An Assessment Of Employability Skills Among Technical And Vocational Education Students In Nigeria.

Archives Des Sciences Vol 65, No. 7;Jul 2012
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An Assessment of Employability Skills among Technical and
Vocational Education Students in Nigeria.
Ali Idris1, 2
(Corresponding Author)
Department of Technical and Engineering Education
1
University Teknologi Malaysia
81310 Skudai, Johor, MALAYSIA.
Department of Science and Technology Education
2
Bayero University Kano, 700241, Gwarzo Road, Kano-Nigeria
Tel: +60146463488, E-mail: aliidris.gwale@yahoo.com
Muhammad Rashid Rajuddin1
Department of Technical and Engineering Education
1
University Teknologi Malaysia
81310 Skudai, Johor, MALAYSIA
Tel: 07-5534437, E-mail: p-rashid@utm.my
Abstract
The research was conducted to investigate the level of importance as well as the competence among the
students of technical and vocational education in terms of employability skills in Nigeria. There are 233
final year students that constituted the sample for the study in Kano State. The respondents were picked
from mechanical, electronic, electrical installation and automobile departments in technical colleges in the
state. The data was collected using questionnaire which was adapted from Employability skills for
Australian small and medium sized enterprises. The analysis was done using descriptive statistics such as
mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study showed that all the respondents perceived the
employability skills components as high and rated their competency as low. A significant difference was
found among the students in terms of their ages while no significant difference was found between the
respondents in the area of competency. The study concludes that there is still an opportunity for technical
and vocational institution in Nigeria to focus and redouble efforts towards equipping the students’
employability skills. Quality education and training enhances productivity, therefore, students of technical
and vocational education in Nigeria need a better education that will help in accomplish the national goals.
Keywords: Employability skills, technical and vocation education.
1. Introduction
The challenges and constraints of access to quality education and skills training for the younger generation
in 21st
century are increasingly growing over the years. Quality education and training enhances the
productivity of the youths and, thus, create better chances to secure decent jobs in the labor market. Most of
the youths affected in the present situation in Nigeria include school dropouts, youths from the rural areas,
child laborers due to poverty, females that are deprived from attaining education due to social factors,
graduates of technical and vocational education who are ill-equipped and many more. Better training

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produces higher income which improves quality of life, occupational safety, diversity and the livelihood of
individuals (Maria, 2009).
Technical and vocational education system in Nigeria is designed to train competent personnel that will fit
into different sector of the economy. The graduates are expected carryout services, diagnose, tests and
repairs as highlighted in the national curriculum of technical colleges that is in use all over the federation
(Olayinka and Oyenuga, 2010). The speedy growth and changes taking place across the industrial sector
has brought about competitions and challenges in today’s economy in the area of high-tech technology,
information system, marketing, manufacturing and services. Therefore, for workers to effectively function
in these areas, they need to be highly knowledgeable in both “hard” technical skills and “soft” generic skills
for the maintenance and services of the industry and society at large (Wan-Mohammed and Yunus, 2009).
However, it is paramount to acknowledge the role of technical and vocational education to national
development. The main focus of TVE is the training of individuals on technical skills within the fields of
their study and related career. But the labor market across the globe is demanding individuals with both
technical as well as employability skills for them to effectively function and become more relevant and
successful (Bancino and Zevalkink, 2007). The importance of training and equipping individuals with
personal skills and qualities for the purpose of employment cannot be overemphasized; it therefore requires
collaborative efforts from all stake holders including the industry to fully develop and maintain the spirit
for the production of competent graduates that will face the challenges of rapidly changing economy (Wye
and Lim, 2009).
The international Labor Congress (ILC) at its 88th
session in 2000, defined employability skills as the
combination of all the skills, competencies as well as knowledge that enable individuals to acquire,
maintain and contain the challenges of a job. Individuals are said to be employable when they acquire the
components of employability skills through quality education and training in a broader way. These include
Problem Solving, Planning and Organizing, Learning & Technology, Self-management, Team work,
Initiative and Enterprise and Communication skills (David, 2008).
1.1 Technical and V
ocational Education in Nigeria
In Nigeria, “technical and vocational education is designed to prepare individuals with the knowledge and
skills for the purpose of earning a living (employable, self- employed or an employer of labor)” (Onyene,
Olusanya, Salisu & Johnson 2007).
In support of this statement, the national policy on education states that: “technical and vocational
education is used as a comprehensive term referring to those aspects of the educational process involving in
addition to general education, the study of technologies and related sciences and the acquisition of practical
skills, attitudes, understanding and knowledge relating to occupations in various sectors of the economic
and social life” (NPE, 2004:29).
The policy further states that, the goals of technical and vocational education shall be:
- to provide trained manpower in the applied science and business particularly at craft, advanced
craft and technical levels;
- to provide the technical and vocational skills necessary for agricultural, commercial and economic
development;
- to give training and impart necessary skills to individual who shall be self-reliant economically
(NPE, 2004:30).

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Despite the statement accorded in the national policy on education, the Nigeria’s technical and vocational
education lacks the quality it deserves for the training of our graduates (Oni, 2007). However, in the same
vain, the then minister of education reported in Vanguard newspaper on Thursday, 02 April 2009 that, the
priority attached by the government of Nigeria towards technical and vocational education for the
realization of vision 2020 is the focus of his administration. He says “Nigeria’s ability to realize its vision
of becoming one of the top 20 economies of the world by the year 2020 is largely dependent on its capacity
to transform its population into highly skilled and competent individuals. Many advanced economies place
a great emphasis on the knowledge and acquisition of technical and vocational skills. To this end, it is
unfortunate to say that our society places a stigma on this type of education by attaching more priority to
academic disciplines. The country is now at the point of importing labor from all over the world due to lack
of competent Nigerians with adequate skills to carter for the demands of the economy and the labor market,
such as good artisans” (Vanguard Newspapers, 2009).
However, the United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2008) noted that,
revitalizing and injecting values in TVE sector will provide the unemployed youths with the opportunity to
acquire decent jobs as well as improve the economic system of a nation.
1.1.1 Research Objectives
The main objective of this research is as follows:
1- To examine the level of importance of employability skills among the students.
2- To examine the levels of employability skills competencies among students.
3- To examine the differences of importance and competencies of employability skills among
students in terms age.
1.1.2 Research Questions
1- What are levels of importance of employability skills among the students?
2- What are the levels of employability skills competencies among the students?
3- Do the importance of employability skills and competencies differ among the students in
terms of age?
1.1.3 Research Methodology
The research was conducted using descriptive method with the final year students of five technical and
vocational schools in Nigeria. The respondents were picked from mechanical, electronic, electrical
installation and automobile departments. A total number of 582 students constituted the population of the
study while the sample size was determined using Krejeie and Morgan table (1970). Based on the size of
the population of 580 is equal to 234 respondents in which 300 questionnaires were distributed and 233
were retrieved. The questionnaire consisted of two parts. Part one sought information on the students’
demography whereas part two was about employability skills components. The instrument was adapted
from Employability skills for Australian small and medium sized enterprises (McLeish, 2002). The
reliability of the instrument was ascertained using Cronbach’s alpha with a value of 0.934.

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1.1.4 Results and Discussions
The results of the findings describe the students’ perceptions on the importance and competencies on
employability skills for the training of students of technical and vocational institutions in Nigeria. In
analyzing the level of importance and students’ competency, a mean average of 3.00 of five point likert
scale was used to categorize the importance and competency levels among the students. Any competency
score below 3.00 is considered to be of low importance and competence, while scores from 3.00 and above
is considered to be of high importance and competence (Uzoagulu, 1998).
The results of the objective one on the importance of employability skills in Table 1 were found to have all
the mean ratings greater than 3.00. Thirty-one out of 32 items were found to have a very high importance
with 3.50 and above, ranging from (M= 3.8541- 4.0558) while only one item “Listening and understanding
communication” was found to have less than 3.50 but also above 3.00 with the mean score of (M = 3.3948).
The students at technical and vocational schools in Nigeria perceived all the 31 out of 32 employability
skill items to be at very high importance level while one of the item “Listening and understanding
communication” was found to be at high level. This has signified how important the employability skills
are in terms of the entry level requirements as well as ability to cope with the workplace. The students
believed that Problem Solving, Planning and Organizing, Learning & Technology, Self-management, Team
work, Initiative and Enterprise and Communication skills which form part of the clusters are very necessary
in the training of students for them to be able to secure and maintain a job in the industrial sector.
In support of this finding, Rasul, et al (2010) conducted a research titled “Development of Employability
Skills Assessment Tool for Manufacturing Industry”. The research was conducted in Malaysia and the
result of the finding is in congruent with the finding of this research in terms of importance of
employability skills. The result shows that all the respondents in the five manufacturing industries rated the
importance of all the employability skills clusters as of high importance. In another similar study conducted
by Robinson and Bryan (2008) titled “An Assessment of the Employability Skills Needed by College of
Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources Graduates at the University of Missouri-Columbia”. The finding
shows that all the respondents perceived the importance of employability skills items to be at moderately
important towards the training of graduates in to workplace.
The second objective presented in Table 2 sought to describe students’ level of competence at performing
the employability skills. Seven out of the 32 employability skills had a mean competence greater than 3.00.
These were “Solving problems in team” (M= 3.1923), “Ability to manage time” (M = 3.1368), “Able to
manage self and work alone” (M = 3.1752), “Allocates people and other resources to tasks” (M = 3.0256),
“Have enthusiasm for ongoing learning” (M = 3.3205), “Willing to learn in any setting” (M = 3.4274) and
“Acknowledge the need to learn in order to accommodate change” (M = 3.3248) while the rest of the
twenty-five items fall within the ratings of low competence with the mean scores ranging between (M =
2.0641 - 2.4444). The overall mean was found to 2.4901 which signify a low competence of the general
performance of the students.
The findings indicated that, the students’ possessed level of competence in terms of employability skills is
low. This is contrary to a related study conducted by Kazilan, Hamzah and Ab. Rahim (2009) titled
“Employability Skills among the Students of Technical and Vocational Training Centers in Malaysia”. The
results of the finding revealed that, the possessed competency level of employability skills by the students
is at moderate level.

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Table 1. Students’ perception on the importance of employability skills (n=233)
S/No Employability skills Means Std. Deviation
1 Listening and understanding communication 3.3948 1.09795
2 Speaking clearly and directly 4.2918 0.78277
3 Reading independently 4.1159 0.87561
4 Working well with peers and supporting staff 4.1674 0.93880
5 Transfer effectively between individual work and team work 3.9056 0.99983
6 Knowing own role as part of the team in the work situation 4.0472 0.96597
7 Be able to develop creative solutions in practical problems 4.1931 0.91517
8 Showing independence and initiative in identifying problems and solving them 4.0687 0.93978
9 Solving problems in team 4.2489 0.87976
10 Making estimate and calculate well 4.2876 0.82976
11 Understanding tables, figures and can interpret graphs 4.1116 0.93102
12 Understanding basic budgeting 3.9614 0.95739
13 Ability to adapt to new situations 4.0773 2.13207
14 Ability to develop a strategic vision 3.9657 0.99074
15 Ability to manage time 4.1931 0.94757
16 Able to manage self and work alone 3.9914 0.98695
17 Being resourceful 3.9185 1.03693
18 Be able to make decisions 3.9614 0.94835
19 Understand relationships amongst workplace, processes and systems 3.9013 1.06417
20 Adapts resource allocation to cope with contingencies 3.8541 1.08087
21 Allocates people and other resources to tasks 3.9313 1.14263
22 Have enthusiasm for ongoing learning 4.0300 1.03971
23 Willing to learn in any setting 4.2103 0.92544
24 Open to new ideas and techniques 4.0730 0.95988
25 Prepare to invest time and effort in learning new skills 4.0862 0.98093
26 Acknowledge the need to learn in order to accommodate change 4.0901 1.02786
27 Able to relate the use of technology to work 4.0343 0.95531
28 Having basic computer skills 4.1202 0.97961
29 Willing to upgrade technology skills 4.0429 0.92282
30 Willing to use a range of technologies 4.3004 1.58246
31 Use technology to seek, process and present information 4.4549 3.88730
32 Use relevant and physical abilities for application of technology 4.0558 .92911
Scale: Very High (VH), High (H), Moderately Low (ML), Low (L), and Very Low (VL)
The low skills acquired by the students could be attributed to one of the reasons why the graduates of
technical and vocational education are un-employable in the labor market. It is also one of the reasons why
the government of Nigeria is importing labor from outside the country. Although, employability skills is not

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a component that is being taught in a classroom as a subject but it is rather classified as the knowledge that
is being acquired through the process of education and training of students in the schools. These could be
obtained through the system such as library, laboratory/workshop, teaching and learning etc. (Ab. Rahim
and Hanafi, 2007).
Table 2. Students’ level of competence
S/No Employability skills Means Std. Deviation
1 Listening and understanding communication 2.3974 1.09630
2 Speaking clearly and directly 2.4444 1.11905
3 Reading independently 2.2650 1.12248
4 Working well with peers and supporting staff 2.2607 1.17758
5 Transfer effectively between individual work and team work 2.2009 1.11479
6 Knowing own role as part of the team in the work situation 2.0897 1.11007
7 Be able to develop creative solutions in practical problems 2.2650 1.09539
8 Showing independence and initiative in identifying problems and solving them 2.2521 1.07672
9 Solving problems in team 3.1923 1.13913
10 Making estimate and calculate well 2.3291 1.16395
11 Understanding tables, figures and can interpret graphs 2.2051 1.09653
12 Understanding basic budgeting 2.2137 1.09880
13 Ability to adapt to new situations 2.1581 1.05462
14 Ability to develop a strategic vision 2.1880 1.11511
15 Ability to manage time 3.1368 1.20732
16 Able to manage self and work alone 3.1752 1.14565
17 Being resourceful 2.9829 1.16444
18 Be able to make decisions 2.1581 1.11014
19 Understand relationships amongst workplace, processes and systems 2.1538 1.01589
20 Adapts resource allocation to cope with contingencies 2.0641 1.16464
21 Allocates people and other resources to tasks 3.0256 1.01881
22 Have enthusiasm for ongoing learning 3.3205 1.20614
23 Willing to learn in any setting 3.4274 1.19237
24 Open to new ideas and techniques 2.4402 1.14536
25 Prepare to invest time and effort in learning new skills 2.4359 1.19645
26 Acknowledge the need to learn in order to accommodate change 3.3248 1.15219
27 Able to relate the use of technology to work 2.3077 1.13819
28 Having basic computer skills 2.1496 1.21465
29 Willing to upgrade technology skills 2.2650 1.17113
30 Willing to use a range of technologies 2.3419 1.14721
31 Use technology to seek, process and present information 2.1863 1.18252
32 Use relevant and physical abilities for application of technology 2.3248 1.04679
Scale: Very High Competence (VHC), High Competence (HC), Moderate Competence (MC), Low

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Competence (LC) and Very Low Competence (VLC).
The result of the third objective in Tables 3 and 4 sought to find the differences of perception of students in
terms importance as well as competencies. The finding shows that a significant difference was found within
the ages 16 -18 and 19 -21 (m = 4.128 and 3.69; SD =.48 and .51) with total mean average of 3.68 rated the
importance of employability skills higher than students within 22 -24 years and 25 & above (m =3.54 and
3.40; SD =.38 and .28).
The findings of objective three found a significant difference between the students from the age of 16-18
and 19-21 to have considered the employability skills components to be of high importance with their
counterparts within the ages of 22-24 and 25 and above. This indicates that students within the ages of
16-21 perceived the importance of employability skills clusters towards entry in to the workplace as a
factor that will help to secure and maintain jobs.
Table 3. Level of importance of employability skills among students’ age
Age Number of Students Mean Std. Deviation
16-18 111 4.1288 .48400
19-21 108 3.6988 .51097
22-24 12 3.5458 .38462
above 25 2 3.4000 .28284
Total 233 3.6859 .49495
Table 4. Means for Competencies among students’ age
Age Number of Students Mean Std. Deviation
16-18 111 2.8031 .49032
19-21 108 3.3119 .49850
22-24 12 2.6708 .38344
above 25 2 3.1000 .28284
Total 233 2.9705 .49594
The findings of this study in Table 4 also shows that no significant difference was found in terms of
competence level among students (m = 2.80, 3.31, 2.69 and 3.10; SD = .49, .49, .38 and .28) with total
mean average of 2.97 indicating that students have low level of competence in their employability skill
irrespective of age. This indicates that all the students have equal perception towards the type of education
and training they acquired in terms of their competencies on employability skills. This study is also in line
with the findings of Arensdorf (2009) in his study titled “The Perceptions of Employability Skills

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Transferred from Academic Leadership Classes to the Workplace: A Study of the FHSU Leadership Studies
Certificate Program”. The result affirms that, no significant difference was found in among the 237
respondents on the levels of competence in all the employability skills components.
Conclusively, education and training in Nigeria has not received the much desired attention for the
production of skilled personnel for the purpose of industrial development and work habits. The
employability skill acquired by the students of technical and vocational education is at a low level and
could not support the graduates towards entry in to the workplace. A part from acquiring the basic technical
skills in various technical programs, the students need to be equipped with soft skills for entry into the
world of work. All the seven skills components namely; Problem Solving, Planning and Organizing,
Learning & Technology, Self-management, Team work, Initiative and Enterprise and Communication skills
were rated high by the respondents as important items towards entry and maintaining job career but the
competency in terms of employability skills remains low. However, there is still an opportunity for
technical and vocational institution in Nigeria to focus and redouble efforts towards equipping the students’
employability skills. Quality education and training enhances productivity, therefore, students of technical
and vocational education in Nigeria need a better education that will help in accomplish the national goals.
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