Assessment of Acquired Skills for Establishment and Effective Management of Small-Scale Industries among Technical Education Students in Southern Nigeria

^*Ega, I. J., Oluwalowo, I. A and Giwa Musibau

Department of building/woodwork technology, school of secondary education (Technical) Federal college of education (Technical) Asaba. ^*Tel; +2348035998855,                                  email; egasaves@gmail.com

Abstract

Technical education is thought to empower the citizenry, enhance employment and stimulate sustainable development through industrialization or small-scale businesses; thus, reduces poverty, improves quality of life, reduces the frequency of social vices and encourage a culture of peace. However, these have appear to be an illusion in southern Nigeria. This study is on assessment of acquired skills for establishment and effective management of small-scale industries among technical education students in southern Nigeria. Four research questions guide the study with survey research design adopted. The population for the study consists of final year Technical Education Students in Federal Colleges. Purposeful sampling was used. A five-point rating-scale questionnaire was used for data collection. The researchers administered the research instrument and collected the data through the help of three research assistants. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and determine the spread of the responses. The findings of the study reveal inadequacy of skills among the graduating students of the Nigerian Certificate in Technical Education for the establishment and effective management of small-scale industry without additional training. The implication is that the graduates are not likely to participate in the establishment and management of small scale industry except those with special ingenuity. However it was concluded that due to the high level of unemployment in Nigeria, there is a need to prepare the students for both teaching and industry. Thus, the training should cover both areas so that the graduates can have optional career.

INTRODUCTION

Technical education as intended for colleges of education according to Federal Republic Nigeria (2014) is an education obtained at tertiary institution with the goals to contribute to national development through high level of manpower training to produce skills relevant to the needs of the labour market; promote and encourage scholarship, and entrepreneurship among others. Consequently, the graduates are expected to be self-reliance since they are required to be theoretically and practically sound teachers. This means that the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) graduates should be well equipped for paid employment order than teaching or to become self-employed and employers of labour with requisite skills to establish and manage a business or industry effectively. In line with that Omorodion, (2016) opined that the graduate teachers should have the ability to understand basic aspects of their field of study and make life out of it by managing their own businesses.

Small-scale industry which is the focus of this study can be seen as a firm that employs 10-15 workers and does not have a high volume of sales (Ayozie, Oboreh, Umukoro & Anozie, 2013). Ayozie et al (2013) further observed that small-scale industries are generally privately owned and are sole proprietorships, corporations or partnerships. With the acquired skills the graduates are expected to be able to establish their own businesses since skills are the lens through which business opportunity are viewed by an entrepreneur (Ega & Ega 2023). Therefore, with the skills acquired, the NCE graduates should be entrepreneurially able to own or manage small-scale industries. That is hope to mitigate the serious economic and financial crisis that Africa continent had due to unemployment as a result of lack of skills (Ubulom & Enyekit, 2017). This is to improve quality of life, reduce poverty, limit the incidence of social vices due to joblessness and promote a culture of peace, freedom and Democracy (Federal Ministry of Education, 2016).

However, these objectives seem to be an illusion as many of the graduates are unemployed and in standard unproductive. It has been reported that, industrialists are becoming increasingly skeptical of the products from the technical programme in Nigeria (Abdulkadir & Ma’aji, 2014). Consequently, most of the graduates of technical education join the already large number of unemployed youths due to inadequate skills (Dantawaye, 2014). This is attributed to lack of adequate resources to train students in Technical Education to acquire the skills needed by employers of labour by the higher institutions (Akinyele & Bolarinwa, 2018).

Consequently, this study, is concerns with the increasing level of joblessness among graduates of NCE in the Southern Nigeria which appears to be inadequate training and subsequent lack of relevant skills to establish and effectively manage Small Scale Industries. It is on the above framework that this study on assessment of acquired skills by technical education students for establishment and effective management of small-scale enterprises was considered imperative to offer appropriate empirical data for actionable objectives by relevant stakeholders. The study is thus designed to determine the extent of technical, entrepreneurial, management, and human relation skills acquired by technical education students for effective management of small-scale industries.

METHODOLOGY

This study used survey research design in its investigations; Survey research design is most suitable when an investigation is centered on opinions, attitude and perceptions (Omorodion, 2016). Survey research design is considered most appropriate for this study due to the involvement in gathering of opinions data from technical students on their acquired skills.

The study was conducted among the Federal Colleges of Education (Technical) in Southern Nigeria.  Southern states comprise South-South, South-East and South-West. The Federal Colleges Education (Technical) selected for the current study include; FCE,(T) Asaba, Delta State for South-South, FCE, (T) Umunze, Anambra State, for South-East and FCE, (T) Akoka-Yaba, Lagos State for South- West. These zones were chosen because there were considered as the industrial hub of the Nigeria yet many youths are unemployed, due to the failure of technical education graduates to embark on the operation of small-scale industries and create jobs (Idowu, 2023).

 The population for the study comprises of the final year technical education students in the three colleges of education (technical) selected in southern Nigeria. The population of this study basically consisted of graduating students from the following department; Automobile, Building, Electrical/Electronic, Metalwork and Woodwork technology education from the three colleges. The total population thus are 142 respondents which were purposively sampled. The instrument for data collection was structured based on a five-point rating scale of Very High (VH – 5points), High (H – 4 points), Average (A – 3 points), Low (L – 2 points) and Very Low (VL – 1 point).

Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation determine the respondents’ closeness. Decision on the research questions were based on limit of numbers as presented in Table 1.

1. Table 2; Questionnaire Decision Rating 

Codes	Keys	Range
VH	Very High	4.50-5.00
H	High	3.50-4.49
A	Average	2.50-3.49
P	Poor	1.50-2.49
VP	Very Poor	1.00-1.49

RESULTS

Cluster 1; the extent of acquired technical skills for establishment and effective management of small-scale industry.

Table 2: Means and standard deviations of the respondents on the extent of acquired technical skills.

S/N	ITEM	Very high	High	Average	Poor	Very Poor	Mean	Standard  deviation	Decision
1	Knowledge of tools and equipment in my area of specialization for small-scale industry.	32	50	40	12	5	3.66	0.45	High
2	Skills on how to handle relevant tools and equipment in my area of specialization for small-scale industry.	20	35	50	32	10	3.34	0.12	Average
3	Knowledge of relevant materials used in the production or operation in (my area of specialization) small-scale industry.	40	50	30	10	9	3.73	0.53	High
4	Knowledge of the process of production or construction of a product in (my area of specialization) small-scale industry).	40	42	29	21	7	3.63	0.40	High
5	Skills on repair or maintenance of tools and equipment used in (my area of specialization) small-scale industry.	9	35	30	45	20	2.77	0.05	Average
	Grand mean						3.37	1.22	Average

Table 1 clearly shows the extent of acquired technical skills rating for effective management of small-scale industries or businesses by the respondents.  It expresses that the respondents agreed on having high knowledge of tools/equipment, and of relevant materials used in the production or operation in small-scale industry. Also, the knowledge of the process of production or construction of products in small-scale industry was also rated high. However, the skills in handling relevant tools/equipment and the skills on repairs and maintenance of tools and equipment were rated average. The grand mean of 3.37 so indicated an average value of the acquired technical skills.

Cluster 2: the extent of acquired entrepreneurial skills to establish and effective management of small-scale industry.

Table 3: Means and standard deviations of the respondents on the extent of acquired entrepreneurial skills.

S/N	ITEM	Very high	High	Average	Poor	Very Poor	Mean	Standard  deviation	Decision
6	Skills on how to identify business opportunity for small-scale industry in my area of specialization.	26	50	40	20	3	3.55	0.30	High
7	Skills on how to organize business ideas for small-scale industry.in my area of specialization	15	29	60	35	10	3.10	0.01	Average
8	Skills on how to manage risks in small-scale industry in my area of specialization.	10	18	40	60	11	2.68	0.10	Average
9	Skills on how to write and organise plan for small-scale industry in my area of specialization.	7	20	30	58	19	2.55	0.20	Average
10	Skills on how to generate and organise resources for small-scale industry in my area of specialization.	3	10	37	69	20	2.33	0.11	Poor
	Grand total						2.84	0.72	Average

Table 3shows clearly the means and standard deviations of the respondents on the extent of acquired entrepreneurial skills to establish and effective management of small-scale industry. The analysis shows that the respondents rated high the Skills on how to identify business opportunity for small-scale industry, while skills on how to oranised resources was rated poor.

However, the other items in the cluster; skills on how to organize business ideas, Skills on how to manage risks in small-scale industry and Skills on how to write and organise plan for small-scale industry were rated average. Again, the grand mean of 2.84 indicated an average value of the acquired entrepreneurial skills.

Cluster 3: The extent of acquired management skills for effective management of small-scale industry.

Table 4: Means and standard deviations of the respondents on the extent of acquired management skills.

S/N	ITEM	Very high	High	Average	Poor	Very Poor	Mean	Standard  deviation	Decision
11	Acquired skills in materials management in small-scale industry in my area of specialization.	10	26	55	41	7	2.61	0.15	Average
12	Acquired skills in personnel management in small-scale industry in my area of specialization	0	16	55	41	27	2.43	0.32	Poor
13	Acquired skills in time management in small-scale industry in my area of specialization	10	12	33	67	17	2.50	0.25	Average
14	Acquired skills in tools/ equipment management in small-scale industry in my area of specialization	3	10	30	60	36	2.32	0.68	Poor
15	Acquired skills in financial management in small-scale industry in my area of specialization	9	21	39	61	9	1.83	1.37	Poor
	Grand total						2.34	2.77	Poor

The analysis of data presented in Table 4 shows the responses of the respondents on the extent of acquired management skills for effective management of small-scale industry. The respondents rated skills on materials management and skill on time management as average. The other items; skills in personnel management, skills on tools/ equipment management and skills in financial were rated poor. The average mean of 2.34 also shows that the rating of acquired management skills is poor and the discrepancy between the mean respondent is reasonable.

Cluster 4: The extent of acquired human relation skills for effective management of small-scale industry.

 Table 5: Means and standard deviations of the respondents on the extent of acquired human relation skills.

S/N	ITEM	Very high	High	Average	Poor	Very Poor	Mean	Standard  deviation	Decision
16	Acquired skills on Leadership for the effective management of small-scale industry.	16	28	50	30	15	3.0	0.00	Average
17	Acquired skills on motivation of staff for the effective management of small-scale industry.	4	10	25	60	40	2.12	0.77	Poor
18	Acquired skills on how to work with others or team for the effective management of small-scale industry.	10	40	40	30	19	2.94	0.00	Average
19	Acquired skills on staff training for the effective management of small-scale industry.	30	60	31	10	8	3.67	0.45	High
20	Acquired skills on customer’s satisfactions for the effective management of small-scale industry.	3	14	30	52	40	2.19	0.66	Poor
	Grand total						2.78	1.98	Average

The data presented and analysed in Table 5 shows the responses of the respondents on the extent of acquired human relation skills for effective management of small-scale industry: while the skills on staff training was rated high, skills on Leadership and skills on working with others or a team were rated average. However, the skills on motivation of staff and skills on customer’s satisfactions were rated poor. But the grand total mean rate is 2.98 signifying average rating and the standard deviation of 1.98 shows that the disparities between the respondents rating is insignificant.  

SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS

The following are the summary of the findings of this study;

1. The acquired technical skills by the graduating students of the Nigeria Certificate in Education is of average.
2. The acquired entrepreneurial skills among the graduating students of the Nigeria Certificate in Education is also of average.
3. The acquired management skills among the graduating students of the Nigeria Certificate in Education is poor.
4. The acquired human relation skills among the graduating students of the Nigeria Certificate in Education is again of average.

DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS

The capacity to be self-employed or manage a small scale industry the graduates must acquire both sound knowledge and high skills in their area of specializations. Firstly, technical education students should have versatile technical skills at the same time a good entrepreneurship skills to be able to establish their own businesses. That is not all, to sustain the business and work with others, there is the need to have good management skills and human relation skills.

However, the findings of the current study have shown that the acquired technical skills is of average. The details of the findings show that the students are better acquainted with knowledge or information rather than skills. The implication of this is that the graduates are limited in identifying business opportunity since skills is the lens through which entrepreneur could view business opportunity (Ega & Ega, 2023). It may also be difficult for the graduates to assess the risks involved in the business.

This average rating of technical skills could be attributed to respondents training programme (NCE). The NCE by its established objectives is mainly designed to train students to teach technical related subjects in primary and junior secondary schools. Thus the curriculum does not cover in details or prepared them for business hence the average knowledge or the skills. The implication of this is that the graduates can only conveniently teach and may not have the charisma to venture into business without additional training or apprenticeship.   

The average acquired entrepreneurial skills recorded again shows that the curriculum required modification to increase their skills on how to expressly identify business opportunity, organise the plan, write business plan, and take risk. Again, it is also very necessary to understand how to gather resources for such business.  Entrepreneurial skills is the key to starting any business venture and the lack of it or half-baked of it as in this study will not encourage starting a business.

Management skills is necessary to sustain a small-scale industry. However, the findings of this study has shown that the acquired management skills is poor. This result is thus expected since the graduates are yet to enter into the job market or industry, they do not have the confidence on their ability to manage such industry. They may be having the theoretical knowledge but not practical or field experience.  However, Diran (2016) observed that the acquisition of management skills contribute immensely to the effective management of business. Again, Dantawaye, (2014) iterates that management competencies are needed by technical college welding and fabrication graduates for self-employment.

Further, the human relation is another skills necessary to sustain a business in Nigeria. Human relation involve leadership skills, motivation skills, and ability to work with others. Others include skills on staff training and skills on customer’s satisfactions. The absence of these skills will prevent effective management of a business. However, the findings of the current study have rated human relation skills of the graduating students as average. The average rating again could be attributed to inadequate or absence of these special skills training in their curriculum. Although the students industrial work experience scheme (SIWES) is expected to partly take care of this, however, the SIWES is hardly taken seriously by some of the students. Yet according to Chia (2018) possession of human relation skills is very important for enhancement of productivity.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study reveal inadequacy of skills among graduating students of Nigerian certificate in technical education for the establishment and effective management of small-scale industry without additional training. This is because some basic skills are still lacking in their training. This can be attributed to the emphasis of the programme as focus is mainly for the graduates to teach in the class room.  The implication is that the graduates are not likely to participate in the establishment and management of small scale industry except those with special ingenuity.

However, due to the high level of unemployment in Nigeria, there is a need to prepare the students for both teaching and industry. Consequently the training should cover both areas so that the graduates can have optional career, and to do this the curriculum should be reviewed.

REFERENCES

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Dantawaye, J. B, (2014). Management competencies needed by technical college welding and                  fabrication graduates for self-employment in Kaduna State. Unpublished masters’ thesis submitted to the Department of teacher education- industrial technical education unit,          University of Nigeria, Nsukka

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