PERCEPTIONS OF BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS ON THE RELEVANCE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION AT THE COLLEGES OF EDUCATION LEVEL
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PERCEPTIONS
OF BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS ON THE RELEVANCE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
AT THE COLLEGES OF EDUCATION LEVEL
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The teaching
and learning of Entrepreneurship Education in tertiary institutions is of
paramount interest to all stakeholders. The National Policy on Education
describes Education as an instrument ‘par excellence’ for effecting national
development (FRN, 2004). It is conceived that education is capable of bringing
about the desired socio-economic and political changes in the country. The
recent call for the inclusion of Entrepreneurship Education in tertiary
educational institutions in Nigeria is an indication of its importance to
employment creation; as Nigeria continues to churn out graduates from our
various institutions that are hardly self reliant but solely dependent on white
collar jobs for sustenance because they lack adequate skills that will make
them function effectively and efficiently towards the development of the
economy.
In the
western world, the need to recognizing entrepreneurship education started to
gain prominence immediately after the Second World War. After the World War 11
that lasted for a period of six (6) years (1939 – 1945), there was evidence of
collapse of most of the structures of the economy thereby making it impossible
for the government to fully absorb all the graduates of the educational system.
Though the situation during those periods were not the same with what was
obtainable in developing countries like Nigeria. The discovery of crude oil at
Oloibiri in the 1950s subsequently led to oil boom in the country and there
were enough funds in the government treasury to fully absorb all the graduates
of the educational system at various levels. The collapse of the oil boom
thereby leading to economic recession in the country with its accompanying
problems – unemployment, poverty and othe social vices like kidnapping, youth
restiveness, and Boko Haram insurgency redirected the focus of Nigerians. The
increasing level of unemployment in the country was what informed the
introduction of entrepreneurship education in 2006 by the Federal Government to
remedy the problems of unemployment, poverty and unrest in the country
(Ediagbonya, 2013; Imeokparia & Ediagbonya, 2013).
The Federal
Government made the programme compulsory for students of higher education
institutions irrespective of area of specialization and in most tertiary
institutions, entrepreneurship education has been adopted as a compulsory
general studies course for students. The overall objective is to continuously
foster entrepreneurship culture and spirit amongst students and faculty with a
view to educating them as well as supporting graduates of the system towards
establishing and also maintaining sustainable business ventures (Urbano, Aponte
& Toledano, 2008). The Minister of education stressed that the National
Universities Commission (NUC) was given presidential directives by the Ministry
of Education to supervise and coordinate the programme of introducing
entrepreneurship education in Nigerian institutions of higher learning in
collaboration with all regulatory bodies of higher institutions – the National
Board for Technical Education (NBTE), National Commission for Colleges of
Education (NCCE) to be handled by the committee set up by the Federal
Government.
As a nation,
Nigeria has been working tirelessly since the collapse of oil boom to achieve
youth independence, poverty eradication and improved economic status through
several reforms and programme initiatives such as the Operation Feed the Nation
(OFN), National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP), Structural Adjustment
Programme (SAP), National Directorate of Employment (NDE) among others.
Regrettably, however these programme initiatives aimed at capacity building and
utilization seem not to have helped in any way to equip young school leavers
(Youths) with appropriate skills that will empower them after graduation from
school (Okolocha & Okolocha, 2012).
Despite
strong economic growth, youth’s full – time unemployment rate for 2006-2008 in
Nigeria was put at 55.9%. Till today, youth unemployment has continued to be on
the increase. Countries like Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan,
China, India, Korea, to mention a few, have joined the community of
industrialized nations by strengthening their small scale industries. Nigeria
on its part is equally trying to join other industrialized countries by 2020.
It is in a bid to bridge the gap between youth unemployment and job creation
that the Federal Ministry of Education made entrepreneurship education one of the
compulsory general studies for students in tertiary institutions across the
country to inculcate in the youths the spirit of self reliance, which has
become essential for national economic growth and development. The essence of
entrepreneurship education is to build in the students entrepreneurship spirit
and culture (Akpomi, 2009; Adejimola & Olufunmilayo, 2009).
Entrepreneurship education has emphasis on education for self-employment rather
than education for paid employment. This kind of education has become so
important in Nigeria owing to the high level of unemployment coupled with its
accompanying social vices and unrest. It is believed that this kind of
education is capable of meaningfully engaging the individuals and making them
more productive and useful to themselves and the country at large.
The growth
and development of the economy depends largely on the kind of skills that the
graduates of our educational institutions are equipped with. According to
Ihebereme (2010), skill acquisition is the process of acquiring or gaining
effective and ready knowledge in developing ones aptitude and ability in a
particular field. Skill acquisition is one among the policies embarked upon in
Nigeria with the sole aim to alleviate poverty, youth restiveness, sophisticated
crime and corruption rate; rural – urban drift, unemployment and other social
vices (Ihebereme, 2010). Skill acquisition in Nigeria tertiary education level
is meant to equip our students with more practical and less theoretical
knowledge on income generating skills. Mbionwu (2008) noted that when youths
are given adequate training in skills, they can be self-employed after
schooling; hence they become active partners in both community and national
development. The possession of skill is important in preventing youths from
becoming social misfit. Ihebereme (2008) opined that skill acquisition
(Entrepreneurship) education in Nigerian educational system acts as a
rehabilitator, re-orientator, motivator and empowered to the under-privileged
(students of poor parents). These skills are described as entrepreneurial
skills (Akudolu, 2010).
Okolocha and
Okolocha (2012) described entrepreneurship skills as business skills which one
acquires to function effectively in the turbulent business environment as an
independent or self-employed person in order to improve one’s economic status
and the society at large. The result of the study carried out by Okebukola
(2006) confirmed that most Nigerian graduates are deficient in self-reliance
and entrepreneurial skills. In a similar vein, Anyakoha (1997) as cited by
Olumese and Clark (2011) stressed that training for entrepreneurship skill
development is not currently well articulated by Nigerian universities. The
importance of entrepreneurial skill cannot be over-emphasized since appropriate
skill acquisition through entrepreneurship will help to make young school
leavers’ to be self-reliant and boost their economic states. Isike (2008)
stated that entrepreneurship has been identified globally and nationally as a tool
for generating a sustainable economy which is the core value of the National
Economic Empowerment Development Strategies (NEEDS). Uloko and Ejinkonye (2010)
remarked that when youths are empowered through the acquisition of
entrepreneurial skills, there is the possibility that they will use the skills
to create new avenues for wealth. Empowering the youths to set up businesses
involves proper acquisition of skills through education and training. In a
study carried out by Egwanyenga and Ranor (2012), the authors concluded that
the entrepreneurial skills are: managerial skills, accounting and financial
competency skills, marketing and sales, general business and human relations
skills. The entrepreneurial skills possessed by graduates are perceived in different
ways by stakeholders.
STATEMENT OF
THE PROBLEM
Entrepreneurship
education which is a sort of intervention programme which was introduced into
Nigeria’s tertiary education sub-sector in 2006 to remedy the unemployment
challenge; and redirect the attention of our youths/graduates towards job
creation by instilling in them relevant entrepreneurial skills that will
positively grow and develop the economy. The goals and objectives of the
programme seem laudable and for these goals and objectives to be achieved, some
machinery has to be put in place. The relevance of this programme in the
curriculum of all tertiary institutions in Nigeria is geared at creating an
entrepreneurial culture and entrepreneurial spirits in the students. Since the
introduction of this programme, there seems to be increase in graduates’
unemployment. For instance, the unemployment rate as at 2006 was 5.3 percent
but as at 2011, it has risen up to 23.9 percent. Many graduates seem to be
roaming the streets in search for white collar jobs. The rate of poverty,
corruption and so many other social vices has become worrisome to the
government and to every well meaning citizen despite the introduction of
entrepreneurship education. This state of affair is of great concern to the
researchers and if this trend continues, it will leave no one in doubt to
question the relevance of entrepreneurship education in the school curriculum.
The main
purpose of this research work was to find out the perceptions of Business
Education students on the relevance of Entrepreneurship Education.
METHODOLOGY
DESIGN OF
THE STUDY
This study
adopted survey design since it was basically an enquiry into the perceptions of
Business Education students’ on the relevance of Entrepreneurship Education in
Colleges of Education in Edo State. This is in agreement with Nworgu (1991) as
cited in Omoroguiwa (2006) that a research survey is one in which a group of
people or items is studied by collection and analyzing data from only a few
people or items considered to be representative of the entire population.
POPULATION
OF THE STUDY
The population
of this study consists of all year three Business Education students that
offered Entrepreneurship Education in the Colleges of Education in Edo State.
The total population was 810 students.
SAMPLE AND
SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
The sample
size for the study was 162 students representing 20% of the population. The
proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used in drawing up the
sample from the entire population and which is considered to be representative
of the whole population.
Table 1:
Distribution of Population and Sample of Business Education Students in
Colleges of Education-Ekiadolor and College of Education-Igueben
Institution
POPULATION
OF BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS
Sample Size
of Business Education Students
College of
Education, Ekiadolor 310 62
College of
Education, Igueben 500 100
Total
810 162
Source: The
Institutions’ Admission Officers
INSTRUMENTATION
The
instrument used for this study was a structured questionnaire. The
questionnaire was used in eliciting information from the respondent and it was
titled: Business Education Students’ Perceptions of Entrepreneurship Education
Questionnaire (BESPEEQ).It was divided into two parts – A and B. Part A
consisted of the demographic variables of the respondent while part B consists
of five (5) sections with twenty six (26) opinion statements designed in a
4-Point Rating Scale showing Strongly Agreed (SA), Agreed (A), Disagreed (D)
and Strongly Disagreed (SD).
VALIDITY OF
THE INSTRUMENT
The
instrument was subjected to content and face validity. It was given to two
experts in Measurement and Evaluation and Business Education in the Faculty of
Education, University of Benin (UNIBEN) and their inputs to the draft
instrument were incorporated into the final questionnaire.
RELIABILITY
OF THE INSTRUMENT
A test
retest method was used in establishing the reliability of the questionnaire.
The instrument was administered to twenty (20) respondents in the population
who were not part of the sample. It was re-administered after two weeks on the
same respondents. The two scores were analyzed using Pearson’s Product Moment
Correlation Co-efficient (r) formula and the reliability coefficient of 0.78
was obtained.
METHOD OF
DATA COLLECTION
The
researchers utilized the face to face method of data collection. The
researchers engaged the services of two (2) research assistants who were
exposed to a short training on how to go about the data collection in the
institutions for the study; copies of the questionnaire were thereafter
collated by the researchers.
METHOD OF
DATA ANALYSIS
The
descriptive statistics used included frequencies, percentages, mean and
standard deviation and they were used in answering all the research questions,
while t – test was used to analyze the hypothesis formulated for the study at
0.05 level of significance. Any mean value of 2.50 and above was considered as
accepted while below 2.50 was considered as rejected.
DATA
ANALYSIS OF DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
The
descriptive statistic adopted in analyzing the demographic variable was the
simple percentage (%).
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