Employability skills of technical college graduates : a case study for Government Technical College (GTC) in Ahoada Rivers State Nigeria.
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Date
2014
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Abstract
This thesis sought to explore the Employability skills of Technical College graduates with the
aim to establish: stakeholders‟ perceptions of skills required by Technical College graduates
for their employability, and to find out if there is an interface in their perceptions. The study
was guided by two research questions:
1. What are the sets of skills graduates from Technical Colleges need for employability
as:
a) Recommended by the Nigeria National Policy on Education (2004) and the
Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (2008)?
b) Perceived by teachers and graduates from Technical Colleges?
c) Required by employers of Technical College graduates?
2. Is there an interface as defined by above stakeholders? If so, what is its nature?
To successfully address these questions a qualitative case study design approach was used.
Data was generated through two policy documents: the Nigeria National Policy on Education
(2004) and the Senior Secondary Education Curriculum (2008); and questionnaires and focus
group discussions with Technical College graduates and teachers as well as industry
employers. The theoretical orientation that framed the study was the Triple Helix theory of
academia, industry and government relations. This theory agitates for an improved and
increased relationship among various organisations in an industrial economy‟s innovation
system especially academia, industry and government. This framework not only allowed for
determining the level of collaboration among the four stakeholders, but opened up creative
ways for the tracing the trajectory required for construction of the requisite employability
skills of Technical College graduates.
Analysis of data gained from answering the two research questions confirmed that,
although weak, interfaces do indeed exist with respect to the requisite skills of Technical
College graduates as per the perceptions of the four stakeholders involved in the study. The
analysis revealed points of convergence and divergence in the type and nature of the
interfaces explored.
With regard to the technical skills required, two interfaces were observed. Firstly, the
policy-teacher-graduate-employer interface revealed convergence in relation to the following
technical skills: mechanical, building and electrical trades. These trade skills were identified
by all the stakeholders as necessary skills requirements for Technical College graduates.
Secondly, the teacher-graduate interface revealed convergence in relation to maintenance
skills. While the teachers see maintenance skills as a subject area that needs to be
incorporated into the whole Technical College programme, the graduates consider it as a
component of a particular trade, which is electrical engineering. This, therefore, signals a
variation on what both stakeholders perceive maintenance skills to be, and thus points to an
interesting variation in the understanding of the phenomenon.
With regard to the soft skills required by the stakeholders amongst Technical College
graduates, four interfaces were foregrounded. The first interface cut across all four
stakeholders involved in the study and converged on self-reliance as a requisite skill for
Technical College graduates. Though all stakeholders stressed self-reliance as a necessary
skill that needs to be developed by Technical College graduates, there were still discrepancies
in their views of what self-reliance is. The second interface was the policy-teacher-employer
interface. It converged with slight variations at the following three skills: communication,
problem-solving and mathematical literacy. The third interface was the policy-teacher
interface, and it converged at analytical skills. Finally, the fourth interface was the policy
employer interface which converged with slight variations at two skills: technical drawing
and interpersonal and human relations.
It is significant to note that the points of divergence observed came from only two of
the four stakeholders, namely, policy (local government) and industry employers and these
related to the capital market and basic safety skills, respectively.
The weak interface formed by the stakeholders in this study is indicative of weak links
between policy, Technical College and industry. The implication is that Technical College
programmes are producing graduates with skills not responsive to the needs of the labour
market and of society. What such weakness foregrounds is a call for policy reform and
forums for communication in order to address the factors that have led to the feeble interface
currently experienced regarding policy construction and skills development.
Description
M. Ed. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2014.
Keywords
College graduates -- Employment -- Nigeria., Technical institute graduates -- Nigeria., Technical education -- Curricula -- Nigeria., Vocational education -- Nigeria., Theses -- Education.