DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
5.3 CHALENGES TO EFFECTIVE EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS DEVELOPMENT AS OUTLINED BY STAKEHOLDERS
5.3.3 Technical College Graduates Employers
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acknowledged this in his his point of view on funding Technical College programmes.
This was revealed in his comment:
P4: “…. with this as an experience GTC lack funding … government should look into Government Technical College by putting fund into it …”
From both lines of the excerpt above, it is seen that Participant 4‟s experience was negative with regard to funding of Technical College programmes. This shows that GTC lacks funds for effective implementation of the Technical College programme.
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you now come out you see modern CNC machines … you see something different, but it’s still part of the curriculum”
From both excerpts above, it is seen in lines 1 and 2 of the first excerpt and lines 2-5 of the second excerpt that Technical Colleges lack training facilities and modern equipment.
5.3.3.2 Lack of competent teachers
Two among the four participants emphasised on lack of competent teachers as is evident in the comment below:
P2: “…. I came to realise that most of our teachers will I say not competent enough, … A teacher that would not be able to identify something he has mentioned, so how will the student do that? …. so majority of our teachers are theoretical teachers that is why end up giving us theoretical technicians”
Similarly, another participant said;
P3: “…. we need to employ more competent teachers …”
From the excerpts above, it is seen in lines 1-4 and 1 of Participant 2 and 3 respectively that there is a lack of competent teachers. Participant 2 attributed lack of qualified technicians to a lack of competent teachers. This finding confirms the findings of Osami (2013) who argues that one of the challenges confronting the success of technical education in River State is the engagement of teachers with inadequate practical experience.
5.3.3.3 Lack of Curriculum Alignment Due to Absence of Partnership in Curriculum Design Process
Two Participants stressed the lack of alignment between the Technical College curriculum and industrial demand. This is shown in the comment below:
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P1: “….what they have done in Technical College might have a bit of eer….eer difference from what is obtainable on the field, the machines they may be introduced to in the Technical College might be different with the machines that are obtainable on the field, and so they need additional training to bring them to terms to what is obtainable on the field… we kind of discover that most of the time those that carry out, or those that put together this curriculum don’t come to the field to liaise with the professionals on ground, because for you to be able to train technical students you should know what is obtainable on the field”
Another employer remarked that:
P4: “…. we need to look inward and really see how they’re effectively implemented and also see how to upgrade the universities to be in line with what the industry need… I think in Nigeria, the curriculum that was used to train even myself as an employer, I don’t think my own father had an input in it; he was prepared before us, the present Nigeria curriculum in education…. I don’t think that public opinion is actually all the time being validated …. there is need for the employers to make input that’s really how I think curriculum is supposed to be formulated for any nation, curriculum is supposed to mirror the society,
There is a clear indication from both excerpts above that the Technical College curriculum is not aligned with industrial requirements due to lack of a cooperative partnership in the curriculum design process. This is obvious in lines 1-3, 4-6 of the first excerpt and 1-2, 3-8 of the second excerpt respectively. This finding is maintained by Berhe (2011) who contends that lack of curriculum alignment is due to lack of communication between training institutions and potential users of graduates.
5.3.3.4 Theoretically Dominated Curriculum
Two participants foreground lack of detailed practical aspect of the curriculum, this is obvious in the comments below:
P1: “… Most a time we discover that the practical aspect is not detailed… ”
97 In furtherance of that, another participant said:
P2: “…. sometimes what they produce is theoretical technicians, there is need for practical, practical need to be carried out …
From line 1, and the two lines of the excerpts above, it is seen that the approach towards teaching the practical content of TC curriculum is not balanced, the theoretical aspect is given more attention than the practical. This has resulted in the production of theoretical graduates as clearly stated in the second excerpt. This finding collaborates with the findings of Fu and Tu (2013); in their study, it was discovered that, from employers‟ perspective, TVET training is too theoretical and this has led to the production of graduates who lack the competence to deal with modern technology. In the same view, Dike (2009) lamented that the inability of the Nigerian school system to meet with national developmental needs of the country is associated too much emphasis being placed on the theory aspect of the curriculum compared to practical; this most times leads to students‟ exposure to theory rather than practical.
5.3.3.5 Review of Out-Dated Curriculum
Two participants responded to the review of the curriculum in line with modern technological development.
P3: “…. actually I will say the school curriculum they actually need to still review it, because we can see that everyday new things … discovering new things so actually we say let’s continue working with the old curriculum it might not be right… ”
On the other hand, another participant said:
P4: “…..some of the curriculum is as old as more than 20 years, 30 years ago and the curriculum may not specify what machines that are now invoke today in the industries … so I don’t think the curriculum also checks what is used in this institution and what is used in other institution they just say people should learn how to use lathe they don’t specify what kind of lathe, is it the 2000 model machine or the 195something or 197something machine … curriculum may
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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