DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
5.2 RESEARCH QUESTION ONE: EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS AS PERCEIVED BY TEACHERS AND GRADUATES
5.2.2 Technical College graduates
In relation to Technical College graduates, the following skills were foregrounded.
Trade related skills:- Mechanical: Drilling, Shaping, Machining, Forging, Turning, Welding Use of hand tools; Building: Skills in the use of building construction machines and hand tools in Concrete work; Electrical: Electrical installation and maintenance, Appliances repairs.
81
The above listed skills are justified in the excerpts below:
P1: “… Electrifications, distribution of power supplies, installation, maintenance of power plant, generators, minor repairs of electrical appliances(trade related skills in electrical) … ”
Another participant said:
P2: “…. with the lathe machines you can do drilling, with lathe machines you can do both & nut, you can do many things with lathe machines you can produce parts… So you can use the machines to machine all those things as well when you produce finish (trade related skills in mechanical)… So other things which I learnt through that NEW about Coil, so that if you want to produce fan you must produce coil first that will carry the fan to fan (trade related skills in electrical) …”
This was also confirmed by one of the participants:
P3: “…. I saw poker vibrator / vibrating machines which we used for compacting concrete… I saw what they call tilting drum machines, I saw the one they call surface compacting machines, and so on I saw what they call cone which we use for compacting teds… but as I came to the Education sector I saw those things, I touched, I filled them and I used (practical skills in building construction) them as well in fact by the disposition of these equipment I’m even using it to teach students how to manipulate them (trade related skills in building construction)”
In affirmation to trade related skills another participant said:
P4: “… I still assist students in practical works as regards the lathe machines, shaping machines majorly in welding aspect, because my experience in previous employment granted me in welding … in FCE (T) like I told you I assist technicians in students practical … I assist actually if it is in terms of practical, lathe machines, turning I take them, manipulate the lathe and also show them how to work on the lathe, the drilling machines, there are hand tools
82
you will use to execute your practical jobs … to forge a material to shape, you need the furnace or the forging machines is also there, which you manipulate, you teach them how to use … all those things (trade related skills in
mechanical) … I assist the students and so many other things that I can’t mention …”
From the excerpts of Participants‟ 1, 2, 3 and 4, it is seen in lines 1and 2, 1-4, 5-7 and 1-8 respectively that they all required trade related (technical) skills to engage in the various activities they find themselves in. Besides, the excerpt from Participant 2 lines 4-6 shows the acquisition of electrical skill added to the mechanical skill already possessed. Similarly, Participant 4 also gained additional experience of welding skills added to the area he was trained while in his previous employment as indicated in lines 2 and 3. From both participants‟ experiences, one can conclude that outside the skills acquired while in Technical College, additional skills are acquired in industry.
Basic skill: - Self-reliance
This is highlighted in the excerpts below:
P1 “….if you’re not opportune to be employed by industry, you can still be self- employed… ”
Similarly, another participant confirmed:
P3 “…However, the far knowledge I have gathered enhanced my readiness to acquire more skills in the wider society to actually meet up the challenges of unemployment …because without acquiring that skill maybe I would have been among the unemployed youth because the white collar jobs are no longer available …”
In affirmation of overcoming the problem of unemployment due to the acquisition of self-reliance skill, another participant said:
P2: “…. because my time of study I acquire knowledge there and the knowledge which I acquired there has made me who I am today… because I have search
83
for company work, no way because of Government Technical College (GTC) I have my own company, so GTC is very good”
The last participant added:
P4: “… It was the preparation of GTC that made me know the value of skill acquisition, so the GTC really prepared my life. Today job or no job I think I can sustain my life, I still even teach people how to sustain their lives, it was GTC’s preparation. I still remain that GTC is good for anybody who wants to be useful in life…”
From the excerpts above, it is seen in both comments made by Participant 1 that self-reliance skills are acquired through GTC preparation; same applies to Participant 3 lines 2-4, Participant 2 lines 2-3, and finally Participant 4 lines 1-3. The self-reliant skills acquired by these participants have been applied in various ways; for Participant 3 it helped him overcome the challenges of unemployment, Participant 2 through the skill owns a company, while Participant 4 through the same preparation today trains people.
This finding of being self-reliant is in agreement with policy recommendation for GTC trainees (NPE, 2004).
The next part presents responses from employers of Technical College graduates on skills required for employability.