Abstract
This study investigated the impediments to the acquisition of
practical skills for proficiency among technical college students in Delta State.
Four research questions were raised to guide the study. A descriptive survey design
was used for the study. The population of this study consists of all the
students and teachers in the six technical colleges in Delta State. A sample
size of 180 respondents which comprise twenty five (25) students and five (5)
teachers from each of the six technical colleges in Delta State. A 19 – item
structured questionnaire was used for data collection and the data was analysed
using sample percentage. The findings of the study revealed that inadequate
provision of training materials, tools, equipment, instructional material,
nature of industrial attachment, inadequate training given to teachers among
others are impediments to the acquisition of practical skills by students in
technical colleges in Delta State. Based on these findings, the following
recommendations were made; that all stakeholders should contribute adequately
in providing training materials, tools and equipment for the acquisition of
practical skills, industrial attachment should be given priority attention,
quality of teaching in practical skill classes should be monitored closely and practical
skill classes should be effective and efficient.
Introduction
Technical colleges in Nigeria have been training students
with requisite skills to become technically inclined individuals that can fit
into the world of work. These skills qualify and fortify them for jobs in both government
and private sectors. Both sectors, according to Ndomi (2008), require
well-trained and competent technicians who can operate and maintain the
available technical equipment. Therefore, it is necessary that the government
should provide well-equipped technical colleges for education and practical
training to produce graduates that will be both educationally and technically
equipped with practical skills that will enable them stand out in the world of
work without the need for pre-employment training. The major goal of vocational
institutions is to prepare students for successful employment in the labor
market (Finch & Crunkilton, 2009). This situation can be achieved by
establishing a curriculum that is practically oriented with necessary workshop
and training equipment.
Technical Colleges’ workshops give room for practical
training and skills acquisition of students in technical courses for future
development in important sectors in order to attain the basic needs of
electricity, construction, production, maintenance and manufacturing among
others. Students’ practical projects are an important part of the curriculum in
technical colleges, but a supportive school environment is a fundamental
requirement for the successful implementation of curriculum (Bybee &
Loucks-Horsely, 2006; Penney & Fox, 2007).This curriculum can only be
implemented when facilities in the workshops are made available and sufficient.
Available and adequate equipment enhances student’s learning which enables them
to be involved in demonstrations, and practical training which will continue to
enhance and build their skills.
In recent time, most Technical
Colleges in Nigeria have actually recorded low performance due to inadequate
and poor maintenance of the required facilities in the workshops for effective
training which has affected the acquisition of practical skills for proficiency
by students of Technical Colleges in Delta State. It has been
shown that Technical College graduates have 2-tier advantages: they can become
theoretically skilled as well as being practically skilled (Miller, 2011). According
to Oke (2005), practical skill is the ability to do something expertly well,
especially as a result of long practical experience. This entails technical
processes that bring about the attainment of ultimate and required goals. Every
individual is called to this challenge to be creative; therefore technical
education enables one to use their talents, practical skills and abilities to
explore various careers and opportunities using available local resources irrespective
of social, economic, political and religious status.
However,
the acquisition of practical skills for proficiency by students in Technical
Colleges is still faced with many problems which Miller (2011), highlighted as;
inadequate supply of technical workshops, inadequate supply of instructional
material, lack of adequate motivation, poor professional personnel and public
image. For effective implementation of technical education and for students to
acquire practical skills for proficiency, technical colleges will need extra
resources and supports. At a time of economic recession such as that which
presently exists in Nigeria, the shortage of financial and human resources
creates more difficulty in reducing the problems facing technical education in
technical colleges. Gidado (2010), stated that policy objectives are not being
met because of the quality and quantity of teachers and instructors available
in the technical colleges, and the teachers produced over the years have fallen
short of national expectations and needs of the society. He further stated that
inadequate number of qualified teachers and poorly trained teachers is another impediment
to the acquisition of practical skills.
Statement of the Problem
Despite
the various interventions to ensure that students of technical colleges are
well equipped with the requisite practical skills for the labour market and the
awareness campaign about the benefits of technical and vocational education, it
has not attracted youths in the region to move into technical and vocational
training at all because most of the technical college graduates have not been
able to gain employment in their respective fields of training. The reason is
that most of these technical college students do not possess the employable
skills needed by the labour market.
Furthermore,
there are still various problems facing the acquisition of practical skills in
technical colleges in Delta State. All these have in no small measures impeded the
acquisition of practical skills for proficiency in Technical Colleges (Amoer,
2009). It is against this backdrop that the researcher undertook this study to
ascertain why the technical college students do not possess the needed
employable skills for proficiency in the world of work.
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to identify the impediment
to the acquisition of practical skills for proficiency by technical college
students in Delta State. Specifically, the study sought to find out:
i.
the impediments facing technical
college students’ practical skill acquisition for proficiency.
ii. the level at
which teachers’ qualifications and quality of teaching affect the acquisition of practical skills.
iii. the effect of
these impediments on the acquisition of practical skills for proficiency.
iv. the relevance
of the practical skills acquired by technical
college students to the world of work.
Research Questions
The following research
questions were raised to guide this study:
i. What are the
impediments facing technical college students in practical skill acquisition
for proficiency?
ii. To what
extent do teachers’ qualifications and quality of teaching affect the acquisition of practical skills?
iii. What is the
effect of these impediments on the acquisition of practical skills for
proficiency?
iv. What is the
relevance of the practical skills acquired by technical college students to the
world of work?
Significance of the Study
The findings of
this study would be of great benefit to technical educators in imparting
students with relevant practical skills for proficiency and also ensure that
all impediments to the acquisition of practical skills by technical college
students are reduced.
The findings of
this study would also be of immense benefit to students of technical colleges
as they would see the need to acquire the requisite practical skills for
proficiency needed in the world of work.
It is expected
that the findings of this study would be beneficial to educational planners and
schools administrators as it would enable them to put in place, facilities that
would enhance acquisition of practical skills for proficiency by technical
college students.
Scope of the Study
The study covered
the six technical colleges in Delta State which include:
·
Government Technical College, Sapele
·
Government Technical College, Agbor
·
Government Technical College, Utagbe-Ogbe
·
Government Technical College, Isele-uku
·
Government Technical College, Ofagbe
·
Government Technical College, Ogor
Methodology
The
study adopted a descriptive survey design in carrying out the investigation
because the study sought information from the sample that was drawn from the
population.
Population of the Study
The
population of the study consisted of all the students and teachers in the six
technical colleges in Delta State
Sample and Sampling Technique
A
random sampling was used to select one hundred and eighty (180) respondents
made up of twenty five (25) students and five (5) teachers from each of the six
technical colleges in Delta State.
Instrument
A
4-point scale of 19-item questionnaire that covered the four research questions
was used for the data collection.
Validity of the Instrument
The
instrument was subjected to both face and content validity by three experts in
vocational/technical education. The final outcome of the questionnaire was
based on the experts’ comments and suggestions.
Reliability of the Instrument
The
reliability of the instrument was established using test-retest method. The Pearson’s
product moment correlation was employed to calculate the correlation
coefficient (r) which was 0.91. which showed that the instrument was reliable.
Method of Data Collection
The
instrument was administered to the respondents by the researcher and two guided
research assistants. One hundred and eighty copies of questionnaires were
distributed to the respondents and One hundred and sixty five were returned
which represents 91.67%.
Method of Data Analysis
The
data collected were analysed using sample percentage. The researcher considered
it necessary to treat “strongly Agreed” and Agreed simply as “Agreed” while
strongly Disagree and Disagreed simply as “Disagreed”. The formula for
percentage is:
Total
number of respondents x 100
Total
number of questionnaires 1
Results
The results of the study are presented as follows:
Research Question 1: What are the impediments facing technical college students in
practical skill acquisition for proficiency?
In
chart1, item 1 above shows that 166 respondents representing 92.2% of the
respondents were of the opinion that inadequate provision of training materials
is an impediment to technical college students’ skill acquisition for
proficiency. This indicates an agreement with the question item 1 while 14
respondents representing 7.8% disagreed. Similarly, item 2 shows that 152
respondents representing 84.4% were of the opinion that class size has a
negative effect on effective practical teaching which is an impediment to technical college students’ skill acquisition for
proficiency. This indicates an agreement with item 2 while 28 respondents
representing 13.3% disagreed. Also item 3 above shows that 144 respondents
representing 80.0% were of the opinion that there is inadequate
provision of basic workshop tools and equipment. This indicates an agreement
with item 3 while 36 respondents representing 20.0% disagreed. Moreover,
item 4 above, indicated that 115 respondents representing 63.9% agreed that little
attention is given to industrial attachment while 65 respondents representing
26.1% disagreed. Furthermore item 5 above indicated that 119 respondents
representing 66.1% agreed that poor/insufficient instructional material in
technical colleges is an impediment to technical
college students’ skill acquisition for proficiency while 61 respondents
representing 33.9% disagreed.
Research Question 2: To what extent do teachers’ qualifications and quality of
teaching affect the acquisition of practical skills?
Chart 2, revealed that item 6 above indicated that 158
respondents representing 87.8% agreed that inadequate
practical training given to teachers affect the practical training of students
while 22 respondents representing 12.2% disagreed. Also item 7 above indicated
that 123 respondents representing 68.3% agreed that lack of industrial
attachment for teachers affect practical skills training while 57 respondents
representing 32.7% disagreed. From item 8 above, it indicated that teachers
develop apathy to workshop practice due to lack of motivation while 20
respondents representing 11.1% disagreed. Similarly, item 9 above indicated
that 159 respondents representing 88.3% agreed that inappropriate teaching
methods also affect practical skill training while 21 respondents representing
11.7% disagreed. In the same vein, item 10 above indicated that 143 respondents
representing 79.4% agreed that inability to control large class size during
practical skills training affect practical skills training while 37 respondents
representing 20.6% disagreed. Moreover, item 11 above indicated that 152 respondents
representing 84.4% agreed that teachers with poor qualifications lack better
teaching skills and abilities while 28 respondents representing 15.6%
disagreed.
Research
Question 3: What is the effect of these impediments on the
acquisition of practical skills for proficiency?
In Chart 3, item
12 indicated that 169 respondents representing 93.9% agreed that poor
academic performance is one of the effects of the impediments
on the acquisition of practical skills for proficiency while 11 respondents
representing 6.1% disagreed. Similarly, item 13 above indicated that 157
respondents representing 87.2% agreed that low practical
skills by technical students is an effect of the impediments
on the acquisition of practical skills for proficiency while 23 respondents
representing 12.8 disagreed. Furthermore, item 14 above indicated that 160
respondents representing 88.9% agreed that the inability of
technical students to fit into the world of work is another effect of the impediments on the acquisition of practical
skills for proficiency while 20 respondents representing 11.1% disagreed. Also
item 15 above indicated that 147 respondents representing 81.7% agreed that poor
attitude to learning of practical skills related courses is also an effect of the impediments on the acquisition of practical
skills for proficiency while 33 respondents representing 18.3% disagreed.
Research Question 4: What
is the relevance to the world of work to the skills acquired by technical
college students?
From chart 4, item 16 above indicated that 132 respondents
representing 73.3% indicated that the skills acquired by technical college
students will increase
the rate of self-employed and self-empowered individuals in the society while
48 respondents representing 26.7 disagreed. From item 17 above, it indicated
that 144 respondents representing 80.0% agreed that skills
acquired by technical college students will increase the
level of practically oriented graduates in the labour market while 36
respondents representing 20.0% disagreed. From item 18 above, it indicated that
159 students presenting 88.3% agreed that the skills
acquired by technical college students will reduce the over
dependency on government jobs by students after school while 21 respondents
representing 11.7% disagreed. Finally, from item 19 above it indicated that 138
respondents representing 76.7% agreed that the skills
acquired by technical college students will enhance
productivity and manufacturing in the industries while 42 respondents
representing 22.3% disagreed.
Discussion
of Findings
Chart
1 revealed that a large percentage of the respondents agreed that all the items
are impediments to the acquisition of practical skills for
proficiency among technical college students. These include, inadequate
provision of training materials, tools, equipment, instructional materials,
class size and the nature of industrial attachment. This finding is in
agreement with Opeoluwa (2007), who
stated that only 40% of technical colleges in Nigeria have the
educational resources needed for the impartation of skills; resulting in the
production of low quality technical graduates. On the question of class size,
Dasmani (2011), maintained that large class size do not match with the supply
and provision of training resources, and that this does not allow the
instructor to attract and retain the attention of all the students during
practical classes. Also on the issue of the little attention given to technical
colleges students’ industrial attachment, Palmer (2005), asserted that
technical colleges have not been able to access opportunities for industrial attachment
and as a result there is little or no link between the practical skills training
in the school and the world of work. This situation has left many technical
college students unemployed on graduation.
Furthermore, in chart 2 above, the respondents agreed that
teachers’ qualification and quality of teaching are impediments to the
acquisition of practical skills for proficiency. This finding is in line with
Akamobi (2005), who observed that teachers’ qualification and quality of
teaching are very important to the acquisition of practical skills in
vocational and technical education and that the absence of any of these two
essential ingredients will lead to the production of half baked technical
college graduates with little or no employable skills.
In addition, chart 3 showed that all the respondents agreed
with all the items as the effects of the impediments on the acquisition of
practical skills for proficiency. This finding is in agreement with Okorie
(2011), who stated that the effect of these impediments on the acquisition of
practical skills has resulted in the drastic decrease of practical knowledge
and performance of students, high rate of unemployment, increase in the rate of
societal ills and decrease in the economic development of the country.
Chart 4 revealed that the respondents agreed that acquisition
of practical skills by technical college students has relevance to the world of
work as it will reduce unemployment, increase the level of practical oriented
graduates in the labour market, reduce dependency on government jobs and
enhance productivity. This finding is in line with Onifade (2005), who observed
that acquisition of requisite skills is a means of increasing the production
power of a nation, hence Nigeria as a nation should recognize the fact that
every citizen should be equipped with skills that will enable him/her to be
self reliant as this will also promote the well being of the country.
Conclusion
The
acquisition of practical skills for proficiency by technical college students leads
to the production of craftsmen and technicians that are needed in the world of
work. However, the result of the study showed that there are a lot of impediments to the acquisition of practical skills for
proficiency among technical college students. Amidst the hue and cry for
technological development in the country, there is the need to ensure that
nothing hinders practical skills acquisition in technical colleges. Therefore,
all stakeholders must put in place all the necessary machinery that will ensure
that technical college students acquire the practical skills needed for the
world of work.
Recommendations
Based on the findings, the following recommendations were made:
·
All stakeholders should
contribute adequately in providing training materials, tools, equipment and
other infrastructural facilities for the acquisition of practical skills in
technical colleges.
·
Industrial attachment should
be given priority attention by vigorously promoting it for both staff and
students.
·
Teachers qualification and
quality of teaching in practical skill classes should be given close monitoring.
·
Practical skill classes
should be effective and efficient in order to achieve the desired result of
imparting practical skills needed for the world of work.
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