TVET and Industry: Revamped TVET Curriculum as the Missing Link for Sustainable Economic Growth and Development in Nigeria (Published)

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) aside from providing general education is established for training and practical skill development opportunities that attunes to national and local contexts. TVET graduates should be competent enough to apply scientific knowledge to improve and solve environmental problems. However, graduates from various TVET programmes have failed to justify this purpose. This paper explored the present curriculum using the Department of Computer Science, The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro curriculum as a case study to identify this missing link. Descriptive and Inferential Statistical analysis carried out on some graduates of the Department explicitly working in Information Technology (IT) firms as Developers to identify whether the knowledge and skills acquired in school were sufficient for their career take off, revealed a wide gap between the present curriculum and the trends in the industry. The results obtained from the study showed that 62% passed through further skill acquisition training that created employment opportunities for them, 14% trained before admission for the TVET programme while 24% were able to learn on the job. The empirical analysis also showed that the position of the participants did not differ significantly in their mean perception of TVET programs as evidenced by the F statistic of 1.690 with an associated P-value of 0.195 > 0.05 significance level.

Keywords: Curriculum Development, Education, Industry, Skill, Technology, Vocational

Effect of Public-Private Partnerships on Revamping Technical Vocational Education and Training in Kenya: A Case of Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) and Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Partnership (Published)

Lack of financial and managerial capacity impedes many governments’ ability to meet obligations in regard to the national educational systems. In order to make meaningful improvements in education, governments may have to consider alternative methods such as public – private partnerships so as to meet their commitments to education. Establishing PPP with the private sector especially corporations who possess valuable financial and material resources and expertise can assist governments to expand and improve the quality of education services leading to achievement of education for all (EFA) goals. This paper aims at establishing the effect of Public-Private Partnerships on revamping Technical Vocational Education and Training in Kenya focusing on a case of KAM and GIZ Partnership. The study sought to establish how employment opportunities through KAM and GIZ Partnerships have revamped Technical Vocational Education and Training in Kenya and to assess the financial assistance from KAM and GIZ Partnerships on revamping TVET in Kenya. The paper was centered on Classical Liberal Theory. The study targeted a population of 882 students and staff of TVETs in Nairobi County. The paper used stratified random sampling to select a sample of 268 respondents who received the questionnaires. Self-administered questionnaires and interview guides were used for collection of primary data. The questionnaires were administered using the drop and pick later method in order to allow the respondents have enough time for responding adequately to the questions. SPSS Version 25.0 was used for data analysis. The paper used descriptive statistics since it enabled the researcher describe meaningfully the score or measurement distribution by using a few indices. Conceptual content analysis was used in the analysis of the qualitative data from the open-ended questions. The study concluded that Public-Private Partnerships positively and significantly revamps TVET in Kenya. The Kenya government should develop a public-private partnership policy framework especially in education to guide corporate/business organizations involvement.

 

Keywords: Education, Skills, Technical, Training, Vocational, private partnerships, public

Factors Influencing Student’s Enrolment in Vocational Technical Education Post-Graduate Programs in Rivers and Bayelsa State Tertiary Institutions (Published)

The study looked at Factors Influencing Students Enrolment in Vocational Technical Education Post-Graduate Programme in Rivers and Bayelsa State Tertiary Institutions. Two research questions and one hypothesis was used in the study. The researchers used simple survey research design. The population consists of a total of 149 students in post-graduate program in technical education in Rivers and Bayelsa State tertiary institutions. The researchers developed an instrument titled students response on financial constraints and perception of vocational technical education (SRFPT). SRFPT item was subjected to face validation by two experts in the department of vocational technical education in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka. The instrument reliability was calculated to be 0.87 using Cronbach Alpha. Data obtained from research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for research questions and Z-test for hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Response from table 1 showed that item 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 were all accepted to the various questions. This shows that finance is a major factor influencing the enrolment of students in vocational technical education program. Result from table 2 reveals that item 1, 3 and 4 were rejected to the various questions. While item 2 and 5 were accepted. This shows that technical education teachers do not have low prospect, jobs are not limited to classroom only and they earn better. Also, it was observed that vocational technical education lecturers are leaving below standard as compared to their job input. In addition, the findings from the hypothesis showed that z-calculated value of 10.10 was higher than z-critical value of 1.960 at 0.05 level of significance with 149 degree of freedom. This implies that there is significant difference on how finance affects students’ enrolment in post-graduate programme in Rivers and Bayelsa State tertiary institutions and how students value vocational technical training program in labour market. Among all, it was recommended that Government should create a financial scheme to subsidize tuition fee and research programs among post-graduate students in vocational technical education program.

Keywords: Education, Post-graduate, Technical, Vocational, programs

The Importance of Vocational and Technical Education in Nigeria’s Development (Published)

There can be no sustainable national development without vocational and technical education, and there can be no vocational and technical education without skills acquisition. The issue of sustainable national development is not a one-day event, but constant or continuous process that affects the citizens positively. The paper x-rayed the peculiar characteristics of vocational and technical education in providing necessary skills to the populace for sustainable national development. The conceptual clarification of vocational education, technical education, vocational and technical education, and sustainable national development were considered. The paper further discussed a brief history of vocational and technical education in Nigeria, during the pre-colonial, colonial and the post-colonial era. The paper examines the importance of vocational and technical education in Nigeria development. It further highlighted the role of vocational and technical education in sustainable national development. The paper concluded that non-acquisition of saleable skills has been a major factor in the countries under development and high rates of poverty and other social vices. Therefore, VTE as the type of education with these values should be recognized and taken serious for sustainable national development to strive.

 

Keywords: Development, Education, Nigeria, Technical, Vocational