, such as well-articulated policies, comprehensive, adaptive and realizable curricula, adequate funding, adequate teaching and learning facilities/equipment and above all quality teachers (Anaele, 2010).

Realising the role of quality teachers in nation building, Federal Government of Nigeria (2004) stated, “No nation’s education system may rise above the quality of its teachers”. The policy went further to state that, teacher education programmes shall be structured to equip teachers for effective performance of their duties. These structuring brought about the establishment of NCE teachers training institutions in the country. Technical Education is one of the teacher training programmes of Colleges of Education in Nigeria. Its focus is the production of Technical Education teachers at NCE level.

Technical Education according to Onjewu (2007) is the aspect of education, which prepares people academically to be engaged in the acquisition and application of science and modern technology by focusing both on the theoretical and practical application of basic scientific principles. Federal Government of Nigeria (2004) defines Technical Education as that aspect of education, which leads to the acquisition of practical and applied skills as well as basic scientific knowledge. The objectives of Technical Education in Colleges of Education are to:

1. Produce National Certificate in Education (NCE Tech) teachers and practitioners of technology capable of teaching Introductory Technology (Basic Technology) in junior secondary schools.
2. Produce NCE (Tech) teachers who will be able to inculcate scientific and technological attitudes and values into the society.

• Produce qualified technical teachers motivated to start the so much desired revolution of technological development right from the Nigerian schools.

1. Prepare technical teachers to qualify them for post NCE degree programme in technical education (NCCE, 2002).

Colleges of Education are post-secondary institutions responsible for training National Certificate in Education (NCE) teachers in Nigeria. Colleges of Education are teacher-training institutions that offer NCE technical courses. In order to achieve the objectives of teacher education at the NCE level, and to maintain standard of the products in a sustainable manner, the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) was established. The mandate of the commission among other things includes; monitoring and ensuring quality among Colleges of Education programmes, for quality assurance of graduates.

In performing the above responsibilities, a minimum standard for all programmes approval are spelt out clearly for Colleges of Education in the country. After many years of implementation of the programme, objectives I and II above seem to be far from being realized looking at the low level of the nations development. Yakubu (2003) observed that lack of funds has affected the provision of some essential inputs needed in the implementation of the programme in most of the Colleges of Education.  It is now a common sight to find students of Technical Education sharing tables, seats, and other input. Where each student should have one. There is lack of internal self-evaluation or internal quality assurance mechanism that would have been responsible to monitor compliance with minimum standards requirement on continuous basis. Yakubu (2003) observed that standards often tend to decline after the accreditation visits rather than being maintained or improved upon as expected. The author also alleged that some institutions and departments sometimes stage manage their facilities and even personnel, all of which disappear to the rightful owners as soon as accreditation is over. The scenario lead to production of poorly trained technical teachers. The assertion is in line with the World Bank report on Africa (2004) cited by Eze and Olaitan (2010), that teachers recruited into teaching position in schools do not meet the quality required for effective teaching. Okoro (1999) also observed that most of the products of technical institutions in Nigeria do not have the knowledge and skills that will enable them to take up the available jobs. Hence, they could not give what they do not possess. All these are indicators of poor teacher preparation from technical teacher institutions.

Gboyega (2008) stated that the teacher is the key factor in helping students master manipulative skills needed for employment in any occupation and that, the success or failure of any Technical Education programme depends on available inputs. This input includes personnel and facilities. This therefore calls for quality assurance of faculty and facilities in technical teacher training institution to achieve its objective. Quality assurance as stated by Pearson (2007) is the practice of checking quality of goods or services rendered by individual or company, so that the standard will continue to be good. Gunter, Mammed and Wermer (2000) described quality assurance as available evidence on the quality of the inputs into a programme as a judgment to whether; they are achieving the objectives of a planned programme. In the context of this study therefore, quality assurance means an assessment or checking the availability of inputs, their adequacy and suitability for implementing Technical Education programme in Colleges of Education for teaching manipulative skills at NCE level of teacher education. The study specifically will be concerned with personnel and facility inputs.

Input according to Hornby (2004) is something put into projects or programmes in order to make it succeed.  Adelina and Anyakoha (2004) saw input as the resource that facilitates the quality and effectiveness of the implementation of a given curriculum. In the context of this study, input consists of staff (academic and supportive), physical facilities (classrooms, offices, workshops, tools, equipment and consumables) required by NCCE as minimum standard for effective implementation of Technical Education programmes in Colleges of Education in Nigeria. Encarta (2008) defines implementation as the carrying out, execution or practice of a plan, a method, or any design for doing something. It further stated that implementation is the action that must follow any preliminary thinking in order for something to actually happen.

Implementation in this context therefore, is the execution of Technical Education programme in order to achieve its objectives in technical institutions. To effectively implement Technical Education programme in Colleges of Education, to achieve the stated objectives, it is imperative to improve on the poor state of technical teacher performance, which has been attributed in some quarters, to the state of quality assurance inputs in the training institutions. This however has to be by assessing the inputs (personnel and facilities) in the institutions, using the NCCE (2008) minimum standard (requirements) as the benchmark to ascertain their availability, adequacy and suitability.

Assessment according to Okoro (2000), is a form of evaluation that uses collected data for estimating the worth, quality or effectiveness of a programme or project. Assessment therefore refers to a process of determining the availability, adequacy and suitability of inputs (personnel and facilities) for effective implementation of Technical Education programme in Colleges of Education.

Availability as defined by Encarta (2008) is a condition of being available, especially of being easily accessible or obtainable. Availability refers to the presence of the required personnel and facilities for quality assurance in the implementation of Technical Education programme in Colleges of Education. Adequacy is a state of being enough, sufficiency in quality or quantity to meet a need or quality for something (Encarta, 2008). In the context of this study, adequacy is the required sufficiency of personnel and facilities by students according to NCCE minimum standard (requirements) for implementing Technical Education programme in Colleges of Education. For effective implementation of Technical Education programme in colleges of education toward the attainment of its objectives, it is imperative to assess the quality assurance of its inputs continually, to ascertain their availability, and adequacy.

Statement of the Problem

The philosophy of technical education in Colleges of Education in Nigeria is to provide technical teachers with intellectual and professional background adequate for teaching technical subjects and to make them adequate to any changing situation in technological development not only in the country, but also in the world at large (NCCE 2002).

One of the objectives is to produce qualified Technical Teachers and practitioners of Technology, capable of teaching Basic Technology in Junior Secondary Schools, and to give training and impart the necessary skills to individuals who shall be self-reliant economically. Unfortunately, there is a growing concern about the poor quality of the graduates of Colleges of Education, which has resulted in the continual decline in the quality of the nation’s technical educational system as observed in Teboho (2002) and Yakubu (2003).

The problem however is not unconnected with the poor quality of most of the trainings provided at the Colleges of Education offering Technical Education programmes for training teachers. Teboho (2000) observed that some of the training facilities are outdated and do not take into consideration the changes taking place in both the teaching environment in which the teachers are likely to work and the requirements of a  technological global environment. These technical teachers find it difficult to impart the necessary skills appropriately to their students. The graduates are not well trained and equipped while in school, because of lack of the necessary facilities, hence cannot give or practice with what they do not have.

The resultant effect is the alarming rate of unemployment and increase in social ills in the society leading to general insecurity in the nation. There is therefore a great need to reverse the trend. This can be done through continuous assessment of quality assurance of input in Colleges of Education Technical in Nigeria, in order to provide the short falls for effective teaching and learning to take place. Maduewesi (2001) stated that adequate availability of facilities and their utilization have been positively correlated to good performance in skills development while poor performance have been blamed on inadequacies. From the backdrop of the concerns of Jen (2010)that the qualities of graduates from colleges have been of re-occurring concern, it is therefore imperative to assess the quality assurance facilities in the implementation of Technical Education programme to ascertain their availability, and adequacy toward achieving the objectives of the programme.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to assess the availability and adequacies of Quality Assurance Inputs in the Implementation of Technical Education Programme of Colleges of Education in North Central Nigeria.

Specifically the study will determine the:

1. Availability of personnel as recommended by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) for the implementation of Technical Education programme in North Central Nigeria.
2. Adequacy of available personnel as recommended by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) for the implementation of Technical Education programme in North Central Nigeria.
3. Availability of facilities as recommended in Colleges of Education for the implementation of Technical Education programme in North Central Nigeria.
4. Adequacy of the available facilities as recommended by the National Commission for Colleges of Education for the implementation of Technical Education programme in Colleges of Education in North Central Nigeria.
5. Availability of machines/ equipment and tools as recommended by National commission for Colleges of Education for the implementation of Technical Education programme in Colleges of Education in North Central Nigeria.
6. Adequacy of the available machines/ equipment and tools as recommended by

National Commission for Colleges of Education for the Implementation of Technical Education programme in Colleges of Education in North Central Nigeria.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study would be of benefit to Colleges of education (Technical)  Administrators, Lecturers, Instructors/Technologist, Students, Parents, Alumni Association of colleges of Education (Technical)in the zone. National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) and Nongovernmental Organizations, and the Society will also benefit from the findings of the study.

The findings of the study will help in highlighting the shortfalls or otherwise of the available personnel and facilities in the departments. This would help colleges of education (Technical)Administrators to know which personnel and facilities are available, how adequate they are for effective teaching. This will go along in helping them not to duplicate effort by providing what is already available in the right quantity rather than providing what is not available, (that is for priority settings).

The findings of this study would also be of benefits to Lecturers, Instructors and Technologist of Technical Education Departments of colleges of Education in North Central Nigeria, since the result will highlight the available facilities in their departments. This will create awareness and serves as a guide for them in the selection of facilities during teaching and practical sessions and in making recommendations to Head of Departments on which of the unavailable to procure for the department, when these is done, it will also enhance their productivity. Heads of Departments could also use the information to make recommendation to each of their Colleges of Education Managements for the supply of the unavailable relevant facilities based on the resources available.

The findings of the study will be of help to Voluntary Organizations and Alumni Associations of Colleges of Education in the zone. When the findings are published in journals, magazines, and the shortfalls or otherwise of inputs (personnel, facilities) in the institutions are highlighted in specific terms. It will help them to identify which areas to intervene toward improving the quality of the Colleges of Education graduates.

The findings of the study will also be of great benefit to the supervisory bodies Federal Ministry of Education and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) in terms of having information about the status of inputs in the institutions in the zone for priority setting and effective monitoring. Moreover, suggestion from this study will also help NCCE as a quality assurance organization, fashion out new method of conducting accreditation exercise, using the information provided by this work, which will be published in journals, magazines or during conferences and seminars. The student will also benefit from the result of this study because they will learn better under available and adequate facilities and personnel when provided by the administrators, Nongovernmental Organization etc, using the findings and recommendation from this study.

The result of the study will help parents determine the kind of schools to send their wards, having being enlightened through publication of the result of this work during seminar or conferences, using the findings of the study which will show the kind of inputs (personnel and facilities) that make for effective teaching and  learning. The parents will endeavour to look for this as standard to guide their choice of schools.

The resultant effect of the study will lead to the understanding of the state of quality assurance inputs in Colleges of Education which if improve upon, will benefit the society as a whole and eventually developed as a result of the output of well trained graduates. The graduates will be self reliant, contributing their quota to the development of the nation hence reducing the present social ills and rate of crime.

Lastly, the result of this study will equally serve as academic reference materials and literature to technical teacher education and other educational institutions and it will serve as an avenue for further research work.

Research Questions

1. Which of the personnel as recommended by NCCE in Colleges of Education for the implementation of Technical Education programme are available in north central Nigeria?
2. How adequate are the number of available personnel as recommended by NCCE for the implementation of Technical Education programme in Colleges of Education in North Central Nigeria?
3. Which of the facilities recommended by NCCE in Colleges of Education for the implementation of Technical Education programme are available in North Central Nigeria?
4. How adequate are the available facilities as recommended by NCCE for the implementation of Technical Education programme in Colleges of Education in North Central Nigeria?
5. Which machines/ equipment and tools as recommended by NCCE in Colleges of

Education for the implementation of Technical Education programme in Colleges of Education are available in North Central Nigeria?

6. How adequate are the available machines/ equipment and tools as recommended by NCCE in Colleges of Education for the implementation of Technical Education programme in North Central Nigeria?

Hypotheses

1. No significant difference exists between States Colleges of Education and Federal Colleges of education in the level of availability of personnel for the implementation of Technical Education programme in North Central Nigeria.
2. No significant difference exists between States Colleges of Education and Federal Colleges of Education in the level of availability of facilities for the implementation of Technical Education programme in North Central Nigeria.
3. No significant difference exists between the States and Federal Colleges of education in the level of availability of machines, equipment and tools for the implementation of Technical Education programme in North Central Nigeria.
4. There is no significant difference between the States Colleges of Education and Federal Colleges of Education in the level of adequacy of personnel for the implementation of Technical Education programme in North Central Nigeria.
5. There is no significant difference between States Colleges of Education and Federal Colleges of Education in the level of adequacy of facilities for the implementation of Technical Education programme in North Central Nigeria.
6. There is no significant difference between States and Federal Colleges of Education in the level of adequacy of the available machines, equipment and tools for the implementation of Technical Education programme in North Central Nigeria.

Delimitation of the Study

The study is delimited to assessing the availability and adequacy of personnel, infrastructural facilities, machines, equipment and tools inputs in the area of Auto-mechanics, Building, Electrical/ Electronics, Metalwork and Woodwork Technology only in Colleges of Education in North Central Nigeria. The study will not cover student input (Admission policy), course content and funding.

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