DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM RESEARCH QUESTIONS ONE AND TWO
This section presents the summary of findings for Research Question One and two.
Firstly, I present the summary of findings for Research Question One followed by summary of findings for Research Question Two.
7.1.1 Summary of Findings from Research Question One
7.1.1.1 Summary on the findings about the employability skills required from Technical College Graduates as recommended by the 2 policy documents explored From the two policy documents analysed; namely, the Nigeria National Policy on Education 2004 and the Senior Secondary Education Curriculum 2008, it was found that both policies recommend technical and soft skills (also known as basic skills) for the employability of Technical College graduates. In addition, the trade related skills recommended by both policies are the same. However, a disparity in the kind of basic
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skills foregrounded by each policy was noted. Whilst, the NPE only embraced the following three basic skills: self-reliance, entrepreneurial and computer literacy, the SSEC covered a wide range of basic skills. These ranged from basic communication, listening, reading and writing; scientific and creativity, entrepreneurial, visual
communication of ideas in construction and production industries through ICT, mathematical literacy, capital market, interpersonal and human relations, decision- making skills to personal responsibility. The NPE 2004 is the broad national policy, whilst SSEC 2008 is the curriculum; thus the broad policy made its recommendation which was further developed in the curriculum.
7.1.1.2 Summary of the findings of Technical College teachers’ perceptions of the employability skills required from Technical College graduates
The findings in relation to the teachers‟ perceptions of the kind of employability skills required in Technical College graduates, the following four technical skills were
highlighted: mechanical, electrical, building and maintenance. However, for basic skills, the following seven skills were foregrounded: self-reliance/ entrepreneurial, writing, reading, communication, mathematical, thinking and problem-solving. It is significant to note that the additional skills foregrounded by the Technical College teachers, namely, maintenance and problem-solving are not included in any of the two policy documents analysed.
7.1.1.3 Summary of the findings of the Technical College graduates’ perceptions of the employability skills required from Technical College graduates
It is significant to note the limited awareness from graduates of the skills required from Technical College graduate for employability. According to the analysis, the graduates have the awareness that the skills required for employment are only trade related skills in mechanical, building and electrical. The only basic skill they seem to be conscious of is self-reliance/entrepreneurship. However, this skill alone cannot guarantee them employment in the industry. Therefore, their conception heavily limits their opportunity and possibilities of securing employment after the programme.
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7.1.1.4 Summary of the findings of the Industry employers’ perceptions of the employability skills required from Technical College graduates
Findings from employers‟ perspective showcased technical and basic skills. Technical skills have in its components mechanical, electrical, building, safety and fire-fighting.
The basic skills consists of administrative, public relation, interpersonal,
communication, reading, innovative/creativity, quick adaptation, ability to work with less supervision, ability to acquire skill, teamwork, willingness to learn; basic technical drawing interpretation mathematical literacy. It is significant to note that the additional skills foregrounded by the employers from industry, namely, fire-fighting and basic safety skills (with respect to technical skills) and administrative, quick adaptation, ability to acquire skills, willingness to learn and teamwork (with respect to soft-skills) are nowhere to be found in the two policy documents analysed.
7.1.2 Summary of findings from Research Question Two
With regard to the Technical skills required, two interfaces were observed. First, it was the policy-teacher-graduate-employer interface, and the convergence was on the following technical skills: mechanical, building and electrical trades. These trade skills were identified by all the stakeholders as the necessary skills requirement for Technical College graduates. Second, it was the teacher-graduate interface; and the point of convergence was the maintenance skill. Whilst the teachers see maintenance skill 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 amongst Technical College graduate. Though all stakeholders stressed self-reliance as a necessary skill that needs to be developed by Technical College graduates, there were still discrepancies on their views of what self-reliance is to each of them. The second interface was the policy-teacher-employer interface. It converged with variances
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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 variations at two skills: technical drawing and interpersonal and human relations.
The divergence amongst stakeholders in terms of skills required by Technical College (TC) graduates has a negative impact in TC graduates employability. Therefore, in the following section, I will discuss employability as constructed by the four
stakeholders in the study.
7.2 THE CONSTRUCTION OF EMPLOYABILITY BY THE FOUR