DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
5.4 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS WITH RESPECT TO RESEARCH QUESTION ONE
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have changed, the Technical College I went I’m still seeing old and obsolete machine, but in the industries I have visited today, I see new modern machines, no longer any one that is as old as the ones I have seen, so I wonder if we don’t want to upgrade to the modern days how effective this curriculum will really deliver what it is meant to be … ”
From the excerpts above, it is seen in lines 1-3 of the first comment, and lines 6-10 of the second excerpt that there is a need to review the curriculum in line with recent technologies. While the first excerpt states that the curriculum should be reviewed with recent discoveries, the second excerpt commented that not only should the curriculum be reviewed, Technical College equipment should also be upgraded in line with such reviews.
5.4 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS WITH RESPECT TO RESEARCH QUESTION
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Table 5.5: Summary of employability skills as defined by different stakeholders
Question 1. What are the set of skills graduates from Technical Colleges need for employability as;
A B C
Sub-questions
→
Recommended by the Nigeria National Policy on Education (NPE) 2004 and the Senior Secondary Technical College s Curriculum (SSEC) 2008?
Perceived by staff (teachers) and graduates from Technical Colleges?
Required by employers of Technical College graduates?
DATA GENERATED FROM A, B AND C
↓ ↓ ↓ Data Source
→
Policy Document NPE 2004 & SSEC
2007
Teachers Graduates Employers
Instrument
→
(Document analysis) (Focus Group) (Focus Group) (Focus Group)
Data Source
→
TVET policy Documents for Technical Colleges
Teachers from the following
disciplines:
Mechanical
Building
Electrical
Graduates from the following trades:
Mechanical
Building
Electrical
Employers from the following industries:
Automobile Services
Local Gov‟t council
Engineering Services
Transport Services
Technical skills ↓
Trade related skills in:
Mechanical
Computer
Electrical engineering
Building
Wood
Hospitality
Textile
Printing
Beauty culture
Business
Others (leather goods manufacture
including shoe making and repairs
Trade related skills in:
Mechanical;
Building
Electrical;
Maintenance;
Trade related skills in:
Mechanical o Drilling o Shaping o Machining o Forging o Turning o Welding
o Use of hand tools
Building
o Skills in the use of building
construction machines and hand tools in Concrete work
Electrical o Electrical
installation and maintenance;
o Appliances repairs.
Skills in:
Mechanical;
Electrical;
Welding (Mechanical)
Civil (Building)
Fire fighting (Safety)
Safety
Soft skills ↓
Self-reliance/
Entrepreneurial skills;
Communication skills;
Self-reliance/
Entrepreneurial skills;
Writing skills;
Reading skills;
Self-reliance/
Entrepreneurial skills;
Administrative skills
Public relation skills
Interpersonal skills
Communication skill
Reading skill
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Listening;
Reading and writing skills;
Scientific Decision, and creativity skills;
Mathematical literacy skills;
Capital market skills
Visual
communication of ideas in
construction and production industries through ICT (technical drawing)
Interpersonal and Human relations
Personal
responsibility skills
Analytical thinking.
Communication skills;
Mathematical skills;
Problem-solving skills
Thinking skills.
Innovative/creativity skills;
Quick adaptation;
Ability to work with less supervision
Ability to acquire skill
Teamwork;
Willingness to learn
Mathematical literacy skills
Technical drawing interpretation
5.4.1 Summary on the findings about the employability skills required from Technical College graduates as recommended by the two policy documents 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. These skills are mechanical, electrical and building. However, a disparity in the kind of basic 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 disparity was due to the fact that the NPE 2004 is the comprehensive education policy while the SSEC 2008 is the curriculum document for Secondary Technical College s and
Colleges. So the policy only outlined the areas to be captured in the broader curriculum.
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5.4.2 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.
Teachers highlighted the following factors as hindrances to the curriculum enactment for effective skills development, these includes lack of training facilities, building infrastructure and modern equipment; overcrowded classroom; and poor administration of technical education due to absence of qualified personnel. Others include; lack of funds, lack of partnership amongst government, industry and Technical Colleges, and inadequate qualified technical personnel and poor staff development.
5.4.3 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 graduates 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.
According to the findings from Technical College graduates, the following were the negative experiences that inhibited their acquisition of the necessary employability skills: lack of alignment between curriculum and industrial needs; lack of adequately trained manpower; lack of functional and modern equipment; lack of training materials for workshop practical; and lack of funds.
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5.4.4 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 include 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 and 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.
Findings from employers also highlighted some factors that limit the capacity of Technical Colleges to produce competent skilled graduates such as: lack of provision of modern training facilities; lack of competent teachers; lack of curriculum alignment due to absence of cooperate partnership in curriculum design process; theoretically
dominated curriculum; and review of out-dated curriculum.
As mentioned earlier on in the chapter, these disparities and discrepancies will be fully explored in Chapter 6 as we address the Research Question Two which explores the type and the nature of interfaces that emerged from the data.