EMPLOYERS’ASSESSMENT OF THE GENERAL WORK SKILLS AND WORK ATTITUDES POSSESSED BY ELECTRICITY ELECTRONICS GRADUATES OF FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECHNICAL) BICHI KANO STATE.

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Abstract

This  study was  carried  out  to  assess  the  general  work  skills  and  work  attitudes

possessed by electricity/electronics graduates of Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi, Kano State. Four research questions were developed and answered by the study while four null hypotheses were formulated and tested at P ≤ 0.05 level of significance.  The  study was  carried  out  in  Kano  State.  It made use of survey research design. The population of the study was supervisors of registered 538 small- scale, medium-scale and large-scale privately and publicly-owned industries and establishments in the State. The sample on the other hand was 93 which were also made up of 68 supervisors of privately-owned establishments and 25 supervisors of publicly-owned   establishments   in   Kano   State.   Proportionate   random   sampling technique   was   used   to   draw   the   sample   from   the   population.   A  structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from the respondents for the study. The questionnaire  was  validated  by three  experts  from  the  Department  of  Vocational Teacher Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. To determine the reliability coefficient,  a  trail  testing  of  the  research  instrument  was  conducted  using  15 supervisors of both government and private-owned establishments that employ graduates of Electricity/Electronics program of Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, Delta State. Cronbach’s alpha reliability method was now used in which a coefficient of 0.925 was obtained. The questionnaire was administered by the researcher with the help of three research assistants across the State. The entire 93 copies of the questionnaire administered were retrieved representing 100% retriever of the  questionnaire.  The  data  collected  were  analysed  using  mean  and  standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test statistics was used for testing the null hypotheses (Ho) at P ≤ 0.05 level of significance and 91 degree of freedom (df). The study found out that the general work skills, practical/technical skills and work attitudes possessed by the graduates of electricity/electronics program of Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi, Kano State were not satisfactory. The study also identified ways through which the skills of the students of electricity/electronics of Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi, Kano State could be improved upon to enable them to be relevant to the needs of the employers. In summary, there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of the respondents on 80 out of the 87 identified items in the study. Based on the findings of this study, it was  recommended  that,  all  the  identified  work-skills  be  used  for  improving  the existing   curriculum   of   electricity/electronics   program   of   Federal   Colleges   of Education (Technical) in the country. This will help enhance the quality of graduates being produced by the colleges. Also, all the ten identified ways through which the skills of the students of electricity/electronics program could be improved upon should be  implemented  by  the  school  administration  in  collaboration  with  other  related agencies for quality assurance of the graduates.

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The level of advancement  of any nation, to a considerable  extent, depends on  her intellectual,  scientific and technological  development.  Dillman (2003) regards  intellectual, scientific and technological development as the foundation on which subsequent economic, political, industrial and social developments are built. It was in the realization of this fact as observed by Olaitan (1999) that several nations of the world  accord top priority and spend huge amount of their income on science and technical education programs. Graham (2003) emphasized that the difference between advanced  and developing nations is determined by the level of scientific and technological developments  which virtually lies on the effective implementation of their technological education programs.

Technical education is defined in the National Policy education, FGN (2004) as that aspect of education that leads to the acquisition of practical and applied skills as well as basic scientific knowledge. It is therefore a kind of education that provides students with scientific principles  relating  to  their  fields  of  technology  and  requires  them  to   make  practical application  of the concepts  by working  with tools and  machines.  The aims of technical education as stipulated in the National Policy on Education include:

1.   To provide the technical knowledge and vocational skills necessary for  agriculture, industrial, commercial, and economic development.

2.   To give an introduction to professional studies in engineering and other technologies;

and

3.   To  give  training  and  impact  the  necessary  skills  leading  to  the  production  of craftsman, technician and other skilled personnel who will be enterprising and  self- reliant.

However, the attainment of these laudable objectives depends on the qualitative and quantitative production and training of technical teachers who would invariably become the key implementers  of the program under a classroom environment  or their  products being employed  in  the  industry.  For  the  production  and  training  of  these  students,  and  more

technical teachers and also for the objectives of the technical education to be achieved, the

Federal government of Nigeria establishe 1  e Colleges of Education (Technical). d th

Federal Colleges of Education (Technical) are federal government-owned institutions that run the National Certificate  in Education (NCE) program in vocational  and technical

courses.  Contemporarily,  there  are eight of these colleges  in Nigeria  and are situated  in Akoka, Gombe, Asaba, Bichi, Omoku, Potiskum, Gusau and Umunze. They were established in 1967, 1977, 1987, 1988, 1988, 1988, 1990 and 1990 respectively (National Commission for Colleges of Education, NCCE, 1999). It should be noted that one of these colleges (Bichi) is located in Kano State, one of the states in the North western states of Nigeria. The major program obtainable in this college as contained in the minimum standards for Colleges of Education are Business, Agriculture,  Technical,  Home Economics,  Fine and Applied Arts Education. The technical education program as one of the major programs provide students with the opportunity to specialize in metalwork technology, woodwork technology, building technology, electricity / electronics technology or automobile technology (FGN, 2009).

Electricity/Electronics, one of the technical education programs offered in the Federal College  of  Education  (Technical),  Bichi,  Kano  is  designed  to  achieve  the   following objectives:

1.   To produce qualified  and  competent  Electricity/Electronics  graduates  who  will  be capable to teach Electricity/Electronics  technology subjects in the junior  secondary schools.

2.   To produce NCE Electricity / Electronics technology graduates who will be able to

inculcate the scientific, vocational and technological aspect of Electricity / Electronics technology, attitudes and values into the society.

3.   To produce  qualified  NCE  Electricity/Electronics  graduates  who  will  start  the  so much desired revolution of vocational and technological development right from the Nigerian schools;

4.    To prepare students in Electricity/Electronics  with necessary competencies so as to qualify them for a-two year post NCE degree program in Electricity / Electronics.

5.   To Equip and produce qualified NCE Electricity/Electronics  graduates with the right skills to engage in a life work in the industry as well as for self employment (FGN,

2009).

From  the afore-mentioned  objectives,  it is glaring  that  the  graduates  of the  NCE technical education in Electricity/Electronics technology program must be well equipped with adequate technical and professional competencies/skills as well as generic/self-employability skills if they are to perform creditably as anticipated.

Technical skills or hard skills in Electricity/Electronics is referred to as the ability or dexterity in the use of  tools and equipment effectively and in an efficient manner, the ability to undertake work of the day such as troubleshooting an electronic device  taking readings

from electrical instruments, troubleshooting circuit boards, electrical installations and so on

(Barber, 2003).

Employability skills / soft skills / generic skills refer to anything that falls outside of the traditional product and development skill set (Stern &Crawford, 2008). Soft skills are the ability to communicate effectively, promote team work within the industry or organization, present ideas, manage projects and people, solve problems and provide excellent customer

care.

In today’s workforce, characterized by change and increase ing competition for jobs, it is important for educational programs implementers to be aware of the qualities that are valued by employers  in the industry.  It is the goal of the Federal Colleges of  Education (Technical) to design and implement programs that are appropriate to the missions and goals of the government and to supply the workforce with relevant skills according to their needs and that of stakeholders and, or employers. Federal Colleges of Education (Technical) have the  responsibility  to  provide  graduates  with  knowledge  in  the  Professional  field  with intellectual skills and ability to apply theory to  practical situation. Other generic skills as identified  by the  Nigerian  qualification  frameworks  such  as the ability to  communicate, possession of attitude  and values of  responsible  citizen are areas that are expected  to be developed and entrenched in the minimum standards for teaching students and are expected to provide graduates who are relevant to meet the needs of the industry and society.

Some studies in employability view employability in terms of graduates finding jobs and maintaining them through the learning of new skills necessary for different functions in the industry or establishment.  Hillage and Pollage (1998) see  employability as having the capability to gain initial employment, maintain employment and obtain new employment if required. In other words, employability is referring to individual capability to get and keep the  desired  jobs.  According  to  Harvey  (1999),  the  employability  of  a  graduate  is  the propensity of the graduate to exhibit attributes such as the technical skills and generic skills that  employers  anticipate  will  be  necessary for  the  future  effective  functioning  of  their organization.

Lie,  Pang  and  Memsur  (2006)  ascertain  that  some  employers  seems  to  prefer

graduates who have and possess good inter-personal skills and communication skills,  team work  spirit,  and  high  level  of  flexibility  and  adaptability  in  any working  environment. Employers and their representatives consistently say that to succeed at work, most people in future must develop a range of personal and intellectual attributes beyond those traditionally

made  explicit  in  programs  of  study  in  Electricity/Electronics   technology  (  Azam  and

Branchle, 2003).

Hussan,   Mokhtar,   Ahmad   and   Mustapha   (2010),   stated   that   human   capital development is an effort to achieve cost savings and improve the performance of the industry. Kezar,  (2010)  defined  human  capital  as  an  important  element  for  upgrading  company performance   and  improve   productivity   of  employees   and   sustainability   to  be  more competitive.  Human  capital  is referred  to as a process  involving  training,  education  and professional initiatives to improve the knowledge,  skills, abilities, values and social assets that will lead to employee job satisfaction and performance while improving the performance of the company or industry ( Branchle and Azam, 2004).

Human capital is referred  to as the knowledge,  expertise  and skills acquired  by a person through the medium of education and training. Tertiary education like the Colleges of Education (Technical) plays an important role in the provision of human capital for achieving improved economy or for transforming our economy. Industries were competing against each other in order to adapt and remain in the market. In order to achieve this goal, the industry must have a competitive employee that will have the ability to withstand the global market. In order to achieve that, employer spends a lot of investment to develop the human capital of workers  to  master  the  skills  needed  in the  arena  of globalization.  However,  the cost  of developing human capital is increasing: with these, employers expect educational institutions to produce graduates with  employability  skills required by the market  without  additional training  from  the  industry.  Therefore,  graduates  with  employability  skills  will  have  an advantage in getting jobs in the industry. The institutions of education such as the Colleges of Education (Technical) must produce graduates who not only have technical skills but also non-technical skills which is the employability skills. Hence, this study is therefore geared towards finding out the employer’s assessment of the general work skills and work attitudes possessed by Electricity/Electronics  graduates of Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi, Kano State.

Statement of the Problem

In recent times in Nigeria, many students look to educational institutions to provide them  with the type  of education  that  will prepare  them  for immediate  employment  and furthering their education or both. The World Bank (2002) revealed that when enterprises for training are lacking, skilled manpower and opportunities for work tend to be in short supply. Hudelson (2006)  stated that schools should be required  to  teach and test students before

awarding certificates of initial mastery which would amount to job ticket for  graduates.  A situation where  graduates of vocational  education programs  like those of  the Colleges  of Education  (Technical)  remained  unemployed  for  a  long    time  because  they  lack  the theoretical  knowledge,  practical/technical  skills  and  employability  skills  competencies  as well as the right attitude to work is a signal that something is wrong and needed an urgent solution.

In today’s workforce characterized by change and increasing competition for jobs, it is important  for educational  programs implementers  to be aware of the  qualities that are valued by employers in the industry. It is the role of Colleges of the Education (Technical) to design  and  implement  programs  that  are  appropriate  to  the  missions  and  goals  of  the government and to supply the workforce with relevant skills according to their needs and that of stakeholders and, or employers. Colleges of Education (Technical) have the responsibility to provide graduates with knowledge  in  the professional  field  with intellectual  skills and ability  to  apply  theory  to  practical  situations.  Other  generic  skills  as  identified  by the Nigerian vocational qualification frame works such as the ability to communicate, possession of attitudes and values of responsible citizen are other areas that are expected to be developed during the course of the program/ study.

World Bank (2005) found that graduates of leading Colleges of Education (Technical) in Nigeria did not meet the expectations of industrial employers despite their high standard certificates. Further, Uwameiyer (2000) and Okorie (1987) found that Colleges of Education (Technical)  in  the  Southeastern  and  Southwestern  States   were   inadequately  equipped regarding training facilities, teaching staffs, and libraries for the implementation of NCCE minimum standards. Consequently, the graduates of these colleges were discriminated against in employment for they do not possess the knowledge and technical skills competencies as well as employability skills competencies required for first employment in industries.

It    is    evident     that     Colleges     of    Education     (Technical)     graduates     of Electricity/Electronics  programs were not adequately employed by the industries, and some of these graduates that eventually got employment did not possess the level of  theoretical knowledge, technical/practical skills competencies and employability skills expected by the employers. If the industries are to survive, the school curriculum must be dynamic and able to adjust to new situations and environment that help to improve on-the -job effectiveness of future graduates.  It is very essential therefore that higher  education curriculum should be made flexible to allow inputs from the industry in decision- making process. This input is increasingly important due to the rapid technological advances. The more that is known about

the competencies  needed in the   electricity/electronics  careers and is incorporated  into  the curriculum development, the more employable electricity/electronics graduates will be in the market place, and the input from employers would provide a bench mark against which future students would be compared and serve as an assessment indicator.  Consequently, the need arose to state the problem thus, what are the employers’ assessment of the general work skills and  work  attitudes  possessed  by  Electricity/Electronics  graduates  of  Federal  College  of Education (Technical) Bichi, Kano State?

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to identify employers’ assessment of the general  work skills, technical skills and work attitudes of Electricity/Electronics  graduates of the Federal College of Education (Technical), Bichi. Specifically, the study will seek to:

1.   Determine   employers’   assessment   of   the   general   work   skills   possessed   by

Electricity/Electronics graduates;

2.   Find  out  the  employers’  assessment  of the  technical/practical  skills  possessed  by

Electricity/Electronics graduates;

3.   Determine   the   employers’   assessment   of   the   work   attitudes   possessed   by

Electricity/Electronics graduates;

4.   Identify ways through which the skills of students of Electricity/Electronics programs could be improved to enable them to be relevant to needs of the employers in Kano State.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study on Employers Assessment of the General Work Skills and Work  Attitudes  Possessed  by  Electricity/Electronics   Graduates  of  Federal   College  of Education  [Technical]  Bichi,  Kano  State  will  be  of  immense  help  to   administrators, instructors and lecturers in Federal Colleges of Education [Technical] as well as to employers of the graduates of these programme throughout the country. Educational institutions exist to serve  the  needs  of  industries,  but  often  the  quality  of  the  service  is  not  known.  The educational institution may not know exactly to what extent she is really serving the needs of industries through the graduates trained by the educational institution.

The findings of this study, by providing information to administrators of Colleges of Education [Technical], on how satisfied employers are with her graduates, will enable her to introduce  changes in her programme  that will make her programmes  more  effective,  and

employers more satisfied with their graduates. It could therefore be said that the findings of this study could lead to a better College of Education [Technical] programmes.

The  findings  of this  study could  also  be of benefit  to  employers  of Colleges  of Education [Technical] graduates. Industries and employers will benefit when they have more efficient and more skilled workers.  Such graduates would have a higher level of skill with better attitudes to work. Such a state of affairs will result in lower cost of production and more profit for the employers.

The findings of this study could be of use to Federal and State Education Authorities. The findings of this study could be utilized by agencies such as National Board for Technical Education  [NBTE],  National  Business  and  Technical  Education  Board  [NABTEB]  and National Commission for Colleges of Education [NCCE]. These bodies are interested in high quality technical education programmes. Information on what employer’s think of the current graduates  will  enable  them  develop  strategies  for  improving  the  College  of  Education [Technical] programmes.

Research Questions

The following research questions were formulated to guide the study:

1.   What   are   employers’   assessments   of   the   general   work   skills   possessed   by electricity/electronics graduates?

2.   What are the employers’ assessments of the practical/technical skills possessed by the electricity/electronics graduates?

3.   What are the employers’ assessments of the work attitudes possessed by electricity /

electronics graduates?

4.   What are the ways through which the skills of the students of electricity / electronics of College of education (Technical) could be improved upon to  enable them to be relevant to the needs of employers in Kano State?

Hypothesis

The following hypotheses will be tested by the study at 0.05 level of significance:

H01: There is no significant difference on the mean responses of supervisors of government and private-owned establishments on general work skills possessed by the graduates of electricity/electronics programmes of Federal College of Education (Technical), Bichi.

H02: There is no significant difference on the mean responses of supervisors of government and private-owned  establishments on practical/technical  work skills  possessed by the graduates  of  electricity/electronics   programmes  of  Federal  College  of  Education (Technical), Bichi.

H03: There is no significant difference on the mean responses of supervisors of government and  private-owned  establishments  on  work  attitude  possessed  by  the  graduates  of electricity/electronics programmes of Federal College of Education (Technical), Bichi.

H04: There is no significant difference on the mean responses of supervisors of government and private-owned establishments on ways through which the skills of the students of electricity/electronics  programmes of Federal College of Education (Technical), Bichi could be improved upon.

Scope of the Study

The study will be delimited to the employers’ assessment of the general work skills and  work  attitudes  possessed  by  electricity/electronics  graduates  of  Federal  College  of Education (Technical) Bichi, Kano State. All the 538 small scale, medium  scale and large scale   privately-owned    industries    and   establishments    in   kano    state   who   employ electricity/electronics  graduates  of Federal College  of Education  [Technical]  Bichi,  Kano State will comprise the population for the study.

The assessment  by the employers  will focus on the determination  of the level  of employability and general skills, practical/technical skills competencies as well as the work attitudes possessed by the graduates. Skills of non-technical nature such as  language skills and general mathematical abilities, as well as work skills not  specifically in electrical and electronics will not be included in the scope of the study.



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EMPLOYERS’ASSESSMENT OF THE GENERAL WORK SKILLS AND WORK ATTITUDES POSSESSED BY ELECTRICITY ELECTRONICS GRADUATES OF FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECHNICAL) BICHI KANO STATE.

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