PERCEIVED CHALLENGES OF OYO STATE TECHNICAL COLLEGES: IMPLICATIONS FOR STUDENT SKILL ACQUISITION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

The importance attached to technical and vocational education (TVE) lies in its capacity for enhancing skill acquisition of beneficiaries, quality of human capital, development of a nation’s economy, advancement of technology and reduction of youth unemployment. However, it has been noted with worry that the training received by the beneficiaries of TVE especially at technical colleges does not meet the requirements of the world of work. Therefore, the paper examined student and teacher perceptions on challenges and implications of skill acquisition in Oyo State technical colleges, Nigeria. Survey research design of the ex-post facto type was adopted and involved all the 3,405 students’ and 128 members of staff of Oyo state technical colleges. Simple random and proportionate-to-size sampling techniques were employed to select 850 final-year students and 50 teachers while the five principals were purposively selected. Staff and Student Perceived Challenges Questionnaire (SSPCQ: r=0.79), Effects of Perceived Challenges on Skill Acquisition Questionnaire (EPCSAQ: r=0.081) and Effects of Skill Acquisition on Economic Development Questionnaire (ESAEDQ: r=0.71) were used to obtain data. Using the percentage, the results revealed that shortage of resources, production units, poor policy and curriculum implementation, wrong attitudes, inadequate practical and staff motivation negatively influenced skill acquisition and economic development. Therefore, Government should adequately provide factors that hinder skill acquisition while other stakeholders should have positive attitudes towards TVE.