EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS REQUIRED BY POLYTECHNIC GRAGUATES BUILDING TECHNOLOGY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This research project re-validated employability skills required of Polytechnic Building Technology Graduates in Nigeria. As a guide to effective study, four research questions and four hypotheses were formulated. The survey research design was employed. The study population consisted of 216 respondents, made up of 36 lecturers of Building Technology in six Polytechnics that award higher National Diploma in Kaduna, Zamfara and Jigawa states of Nigeria, 24 managers and 156 graduate employers in Building organization in the  three states. The entire population was used because they were small. The instrument used was questionnaire, which consisted of 50 items and the respondents responded to.  It  was  face  validated by  three experts in  the  department of vocational teacher education, University of Nigeria Nsukka. Test- retest method was employed to test  the reliability of  the instrument. The researcher was assisted  by  three  research assistants  in  collecting data  for  the  study.  The collected data were analyzed using mean for the research questions. Hypothesis

1-3 were analyzed using t-test, while hypothesis 4 was analyzed using ANOVA. All the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Interestingly, it was found that 49  of the 50 items used for the study are important to Polytechnic Building Technology Graduates for successful job performance, Conclusively,employability skills are important for securing, retaining and progressing on the job, as well as having success in the world of work. Again, effective work habits are essential to the satisfactory job performance, irrespective of one’s chosen career or occupation. The study recommended among others that the Nigerian child, youths and adults should be exposed to more and better technological and non-technological education for them to acquire the needful skills for entrance into the world of work. Also, the Polytechnic Building Technology curriculum should be reviewed to include new courses that shall enable them acquire the required skills for immediate employment

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Building Technology is one of the academic programmes in Polytechnics and Universities in Nigeria.  Building Technology, as a vocational programme is aimed at producing technicians  who  will  be  able  to  perform  basic  functions  in  Building Technology practice  both  in  the  private and  public sectors, (National  Board for Technical Education – NBTE, 2001).

According  to  the  Federal  Republic  of  Nigeria  (FRN,  2004)  Technical Education is that aspect of Education which leads to the acquisition of practical and applied skills as well as basic scientific knowledge. The Federal Government of Nigeria is aware of the need for Technical Education in the country as a means of attaining the much desired technological growth.  This awareness is clearly reflected in the goals set for Technical Education as highlighted in the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004).The policy also stated that the quality of instruction at all levels has to be oriented towards inculcating values for the common good of the society; promotion of  physical, emotional,  and  psychological development of  all children and  acquisition of  competencies necessary for  self-reliance.   Vocational Education equips learners with appropriate skills, abilities and  competencies that contribute to the development of the society (FRN, 2004).

Polytechnic education is a form of Vocational and Technical Education as enshrined in the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004) to give training and impart the necessary skills for the production of technicians, technologists and other skilled

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personnel who shall be enterprising and self-reliant. They offer courses leading to the

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award of National Diploma(ND), Hi               onal Diploma (HND), and post Higher

National Diploma (P-HND) and are governed by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTC). The specific goals of the Polytechnics according to the Federal Republic of  Nigeria (FRN 2004) are:

i.      To provide full-time or part-time courses where instruction and training in engineering, other technologies, applied science, business and management, leading to the production of trained manpower.

ii.      Provide  the  technical  knowledge  ands  skills  necessary  for  agricultural, industrial, commercial, and economic development

iii.      Give training and impart the necessary skills for the production of technician, technologists and Oilier sing and self reliant.

iv.     Train  people  who  can  apply  scientific  knowledge  to  solve  environmental problems for the convenience of man; and

v.     Give exposure on professional studies in the technologies

Ebita (2006) stated that Polytechnic equip one with necessary skills for the world of work. They offer technical education programmes such as mechanical engineering technology, chemical engineering technology, electrical and electronics engineering technology and a host of other Technical education programmes. Okoro (1993) and

Olaitan (1996), agreed that technical and vocational education (TVE) is the essential preparation that  will enable the  individual to  meet the  developmental needs  and aspirations which to many will be immediate entry into the world of work.

To further encourage Technical Education, the National Board for Technical

Education (FRN, 1997) was set up with the following responsibilities:

a.  to advise the Federal Government on and coordinate all aspects of  Technical

Education;

b.  to determine, after consultation with other relevant bodies, the skilled and middle level personnel needs of the country for the purposes of planning, training facilities and to prepare periodic master plans for balanced and coordinated development of Polytechnics;

c.  to inquire into and advise the Federal Government on the financial needs of

Polytechnics and other technical institutions;

d.  to act as an agency for channeling all external aid to Polytechnics in Nigeria;

e.  To receive block grants from the Federal Government and allocate them to

Polytechnics;

f.    To advise on, and take steps to harmonize entry requirements and duration of courses in technical institutions.

Vocational Education does not fall short of character training/development and the development of occupational skills needed for work and which makes the worker more  adaptive  to  societal  challenges  (FRN,  1998).  Olaitan  (1996)  described Vocational Education as a form of education, which emphasizes the development of

occupational skills needed as preparation for work, which makes the worker more adaptive to challenges of the society. The need for employability skills has become more  obvious  as  a  result  of  automation,  advances  in  science  and  technology, increasing specialization of functions, human resources shortages and the changing nature of jobs (Ezeji, 2001).

Okorie (2001) stated that  skill  refers  to  manual dexterity that  is  acquired through repetitive performance of an operation.   He further described skill as expertness, practical ability, dexterity and tact.

Skill is, therefore, a well established habit of doing something.  It involves the acquisition of performance capability.  Thomson (1995) defined employability skills as  skills  required  not  only  to  gain  employment  but  also  to  progress  within  an enterprise  so  as  to  achieve  one’s  potentials  and  contribute  successfully  to  the enterprise strategic directions. This is to say employability skills enable a person who acquired them to secure related employment easily and to retain and progress on the job.  Denga (2002) opined that with vocational skills, youth can easily be employed or be self-employed, thus reducing the present high rate of unemployment and its social vices.

In  a  dynamic society such  as  Nigeria, things change fast,  techniques and technology easily become obsolete, making fresh demands on new skills and procedures. This view was expressed by Ubale (1997), when he stated that, the impact of technology in business generally and industry in particular means that there is need

for restructuring of the workforce. The restructuring must start from school which is the training ground for producing workers.

According to Olaitan (1996), Vocational and Technical Education is the essential preparation that will enable the individual to meet his/her developmental needs and aspirations which, for many, will constitute an immediate entry into the world of work. The observations by experts in vocational education call for programme that will enhance employees employability and sustain their productive working skills. This is because majority of vocational education programmes lack emphasis on equalities that will promote productivity in a workplace (Olaitan, 1996). These qualities according to experts include habits, attitudes, interest, values and beliefs.

Therefore the requirements for a school curriculum should be more responsive to the needs of the employers (FRN, 1998).Vocational Technical Education programmes in Nigeria have many problems relating to their contents and nature of courses offered. Okorie (2001), noted that, this state of affairs has been blamed on the educational system. It is generally believed that Nigerian graduates lack appropriate skills and practical knowledge needed for the production of goods and services in the industry (Olaitan, 1996).

Ahmed (1993), observed that the formal education and training system is not sufficiently linked with the world of work, which makes it difficult for graduates particularly those who study vocational or professional courses to secure employment in areas related to their fields of study. Okoro (1993) in his contribution stated that,

Vocational Education has remained uncoordinated, unplanned, inadequate and to a considerable extent irrelevant to providing skills, knowledge and attitudes needed for gainful employment, productivity and effective management in various occupations. The ability of the employees to meet the needs of their employers in achieving the goals of their establishment is determined by the effectiveness of the employees education and training.

Fortunately, training programmes exist for technical/vocational lecturers for improvement and updating of their knowledge and skills. The Technical Teachers Training Programme (TTTP) is a programme principally designed for improvement of technical/vocational teachers’ knowledge and skills. In the programme there is Technical Teachers Certificate (TTC) and Post-Graduate Diploma in Technical Education (PGDTE) for those without teaching qualification.

Unfortunately, these programmes are often provided without first identifying the needs of the students/teachers (Sowande, 2001). According to Mama (1991), the process of identification of training/re-training needs of students/teachers is called needs assessment. This is a systematic way of identifying educational deficiencies or problems. Unlike traditional programme planning, it focuses not only on solutions for a specific problem or a way to solve a problem but also to identify educational problem  areas.  The  importance  of  employability skills  required  by  graduates  of Building Technology derive from the felt needs of students, teachers and employers will bring about curriculum change, advances in substansive knowledge and skills and improved techniques for teaching and development of new instructional hardwares.

Thus, for an effective Building Technology programme, there is need to identify the employability skills required by polytechnic graduates of Building Technology to prepare them for employment after graduation.

Statement of the Problem

There have been numerous complaints about the quality of graduates produced in most tertiary technical institutions in Nigeria. Tudunwada (1981), observed that most graduates are not properly prepared for work especially for the industries and commerce.  Dikko  (1978)  also  observed  that  there  is  a  growing concern  among industrialists that graduates of technical institutions do not possess adequate work skills necessary for employment in industries. Since the industries and the world of work are among the employers of Technical Education graduates, technical education programmes should be geared toward satisfying the needs of these industries. Dikko further stated that this problem of inadequate skills among technical school graduates led to the expensive venture of opening training schools in many industries where fresh graduates are being re-trained. There is an alarming rate of unskilled graduates produced by educational institution (Olaitan, 1999).This problem of unskilled graduates lead to low productivity, poor quality product and high cost of production. It also affects the employers, employees and the economy of the nation in general. Thus, the need to investigate into ways of improving on the skill acquisition by graduates of Building Technology in Polytechnics becomes very obvious. Therefore, this study is designed to identify the employability skills required of Polytechnic graduates of Building Technology in North Western States of Nigeria.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to determine the employability skills required by

Building Technology Graduates of Polytechnics. Specifically, the study sought to:

1.   Identify the employability skills required by Polytechnic Graduates of Building

Technology;

2.    Ascertain the Building Technology Graduates perceptions of the importance of the employability skills required by Polytechnic Graduates.

3.   Determine lecturers’ perceptions of importance of employability skills required of

Polytechnic Graduate of Building Technology.

4.    Determine  employers’  perceptions  of  the  importance  of  employability  skills required of Polytechnic Graduates of Building Technology.

Significance of the Study

The findings on employability skills required by Building Technology Graduates of Polytechnics will be useful to Lecturers/Instructors of Building Technology in the Polytechnics. The study will encourage Lecturers/Instructors to focus their attention during pre-service and in-service training on neglected areas of employability skills. This study will also, acquaint the Lecturers/Instructors with a wide range of employability skills in Building Technology which could in turn cause them to embark on more private studies on the areas they are lagging behind. As a result the quality of instruction will be enhanced.

The findings of the study will be beneficial to the Polytechnic graduates of

Building Technology. The employed, the unemployed would evaluate themselves and

become aware of the expectations of employers and the demands of their potential jobs. The result will provide Building Technology graduates with information that will help them know their areas of incompetence and thereby encourage them to go for in-service education. Moreover, the information that would emanate from this study will enhance the  teaching of the  basic elements of  employability skills to students. This will result to the production of sound and qualitative graduates of Building Technology.

Employers of Building Technology graduates would also benefit from the finding of this study as it will help them to device strategies for improving the quality of training in Building Technology. This will also improve their economic development and that of the country in general.

The outcome of this study would be useful to the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). Through the  findings of  this  study,  the  board  will  be better equipped to restructure their curriculum programmes by emphasizing basic areas of employability skills in Building Technology. This will better equip both the Lecturers and the Students thereby boosting their output capabilities.

Technical education as a programme would benefit from the findings of this study.   The success of this programme depends on how effective its graduates are effectively or immediately employed after graduation.  This will earn credit for the programme thereby convincing government to allocate good grant for the programme.

Students undergoing training would also  benefit from the  findings of  this study.   It will help them to be taught of the necessary or neglected areas of skills

acquisition in Building Technology in order to make them effective graduates.  This would help them learn skills and be able to work effectively in industries or be self employed.

Parents of Building Technology students would immensely benefit from the findings of this study.   When the necessary, neglected and relevant employability skills are revealed and taught to the students they will graduate to be employable. Hence the efforts of the parents will not be a waste.

The society will stand to benefit from the study as most Polytechnic graduates of Building Technology could be engaged daily in jobs. This would assist in reducing some social vices and other criminal activities, which results from graduates’ unemployment and idleness.

Research Questions

The following research questions are designed to elicit information that will proffer solutions to the research problem:

1.    What are the employability skills required by polytechnic graduates of Building technology

2.    What  employability  skills  do  Polytechnic  Building  Technology  graduates perceive as important?

3.    What are the employability skills employers of Polytechnic Building Technology graduates perceive as important?

4.   What employability skills are perceived as important by Polytechnics’ Building

Technology Lecturers/Instructors?

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Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses have been formulated to guide the study and will be tested at 0.05 level of significance:

Ho1:   There is no significant difference between the Mean responses of Polytechnic Building Technology graduates and Lecturers/Instructors on the employability skills required by Polytechnic Building Technology graduates.

Ho2:   There is no significant difference between the Mean responses of Polytechnic Building Technology  graduates  and  employers on  the  employability skills required by Polytechnic Building Technology graduates.

Ho3:   There is no significant difference between the Mean responses of Polytechnic Building Technology  Lecturers  and  employers on  the  employability skills required by Polytechnic Building Technology graduates.

Ho4:   There is no significant difference between the Mean responses of Polytechnic Building Technology graduates, Lecturers/Instructors and employers on the employability skills required by Polytechnic Building Technology graduates.

Delimitations of the Study

The study covered technical and non-technical skills of Building Technology graduates and will be restricted only to Government-owned Polytechnics in three North Western States of Nigeria.

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