Idjawe E. Emmanuel
Department
of Metalwork Technology
School
of Technical Education
Federal
college of Education (Technical)
Asaba,
Delta State
Idjaweson19@yahoo.com
Abstract
This
study was carried out in order to ascertain the factors responsible for inadequacy
of technical skills/competencies of graduates from technical teacher’s institutions.
On research question was raised and two hypotheses formulated to guide the study.
A survey research design was used for the study and the population for the
study was made up of final year technical education students, while a sample
size of 30 respondents was drawn from two universities and two colleges of
education (technical),that were used for the study. A – 28 item statements
questionnaire was used to elicit information from respondents. Mean statistic
was used to answer the research question and t – test was used to test the
hypotheses formulated at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study
revealed that lack of instructional machines, tools, workshop consumables and
much time spend on some educational courses are some of the factors influencing
the inadequacy of technical skills/competencies of graduates from technical
teachers institutions. Conclusion was drawn and some recommendations were made
to include: Effort should be made to equip technical teacher’s institution
workshops with instructional machines, tools and workshop consumables, among
others.
Keywords:
Inadequacy of Technical skills and competencies
Technical Teachers institutions
Introduction
In the modern
world of today, education is redefined in line with international best practice
where excellence is the key requirement for success. Nations are now more
concerned about the quality of education that would provide opportunities for
employment and income generation for their citizens and the general wellbeing
of their nations in general (Arubayi, 2011). Educational curriculum and
policies in higher institutions are now being directed towards skills
acquisition and competencies so that recipients can have a mind-set for self
employment and being employer of labour.Although much stride has been made
towards the expansion of education in Nigeria, but it is doubtful if the same
is said about the quality of the products of the educational system in Nigeria
(Baikie as in Gbenda, 2013).According to Gbenda (2013),the consensus of opinion
of Nigerians is that the standard of education as it is currently offered is
far below acceptance. A lot still needs to be done to make education an
instrument of national development and a means of improving modern living. Low
educational standard is a big problem in Nigeria and it is perhaps the most
formidable threat facing the nation today.
However due to the emphasis on paper qualification, students barely take
their studies serious, all they want is
the paper qualification; they do not acquire the appropriate skill and
competencies required from them, they pass through the school without the
school passing through them. This is because of the misconception attached to
education, people think education is synonymous with the acquisition of
certificates at the expense of quality training, and this has caused a lot of
social problems in Nigeria.
The skills
needed in our educational institutions are in tandem with the needs, problems
and aspiration of the contemporary society and hence citizens can then be well
equipped to contribute to social-political development of the country. However,
if education is to continue to play this pivotal role in stimulating national
development, then the organic nature of education must be taken into cognizance
in its planning (Ifelunni, 2014). Ukeji 1986 as in Ifelunni (2014),asserted
that the quality of teachers inevitably affect the quality of our educational
outputs, therefore one of the urgent problem that need to be addressed in our
educational system is the issue of teacher’s education, as NPE (2017) posited
that no nation can rise above the qualities of its teachers. Based on this
premise, the issue of teacher’s education is important to the factors affecting
education in general.
However, in
Nigeria technical teachers institution is a formal arm of Technical and
Vocational Education and Training (TVET) which has the aim of training
technical teachers that acquire technical skills to impact technological
knowledge in Nigerian schools. This career is offered in faculty of education
in universities and colleges of education (technical). TVET in Nigeria has been
faced with a lot of challenges that range from inadequate infrastructure, poor
funding, poor curriculum implementation etc. this is because according to Toby
(2000), the meaning of TVET in Nigeria is not yet understood by the government
and those responsible for the planning of TVET in Nigerian . Therefore it is
extremely difficult to organize and manage a truly TVET programme.
The graduates of
technical teacher’s institution in Nigeria have been faced with the problem of
inadequate technical skill and competencies to function effectively in their
respective places of employment. According to the National Policy on Education
(NPE, 2008), this type of education, is
to provide technical knowledge and skills necessary for economic development of
Nigeria to give exposure on professional studies in technology.Secondly,the
National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) minimum standard
(2012),states that the aim of this type of education is to produce qualified
technical teachers motivated to start the so much desired revolution in
technological development right from the Nigeria school. Consequently, there is
no way these objectives can be attained without adequate technical skills and
competencies. Because for one to function or serve as a technical teacher, that
person is expected to posses the needed skills and competencies for impacting
technical knowledge and skills to learners. Based upon this premise, Dike
(2013), asserted that TVET prepares learners for careers that are based on
manual or practical activities that are related to specific trades, occupation
or vocations. In other words, it is an education designed to develop
occupational skills and competencies. According to Olawole (2014),
unavailability of skilled and competent technical teachers will hindered the
execution of occupational programme that is geared towards manpower need of the
nation as teachers are prime factor in the quality of instructions; therefore
quality and competence go a long way in equipping students in TVET institutions
for the world of work. However, if technical teachers are not adequately
trained with skills and competencies in their occupational areas, then the
nation is yet to have a clear path to the desired technological development it
is yearning for.
To this end, this study is designed
to investigate the factors responsible for inadequacy of technical skills/competencies
of graduate from technical teacher’s institutions in south-south geo-political
region of Nigeria.
Statement
of the Problem
Technical
teacher’s institutions are saddled with responsibility of training technical
teachers for duration of three years for the Nigeria Certificate of Education
(NCE) programme and four years for a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc) in technical
education from the university with areas of specialization such as mechanical,
building and electrical technologies. During the cause of training, students
take courses in education, technology and workshop practice that would enable
them to acquire skills in their respective trades or options.
However, it is expected that after
the duration spent in school with the skills acquired during the period of
training, they should be practically competent in their respective chosen
trades. But there have been worries by employers that the graduates of
technical teacher’s institutions are not competent in practical skills as some
of them could not operate instructional machines in their places of
employments. Thus Adavbiele (2013), confirms that inadequate practical skills/
competencies of the graduate of technical teachers institutions has created a
skill gap in technical teaching careers,
that technical teachers institutions should look inwards. This skill gap is
currently having a wide- spread negative influence on both the teachers and the
graduates in terms of functions and productivity in their places of work. Lack of attention to tackle this gap could
make the young graduates less attractive to employers and this could create
higher unemployment that could cause negative effect on our economy and quest
for technological development. Based upon this, it has become necessary to
investigate the factors responsible for inadequacy of technical skills and
competencies of graduate from technical teacher’s institutions in south-south
geopolitical region of Nigeria.
Purpose
of the Study
The major
purpose of this study is to find out the factors responsible for inadequacy of
technical skill/competencies of graduate from technical teachers institutions.
Specifically, the study intend to:
1.
Find out if lack of
instructional machines, tools and workshop consumables for practical exercise
are responsible for inadequacy of technical skills/competencies of graduate
from technical teacher’s institutions.
2.
Find out if much time spend
on educational courses affect the time for practical exercise that cause
inadequacy of technical skills and competencies of graduates from technical
teacher institutions
Research
Questions
The following research question was
raised to guide the study.
1.
How does lack of
instructional machines, tools and workshop consumables for practical exercise
responsible for inadequacy of technical skills/competencies of graduates from
technical teachers institutions?
Hypotheses
The following hypotheses were formulated to guide
the study.
1.
There is no
significance difference in the mean response of technical education students in
universities and colleges of education (technical) on lack of instructional
machines, tools and workshop consumable that is responsible for inadequacy of
technical skills/competences of graduate from technical teacher’s institutions.
2.
There is no
significance difference in the mean response of technical education students from
universities and colleges of education (technical) on much time spend on
educational course that affect the time for practical exercise that cause inadequacy of technical skills /competencies
of graduate from technical teachers institutions.
Significance of
the study
The findings of
this study should be of immense benefit to educational institutions such as
universities and colleges of education and their agencies, so as to make
available adequate instructional machines, tools and consumable materials and
to plan their curriculum considering the adequacies of technical skill
competencies of students in their institutions. The findings will also be of
immense benefit to students as it will enhance their practical
skill/competencies. Finally, the study would be a database for future
researchers in the field of education and other related studies.
Scope
of the study
This study was
focused on the factors responsible for inadequacy of technical
skills/competencies of students in technical teacher’s institutions. Therefore,
technical education students from Delta State University Abraka, University of
Benin, Benin-city and technical education students from the Federal Colleges of
Education (Technical) in Asaba and Federal college of education (technical) Omuku,
were used to determine the outcome of the study.
METHODOLOGY
The research
design adopted for this study is a descriptive survey; this study involves the
collection of data from a sample of final year technical education students
from universities and colleges of education (technical).A stratified random
sampling technique was used to select 15 students from the colleges of
education (technical) and 15 students from the universities, making it a sample
size of 30 respondents that was used for the study. The instrument used for
data collection was a questionnaire that was developed by the researcher and it
contains a 28 item statements and the questionnaire was structured to have four
point rating scale of: Strongly Agree (SA) = 4, Agree (A) = 3, Disagree (D) =2
and Strongly Disagree (SD) = 1. The instrument was subjected to face and
content validity by two experts, the validats criticism; advice and suggestions
form part that guided the structuring of the instrument. However, to ascertain
the internal consistency of the instrument, a split-have reliability technique
was used as pilot study involving 15 respondents outside the study sample. The
instrument was administered once to the respondents and the data obtained was
computed using the spearman Rank order correlation coefficient and a
coefficient (r) of 0.92 was established.
In administering
the instrument to the respondents, the researcher with the aid of an assistant
personally administered the questionnaire to the respondents in the various
institutions. A total of 30 copies of the questionnaire were distributed in all
the institutions and all the questionnaires were found useable and this
represents a 100% return rate.
The
data obtained from the administered questionnaire were analyzed using mean and
standard deviation to answer the only research question, therefore 2.5 and
above was set as the bench mark to accept any item statement and 2.49 below is
to reject an item statement, while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at
0.05 level of significance.
Result
The results are
presented based on the research questions raised and the hypotheses formulated.
Research Question 1:
How does lack of instructional machines, tools and
workshop consumables for practical exercise causes inadequacy of technical
skills/competencies of graduates from technical teachers institutions.
Table 1: Mean ratings
and standard deviation of respondent’s response on lack of instructional
machines, tools and workshop consumables for practical exercise that causes
inadequacy of technical skills and competencies of graduates from technical
teacher’s institutions.
S/N
|
Item Statements
|
SA
|
A
|
D
|
SD
|
X
|
SD
|
Remark
|
1.
|
There is no metal lathe to practice
with in our workshop.
|
14
|
8
|
6
|
4
|
3.00
|
1.1
|
Accept
|
2.
|
No drilling machine to practice with
in our workshop.
|
8
|
6
|
12
|
6
|
2.50
|
0.86
|
Accept
|
3.
|
There is no flat sheet of mild steel
metal for fitting exercise
|
13
|
8
|
7
|
4
|
2.93
|
0.80
|
Accept
|
4.
|
We have no welding transformer in our
workshop to practice arc welding.
|
10
|
8
|
6
|
8
|
2.62
|
1.96
|
Accept
|
5.
|
There is no gas welding equipment and
accessories.
|
9
|
11
|
7
|
5
|
2.53
|
1.01
|
Accept
|
6.
|
There is no pedestal grinding machine
in our workshop.
|
12
|
9
|
5
|
6
|
2.84
|
0.55
|
Accept
|
7.
|
We have no welding electrodes in our
workshop
|
8
|
9
|
7
|
8
|
2.53
|
0.71
|
Accept
|
8.
|
There are no work benches in our
workshop for fitting exercise
|
5
|
7
|
11
|
9
|
2.25
|
0.37
|
Reject
|
9.
|
We have no wiring board to practice
electrical wiring.
|
8
|
14
|
6
|
4
|
3.12
|
0.60
|
Accept
|
10.
|
There is no galvanize sheet of metal
to practice pattern development in our workshop.
|
9
|
10
|
8
|
5
|
2.71
|
1.02
|
Accept
|
11.
|
We have no shaping machine in our
workshop.
|
14
|
5
|
9
|
4
|
2.90
|
0.38
|
Accept
|
12.
|
There are no electrical cables to
practice electrical wiring in our workshop.
|
7
|
19
|
4
|
2
|
2.96
|
0.76
|
Accept
|
13.
|
Our workshop is not equipped with wood
lathe
|
8
|
13
|
6
|
5
|
2.75
|
1.00
|
Accept
|
14.
|
There is no wood planning machine in
our workshop.
|
7
|
12
|
7
|
6
|
2.60
|
1.02
|
Accept
|
15.
|
We have no log of wood to practice
wood work exercise with.
|
11
|
10
|
4
|
7
|
2.78
|
1.13
|
Accept
|
16.
|
Our workshop is not equipped with blow
lamps for brazing.
|
5
|
8
|
12
|
7
|
2.34
|
0.43
|
Reject
|
17.
|
Our work shop store room is not
equipped with hack saw and files for fitting exercise
|
9
|
14
|
5
|
4
|
2.67
|
0.95
|
Accept
|
18.
|
No marking out equipment in our
workshop
|
8
|
15
|
5
|
4
|
2.84
|
0.55
|
Accept
|
19.
|
There is no measuring instrument in
our workshop.
|
9
|
13
|
6
|
4
|
2.84
|
1.03
|
Accept
|
20.
|
Our workshop is not equipped with oven
for heat treatment
|
9
|
11
|
5
|
7
|
2.68
|
1.10
|
Accept
|
21.
|
We have no spanners and the necessary
equipment to dismantle an engine
|
10
|
7
|
8
|
7
|
2.62
|
1.13
|
Accept
|
22.
|
There is no power saw machine in our
workshop
|
7
|
12
|
6
|
7
|
2.59
|
1.05
|
Accept
|
23.
|
There is no wheel balancing machine in
our workshop
|
13
|
7
|
7
|
5
|
2.85
|
1.09
|
Accept
|
24.
|
We have no cement and sand to practice
block setting
|
9
|
8
|
8
|
7
|
2.59
|
1.11
|
Accept
|
25.
|
There is no CNC machine tool in our
workshop
|
14
|
13
|
0
|
0
|
3.43
|
0.19
|
Accept
|
26.
|
We have no band saw machine in our
workshop.
|
12
|
10
|
6
|
4
|
2.93
|
1.02
|
Accept
|
27.
|
There is no wood pattern use for
casting in our workshop
|
9
|
7
|
11
|
5
|
2.62
|
1.03
|
Accept
|
28.
|
There is no milling machine and
milling cutters in our workshop
|
8
|
10
|
8
|
6
|
2.62
|
1.05
|
Accept
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Source:
Field survey 2017
Table 1 show that the respondents accepted
26 items as factors responsible for inadequacy of technical skills
/competencies of graduates from technical teacher’s institutions as they were
2.50 and above. Items 8 and 16 were rejected because they were below 2.50.The
table show that item 9 has the highest score of 3.12 while item 8 has the
lowest score of 2.25 respectively. However the calculated grand mean for all
the item statements was 2.75 while the grand standard deviation for all the
items was 0.89 and this show a consensus of opinion by the respondents.
Hypothesis: 1
There is no significance difference in the mean
response of technical education students from universities and colleges of
education (technical) on lack of instructional machines, tools and workshop consumables
that causes inadequacy of technical skills and competencies of graduates from
technical teacher’s institutions.
Table
2:
The t-test of mean response of technical
education students from universities and colleges of education (technical) on
lack of instructional machines, tools and workshop consumables that causes
inadequacy of technical skills/competencies of graduates from technical
teachers institutions.
Institutions with technical education
Programme
|
N
|
X
|
SD
|
df
|
Difference between mean
|
T - cal
|
T - crit
|
Decision
|
Universities
|
15
|
17.86
|
4.24
|
28
|
2.46
|
1.67
|
1.70
|
Retain
|
Colleges of Education (technical)
|
15
|
15.40
|
3.58
|
Source:
Field survey 2017
Table 2 present the t – test analysis of data from
the comparison of the mean responses of technical education students from
universities and colleges of education (technical) on lack of instructional machines, tools and workshop
consumables that causes inadequacy of technical skills/competencies of
graduates from technical teachers institutions. Results in the table shows that
the calculated value of 1.67 is less than the table value of 1.70 at an alpha
level of 0.05 at 28 degree of freedom. Therefore the null hypothesis is
retained. In conclusion, there is no significance difference in the mean
responses of technical education students in universities and colleges of
education (technical) on the perception of lack of machines, tools and workshop
consumables that causes inadequacy of technical skills/competencies of
graduates from technical teachers institutions
Hypothesis: 2
There is no significance difference in the mean
response of technical education students from universities and colleges of education
(technical) on much time spend on educational courses that affect the time for
practical exercise that causes inadequacy of technical skills/competencies of
graduates from technical teacher’s institutions.
Table
3:
The t-test of mean responses of technical
education students from universities and colleges of education (technical) on
much time spend on educational courses that affect the time for practical
exercise that causes inadequacy of technical skills/competencies of graduates
from technical teacher’s institutions.
Institutions
with technical Education Programme
|
N
|
X
|
SD
|
df
|
Difference
between mean
|
t – cal
|
T –
crit
|
Decision
|
Universities
|
15
|
17.53
|
4.86
|
28
|
2.27
|
1.29
|
1.70
|
Retain
|
Colleges of Education (Technical)
|
15
|
15.26
|
4.57
|
Source:Field survey 2017
Table 3 present
the t – test analysis of data generated from the comparison of the mean
responses of technical education students from universities and colleges of
education (technical) on much time spend on educational courses that affect the
time for practical exercise that causes inadequacy of technical
skills/competencies of graduates from technical teachers institutions. Results
in the table shows that calculated value of 1.29 is less than the table value
of 1.70 with 28 degree of freedom at an alpha level of 0.05.Therefore the
hypothesis that states that there is no significance difference in the mean
response of technical education students from universities and colleges of
education (technical) on much time spend on educational courses that affect
time for practical exercise is therefore retained. The implication of this is
that both groups agreed that much time spend on educational courses affect
practical exercise that cause inadequacy of technical skills from graduates of
technical teacher’s institutions.
Discussion
of Findings
The result of the study with
respect to the only research question of the study in table 1 shows that lack of
instructional machines, tools and workshop consumable materials are factor
responsible for inadequacy of technical skills/competencies of graduates from
technical teacher’s institutions and table 2 shows that technical education
students from universities and colleges of education (technical) reaffirm their
stand about lack of instructional machines, tools and workshop consumables as
there was no significance difference about their opinion in the hypothesis formulated.
This findings was corroborated by Audu etal (2007),that the production of
skilled oriented graduates for the labour market required available physical
and material resources for teaching of TVET students which is presently
inadequate.Ogbuanya and Okoli (2014),further asserted that dependable and
sustainable TVET programme demand huge and enormous resources to succeed, that
having understudied the effect of equipment and facilities inadequacy on the
skill acquisition of learners in TVET institutions, that the problem will not
be allowed to persist for the assurance of sustainable development of Nigeria.
In table 3, the hypothesis that states
that there is no significance difference in the mean responses of technical
education students from universities and colleges of education (technical) on
much time spend on educational courses that affect the time for practical
exercise that causes the inadequacy of technical skills/competencies of
graduates from technical teacher’s institutions was upheld. Students from both
institutions agreed that much time spend on educational courses affect the time
for practical exercise. However in affirmation of this assertion, taking a
cursory glance at the National Commission for Colleges of Education minimum
standard (2012),there are certain educational courses that are segmented into
different semesters, for example educational psychology (human learning, child
development, and adolescent psychology) and curriculum I and curriculum II. From
the view of this researcher, these courses can as well be compressed into a
semester each to give room for practical exercise to strengthen the
skill/competencies of students
considering the nature of TVET programme.On the basis of this Okoro (1998) earlier
warned that all technical courses irrespective of their level and objective,
must stress on skills acquisition/competencies that must be attained through
practical activities, because any TVET
course in which a large proportion of allotted time is not devoted to practical
work, experiment and projects, it is not likely to be very successful as mere
theoretical technical information can not serve the demand of the need of would
be technical teachers.
On the basis of the data collected and
analyzed, the following major findings were made;
(a)
Lack of instructional
machines, tools and workshop consumables are responsible for inadequacy of
technical skills/competencies of graduates from technical teacher’s
institutions.
(b)
The study shows that
there is no significance difference in the mean response of technical education
students from universities and colleges of education (technical) on lack of
instructional machines, tools and workshop consumables that is responsible for inadequacy
of technical skills/competencies of students from technical teacher’s
institutions.
(c)
The study also shows
that there is no significance difference in the mean response of technical
education students from universities and colleges of education (technical) on
much time spend on educational courses that affect the time spend for practical
exercise that courses the inadequacy of technical skills/competencies of
students from technical teachers institutions.
Conclusions
Based on the
findings of this study, the following conclusions are made: Lack of
instructional machines, tools and workshop consumables are responsible for
inadequacy of technical skills /competencies of students from technical
teachers institutions and much time given to educational courses affect the
time technical education students are suppose to spend on workshop exercise.
Though technical education programme involves pedagogical knowledge and skills,
but much time should be given to core technological skills and competencies.
Recommendations
Based on the
findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:
1.
Technical teacher’s
institutions workshops should be fully equipped with instructional machines,
tools and workshop consumables; this will help to facilitate teaching and
learning of practical exercise.
2.
Some educational
courses for technical teachers programme should be review to ascertain that
those segmented into semesters should be compress into a semester to give room
for practical’s considering the nature of technical education programme.
References
Adavbiele,
J.A. (2013). Technical skill needs of
Technical Teachers in south-south of Nigeria. Retrieved 10 October 2015
from www.eujournal.org/index.php
Arubayi,
E.A. (2011). Forward. In Arubayi, Akpotu and Oghuvbu (eds).A book of Readings of Education and Training for Entrepreneurship.
Abraka: University Press.
Audu,
Rufai, Adede, Yusari and Muhammad,S.B.(2013) Provision of workshop tools and Equipment necessary for Technical and vocational Education skills
Acquisition.Retrieved from www.edu.utm.my/wp-content/upload2013/11/101pdf.
Dike, V.E. (2013). Technical and Vocational Education: Key to Nigeria Development.
Retrieved on 11th october2015 from www.gamji.com/article
8000/ news534
Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2012). National Commission for colleges of
Education, Minimum Standard for Nigeria Certificate in Education for Vocational
and Technical Education.
Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2008). National Policy on Education
Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2017). National Policy on Education
Gbenda, B.L. (2013).Preparing students for higher performance in external examination: The
noble way. A paper presented at a workshop for teachers, organized by
Delta-State Post Primary Education Board in collaboration with peace house
Gboko.8th-13th April, 2013.
Ifelunni,I.C.S.(2014).Teacher Education Today for Nigeria of Tomorrow.Being a convocation
lecture delivered at the 13th convocation ceremony of the Federal college of
Education (Technical) Asaba,Nigeria.December 9th, 2014.
Ogbuanya,T.C. and Okoli,S.T. (2014) Workshop Equipment and Facilities as
critical factors for sustainable skill acquisition through TVET in Nigeria.Retrieved
from www.ajol.info/journal/jorind.chapter
38
Olawole,O.O.
(2014),Skill Acquisition in Technical and
Vocational Education:A Panacea to unemployment
in Nigeria .Retrieved from www.academia.edu/8045538/skill_acquisition_in
_vocational _education.
Okoro, O.M (1999). Principles and methods in vocational and technical education (1st,
Ed), University Press Publishers Nsukka.
Oroka, O. (1998). Scope and objective of comparative education. Readings in
comparative education. Orona-Oroka Eds. (2nd Ed).
Toby,
T.U. (2000). Essentials of management and
leadership in vocational and technical education (2nd Ed) (Jos)
Nigerian Association of Teachers of Technology.