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.
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
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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