ABSTRACT
This study
focused on factors affecting students’ attitudes towards development of
Vocational Education in Science and Technical Colleges in Enugu State. The specific
objectives captured the parental factors environmental factors and
socio-economic factors. Target population for the study was students and
teachers of the thirty-seven (37) Science and Technical Colleges in Enugu State
from which a sample of 300students and 90 teachers from 10 schools were
randomly selected and studied. The research design adopted was descriptive
research design while analytical tools employed include descriptive statistics
(mean and standard deviation), and one-sample t-test. Findings revealed that
the major parental factors to this effect are parental orientation about
vocational training and lack of students’ interest; with regard to
environmental factors, the key factors were non-availability of vocational
schools and poor infrastructures; while on the socio-economic factors, leading
factors were lack of modern day equipments and fear of being unemployed. The
study also discovered that these factors have significant effect. Based on
these findings, the study recommended among others that Technical and Vocational
Boards Officials should educate the public (parents and students) properly on
the importance of vocational training in curbing the high rate of unemployment
in the State; parents should be encouraged to do more in enlightening their
children on the relevance of Vocational Training to the development of the
society; Government should lay down adequate structures and provide modern day
equipments to technical colleges so as to motivate the students in vocational
training. They should equally employ more skillful teachers to guide the
students in the training.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
i
Approval ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 4
Purpose of the Study 6
Research Questions 7
Research Hypotheses
8
Significance of the Study 8
Scope of the Study 10
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW
OF RELATED LITERATURE
Concept
of Attitude 11
Concept
of Vocational Education 13
Objectives
of Vocational and Technical Education in Nigeria 14
Factors
Affecting Attitudes of Students and Teachers towards Development Of
Vocational Education and Training 15
Theoretical
Framework 17
Empirical
Review 21
Summary of Reviewed Literature 24
CHAPTER THREE:
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design 26
Nature and Sources of Data 26
Area of the Study 26
Population of the Study 27
Sample and Sampling Techniques 27
Determination of Sample Size 27
Instrument for Data Collection 28
Validation of the Instrument
29
Reliability of the Instrument 29
Methods of Data Analysis 30
CHAPTER FOUR:
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Data Presentation 31
Data Analysis 34
Discussion of Findings 38
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS,
CONCLUSION
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of Findings 40
Conclusion 41
Recommendations 42
Suggestion for Further Studies 43
References 44
Appendices - 45
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Attitude
of learners is a great hindrance to skill acquisition (Ngige, 2012). According
to Hina (2017), this attitude represents general orientation of the individual;
the views a person takes about objects, people, group, or issues. It is a
central concept in social science and plays an important role in influencing
much different behaviour. Attitudes are acquired through experiences of social
interaction but once established, they tend to be relatively enduring. Overall
attitude can be positive, negative, or neutral, and it can vary from situation
to situation.
Vocational
Training is designed to prepare the individuals for specialized skills,
abilities, trade, industries, agriculture and business for self-reliance
(Azubuike, 2011). Itinvolveseducation and training that is focused on practical
skills and ability to perform tasks related to working in a particular industry
(Hina, 2015). It can equally be referred toas the facet of technical education
that has more to do with practical work leading to a particular occupation or
career.
Vocational
training is generally linked with manual and practical skills. It usually does
not include academic abilities. It provides activities for learning by doing
and enables individual differences to be catered for (Okocha, 2009).However, no
attempt is made to create homogeneities in groups of children by practices like
streaming and ability grouping which means that in vocational education
programmes, there are less stiff formalities in classroom, thus providing
opportunity to sit together thus, recognizing the peer group influence on
learning (i.e. learning how to work as a group).
Vocational
Education Institutes offer basic academic knowledge but is much focused on
practical and manual vocational training to prepare students for employment in
lower level technical positions. It also provides the labour market with
skilled and semi-skilled workforce in different trades (Al-saad, 2007), thus,
can be seen as a workable system which can produce such workers that can be
employed on a suitable and industrial base.
The
importance of vocational education as part of and supplementary to general
education has been increasingly accepted. In respect to this,Yusuf and Soyemi
(2012) highlighted that, there is currently a growing awareness that besides
fostering individual growth and development through the process of education,
the school should also accept the function of developing human resources to
cater for national economic needs. The education system should also include a
component which links the school and the world of work, and hence, facilitate
the students in their entry into the labour market. This according to Hina
(2017) is to provide support for alleviation of unemployment and as well
increase skills of youth for meeting the requirements of industries. The step
is also to provide trained manpower in various applied fields, and to provide
technical knowledge and vocational skills needed for economic development and
industrial growth.
Traditionally,
skilled workers are produced through apprenticeship and the "pick-up"
methods of acquiring skills. This is because students who were enrolled in
vocational classes gained experience which gave them great satisfaction.
Moreover, the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) recommendations of
2008 proposed that education should also include a preparation for developing
an idea of, taste for, and esteem for manual work; these being an indispensable
part of general education. More so, in the study of Akpotohwo (2016) in Bayelsa
State, it was observed that entrepreneurial skills are required for effective
business operation as it serves both as operational guidelines for those in the
business as well as training package for new entrants. The author further
stressed that lack or absence of these skills affect graduates in embarking on
any business venture.
There
are various factors that affect students’ attitudes in the development of
vocational education. For instance, Alnaqbi (2016) examined the effect of
parents and students’ attitude towards the intention to enter the vocational
education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The author provided practical
evidence that the increasing amount of technical education and vocational
training resembles to a lowering capacity by business owners in the private
industries, while reflecting the negative effects of the basic operating sector
of the production of technical education and vocational training. In the same
vein, Kumazhege (2017) who examined the factors that influence vocational
choice among Technical College students in North East Nigeria provided that
environmental factors and parents/guardians related factors influenced their
vocational choice in Technical Colleges, while students personality related
factors; peer group related factors and career guidance officer do not
influence their vocational choice in Technical Colleges. This study however is
intended to evaluate Business education students’ attitudes towards development
of vocational training in secondary schools in Enugu State.
Statement of the Problem
In
Nigeria, emphasis has been on general education, with vocational education at
the receiving end. For instance, an average Nigerian parent does not want his
son to earn a living as a full time farmer, a watch-repairer, a plumber, a house
painter, as they believe that these jobs are for the poor and underprivileged.This
has contributed to a large number of educated people remaining unemployed.
Moreover, inspite of the apparent weaknesses of the grammar education and the
pressing need for vocational education, experiment to implement the syllabus
seemed to have failed, because attempts to implement the programmes are only
partially done or neglected. Furthermore, although policy statements and
issues, scholarly lectures and discussions at seminars and conferences stand to
point out the need for vocational education, the training of top-cadre elites
through the grammar school type of education has essentially remained the
dominant practice.
While
there is an expressed need for skilled workers in Nigeria, there is apparently
reluctance among the students to choose and prepare themselves for skilled
jobs. More so, despite the increasing level of awareness on the need for
skilled workforce in development, there is still no sufficient linkage between
Technical Education & Vocational Training and work life. Presently, despite
government’s tremendous efforts to educate the community on the benefits of the
existing Technical Education and vocational training system, most students and
parents still choose the academic stream rather than the Technical Education
& Vocational Training. They believe that vocational institutes are for
students with low academic achievement. These thereby decreases the rate of
enrolment and completion rate of Technical and Vocational courses in Technical
and Vocational institutes and in other words decreased well trained workforce
in the country.
Innovations
relating to vocational education have been introduced as a way of reducing
"waste' of talent often associated with conventional schools and in other
words, provide a more productive stimulus to the economy. In Nigeria, for example,
the New National Policy on Education (2004) has not only advocated the
integration of productive work into learning but also stipulated the
establishment of multi-purpose vocational centres in order to facilitate the
training of artisans, craftsmen, technicians, etc. The question therefore is,
what are the factors affecting students’ attitudes in the development of
vocational education in Science and Technical Colleges in Enugu State?
Purpose of the Study
The
purpose of this study is to investigate the factors affecting students’
attitudes in the development of vocational education in Science and Technical
Colleges in Enugu State. The specific objectives are:
1) To
identify and rank the parental factors affecting students’ attitudes in the
development of vocational education in Science and Technical Colleges in Enugu
State.
2) To
identify and rank the environmental factors affecting students’ attitudes in
the development of vocational education in Science and Technical Colleges in
Enugu State.
3) To
identify and rank the socio-economic factors affecting students’ attitudes in
the development of vocational education in Science and Technical Colleges in
Enugu State.
Research Questions
The
following research questions guided this study;
1) What
are the key parental factors affecting students’ attitudes in the development
of vocational education in Science and Technical Colleges in Enugu State?
2) What
are the major environmental factors affecting students’ attitudes in the
development of vocational education in Science and Technical Colleges in Enugu
State?
3) What
are the key socio-economic factors affecting students’ attitudes in the
development of vocational education in Science and Technical Colleges in Enugu
State?
Research Hypotheses
Based
on the research questions formulated above, the study was guided by the
following null hypotheses which were tested at 0.05 level of significance.
Ho1:
Parental backgroundhas no significant effect on students’ attitudes towards the
development of vocational education in Science and Technical Colleges in Enugu
State.
Ho2:
Environmental factorshave not significantly affected the students’ attitudes towards
the development of vocational education in Science and Technical Colleges in
Enugu State.
Ho3:
Socio-economic factorshave no significant effect on students’ attitudes towards
the development of vocational education in Science and Technical Colleges in
Enugu State.
Significance of the Study
Vocational
education is an essential tool for economic development. Establishment and
inculcation of vocational education into Senior Secondary Education Curriculum
(SSEC) by the federal government in 2011 was rooted to ensuring that all senior
secondary school students be trained in at least one vocational subject.
However, the outcome of this study will be beneficial to the following group of
people:
§ Government
§ Body
of Academics
§ Parents
§ Students
§ Researchers
To
the government of Nigeria,the findings of this will be beneficial in making
policies and implementations in schools. It will assist in solving the giant
problem of high unemployment rate in Nigeria.
It
will be relevant to the body of academics as it exposes the need to inculcate
vocational education training in secondary schools in Nigeria. It would also be
helpful for head of Technical Education and Vocational Training for promotion
of Technical Education and Vocational Training system in Nigeria.
The
parents will find this study relevant as it will help to educate them on
importance of vocational education on the growth and survival of a child
especially in a developing nation like Nigeria.
Students’
benefits to this study will go a long way to keeping them at alert and as well
providing them with the rudiments to survive the difficult economy.
Future
researchers will find this study relevant as it will serve as basis for future
researches.
Scope of the Study
The
scope of this study is Enugu State. It covered all science and technical
colleges in the state as at 2016 post primary school census.It is delimited to
factors such as: parental background, environmental factors and socio-economic
factors.
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