Improving Vocational Skills for Entrepreneurial Development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria
Ani, Nnenna Glory
Department of Guidance and Counselling Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT, Enugu Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
The study centered on improving vocational skills for Entrepreneurial Development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State. It specifically sought to find out how to improve innovative and self-motivation skills for entrepreneurial development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population for the study was 67 teachers. Of these 39 were male teachers and 28 were female currently serving in the 2 government owned Technical Colleges in Enugu State. No sampling was done since the population as small. A self-structured questionnaire developed by the researcher called Vocational Skills for Entrepreneurial Development Scales (VSF-EDS). The instrument was face validated by three (3) research experts: one in Measurement and Evaluation and two others in Guidance and Counselling Department. Cronbach Alpha reliability estimate was used to ascertain the internal consistency of the entire instrument which is .87. 63 out of 67 copies of the instrument were retrieved, signifying 94.03 % return of duly filled copies of the administer instrument. Data collected for this study were used to analyze the two research questions using mean, grand mean and standard deviation. The findings obtained from the analysis showed that improving vocational skills for entrepreneurial development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria are by being creative, by thinking of something new that sustains entrepreneurial spirit, inventing new products with a difference in the society, forming a good attitude towards customers and thinking creatively in impacting knowledge. Hence, the researcher observed that improving vocational skills for entrepreneurial development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria are by being self-motivated, by desiring to meet certain standards in the pursuit of becoming productive, by being committed to organizational goals, by having the ability to take advantage of opportunities when they occur and by pursuing goals in the face of setbacks. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended, among others that entrepreneurial centres in our institutions in Nigeria must be equipped and utilized to assist students to bridge gap created by the theoretical nature of our vocational education programme that will make students to be creative and self-motivated.
Keywords: Vocation, Skill, Vocational Skills and Entrepreneurial Development.
INTRODUCTION
Often, when we talk about vocational skills, we’re talking about professions that you can learn with some basic training or on-the-job training from Technical Colleges. Some examples of employment requiring vocational skills are electricians, truck drivers, hair stylists, medical records technicians, and emergency medical technicians. Vocational skills are those that enable a person to become an expert in a particular field or process that is relevant to a vocation. Content skills are another name for vocational abilities. Some people learn specific trades at vocational schools and then expand their vocational skills in technical institutions. Some people gain professional expertise through years of work experience [1]. Vocational training provides hands-on experience in a particular trade or industry of employment. The training is conducted outside of a typical classroom. Students are assigned to manual labor jobs in settings that match their chosen professions. By firsthand experience, students in technical colleges are exposed to hands-on activities and learn in the classroom. This is why educators and those providing vocational training should make an effort to instill a creative mindset in their students [2]. As an illustration, [3], in their studies listed that vocational skills target on how to develop on vocational skills such as innovative skills, self-motivated skills, financial skills, among others. [2], said that the need for vocational skills is growing as a result of technological progress, and graduates of technical colleges are expected to have learned innovative/creative talents to enable them to offer something new and become problem-solvers. The person can grow more deeply with the use of these kinds of skills. They might consider essential items, things, and services that haven’t yet been introduced to society but are important to it. They will be assisted in developing innovative problem-solving skills by doing this. In actuality, the majority of products on the market lack those inventive qualities, necessitating considerable consideration. To be able to instill the creative mindset in their pupils, vocational education trainers and teachers should make an effort to teach their students how to be creative [2] In order to put their newly learned practical and creative abilities to use in the creation of goods and services, they are also expected to have developed self- motivational skills. Having a personal drive or the desire to achieve particular standards, dedication to organizational goals, initiative or the readiness to seize chances when they arise, and optimism, which is the capacity to persist and pursue goals in the face of obstacles, are examples of these traits. Same principle is also applied in financial resources skills which enable the student to be able to handle money judiciously [4].
More to the above is the lack of marketing skill which involves thinking about how to reach the targeted audience for product and services. When there is a lack, the entrepreneur must comprehend what the public wants, pay attention to their demands, and communicate effectively with them. As time is illusive, they should also learn how to organize their schedules and manage their time with a clear understanding of what needs to be accomplished each day. Hence, the majority of instructors neglect to instruct their pupils on how to fill out forms, bill, print, create invoices, collect payments, manage receipts, and maintain accurate records of goods and services, tools, materials, and equipment. All of the listed talents need substantial attention because they don’t appear to have improved.
First, these skills are needed for enterprise productivity and profitability, as well as for national productivity and wealth creation. Without the necessary technical skills, enterprise and national growth can be seriously hobbled. Technological innovation and economic growth fuel the demand for skilled workers. The need for vocational skills is increasing because of technological change etc which is supposed to be increasing productivity and income but are not. This is especially important for those who are seeking out a living in the informal sector of the economy.
In all, there seems to be lack of improvement on already existing vocational skills as mentioned above from Technical Colleges that would enable their graduates to be self-employed and effectively function in today’s world of work. [5] noted that the purpose of improving on vocation skills is to enhance entrepreneurial development even though government is presumed that National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Small and Medium Industries Equity Investment Scheme (SMIEIS) and Development Finance Institutions (DFls) are meant to promote vocational skills. These Agencies help to remove constraints on entrepreneurs and expand the opportunities available to the students but they do not provide financial assistance where they do it is based on whom you know. All this avenue that supposed to be promoting entrepreneurial development are rather not helping issues. Entrepreneurial development ‘focuses on the individual who wishes to start or expand a business. Furthermore, entrepreneurship development concentrates more on growth potential and innovation. Essentially this means the acquisition of skills that will enable an entrepreneur to function appropriately and adequately in terms of:
- attaining present result based on previous decisions and planning for the future, based on present
- Maintaining and developing the organized capability which makes achievement possible, and
- Coordinating the specialist functions that should enable a firm to perform the technical task in marketing, personnel, research and development, manufacturing, finance and control, especially in the face of changing technology and dynamic industry
To perform these functions, the entrepreneurial development process, procedures and skill acquisition must entrench certain skills. These include conceptual skills, human skills and technical skills, which will transform the entrepreneur into a taskmaster, mediator and motivator. Today in Enugu State, population growth and urbanization; poverty and lack of income generating capacity are on the increase. This is followed by the failure of some graduates of Government Technical Colleges to secure a white collar job nor become self-enterprising. This points to lack of focus on the part of the students. The lack of focus makes one to understand the need for entrepreneurial development which emphasizes the development of appropriate skills that will enable those in Technical Colleges to be relevant to the world of work as well as to draw the majority of jobless people out of the unemployment market. There is, therefore, the need to reposition vocationally skills as the best means to improve vocational skills for entrepreneurial development in Government Technical Colleges which will eventually enhance the economic development of Nigeria. Based on the above, the researcher sought to offer more ideas as to how to improve on already existing skills for entrepreneurial development, specifically in Technical Colleges especially in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State. It is against this background that the researcher vents to find out how to improve vocational skills for Entrepreneurial Development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State
Discussion of the Findings
The first research question sought to find out how to improve innovative skills for entrepreneurial development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria. The result in Table 1 indicates that the ways to improve innovative skills for entrepreneurial development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria are by thinking of something new that sustains entrepreneurial spirit, inventing new products with a difference in the society, forming a good attitude towards customers and thinking creatively in impacting knowledge. The finding agrees with [2] who remarked that for the graduates of Technical Colleges to do well in entrepreneurial skills, they are expected to have acquired innovative/creative skills to enable them to introduce something new that may be capable of sustaining them and others in the society. [2], in his study concludes that vocational education trainers/teachers should endeavour to train their students on how to be creative so that they will be able to inculcate the attitude of creativity in their students. The second research question sought to identify how to improve self-motivation skills for entrepreneurial development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria. The study revealed that the ways to improve self-motivation skills for entrepreneurial development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria are by desiring to meet certain standards in the pursuit of becoming productive, by being committed to organizational goals, by having the ability to take advantage of opportunities when they occur and by pursuing goals in the face of setbacks. This finding corroborates with [4] who remarked that self-motivation skills which deals with the ability to be moved such that the practical and innovative skills acquired can be put to the production of goods and services.
CONCLUSION
The analysis and interpretations done and the information from related literature, is thinking creatively in impacting knowledge implies that:
- improving vocational skills for entrepreneurial development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria are by being creative, by thinking of something new that sustains entrepreneurial spirit, inventing new products with a difference in the society, forming a good attitude towards customers and
- improving vocational skills for entrepreneurial development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria are by being self- motivated, by desiring to meet certain standards in the pursuit of becoming productive, by being committed to organizational goals, by having the ability to take advantage of opportunities when they occur.
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- Osemeke,M. (2021).Entrepreneurial Development and Interventionist Agencies in Nigeria International Journal of Business and Social Science. 3(8), 255- 265. Ani, Nnenna Glory (2023). Improving Vocational Skills for Entrepreneurial Development in Government Technical Colleges in Enugu State, Nigeria. IDOSR JOURNAL OF BANKING, ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES 8(1): 9-16. https://doi.org/10.59298/JBESS/2023/10.2.1000 DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT PDF