Colloque International du ROCARE, Bamako 2015

1. Feasibility Study for Delivering an Innovative
Educational Programme to Enhance the Employability
Skills of Upper Basic School Leavers in Gambia, Guinea-
Bissau, Nigeria and Senegal
ERNWACA Transnational Study
[2014-2015]
Jonathan A. Odukoya, Ph.D
Principal Researcher, Nigeria
Eno Etudor. Ph.D
Assistant Principal Researcher [South East]
Victor Olukoju
Assistant Principal Researcher [South West]
Offiah Biddy
Representative of the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja
Project Supervised by
Prof Ajibade Adegoke [Professor of Curriculum Studies]

2. Justification & Significance of Study
• [Watch this video clip] According to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics
(2008), out of 23,631,000 children that enrolled in Nigerian Primary
school, 20,204,000 transited to Secondary schools in 2006.
Consequently, about 3.5 million teenagers are left wondering the
streets annually. The abject poverty in Africa further compounds the
situation.
• More than 50% of those who managed to gain admission into
secondary schools could barely make ends meet and consequently
resort to ‘farming or hawking’ to support their parents. The Principal
Researcher for this study went through this kind of experience.
• Majority of these kids were hardly equipped for the world of works,
yet they have to work to survive and raise funds to continue their
educational pursuit. This is the dire need of this teeming population.
Failure to meet this need is apt to spell doom for the society as many
of them, in desperation to survive, may end up as truants and threats
to the society in the near future. This scenario depicts the
significance of this study.

4. Statements of Problem
The core problems that prompted this study are:
• Curriculum that hardly produce self reliant, patriotic
and employable graduates at almost all tiers of the
education system in West and Central Africa.
• Concomitant poor implementation of the curriculum.
• Lack of basic infrastructure and financial resources to
allow for the effective implementation of the
curriculum.
• Production of millions of Basic School Leavers, majority
of whom are becoming more of liabilities than assets in
their respective nations.

5. General Objectives
• Ascertain the extent to which the Curriculum for
Upper Basic School is relevant to the social and
economic demands for employability.
• Explore the feasibility of developing a
competence-based program of study for Upper
Basic School leavers which integrates the concept
of employability into the Curriculum?
• Determine the relative effectiveness of the
innovative programme of study developed to
enhance the employability skills of UBS or JSS
leavers in the sampled countries

6. Research Questions
• What are the gaps, in terms of inculcating
sustainable employability skills in Basic School
Students, in the current curriculum used in the
sampled ERNWACA member countries?
• In what ways can the curriculum be improved
to enhance the employability of Basic Education
Leavers?
• What is the relative effectiveness of the
innovative programme of study targeted at
enhancing the employability skills of UBS or JSS
leavers in the sampled countries?

7. Operational Definition of Terms
• Employability – Employability, as used in this
study, is a state of being employable or being able
to create gainful employment for oneself. It
means acquiring competency skills that will
empower/equip students to adequately fit into
the world of work now and in the near future. It
means equipping students to be more
productive.
• Upper Basic School Leavers – This refers to Junior
Secondary class 1 to 3 or Basic 7 to 9. For the
purpose of this study, the sample is drawn from
Basic 7 and 8 (JS1 & JS2), to allow for partial
longitudinal study. SS 1 & 2 students were
included in Nigeria due to level of maturity

8. Operational Definition of Terms
• Basic Education [BE]– for this study, the Torres (1993) definition
based on Jomtien EFA declaration, is adopted:
Limited Vision Expanded Vision (Jomtien)
BE is for children Be is for children, youth, and adults
BE takes place in the school BE takes place in and out of school
BE refers to primary school education or its equivalent BE cannot be measured by numbers of certificates, but
rather by learning achievement
The learning of a specific amount of material or subjects
is the guarantee for BE
The ability to meet basic learning needs is the guarantee
for BE
The only kind of knowledge transmitted in the school
system through a systematic education program
BE recognizes the validity of traditional knowledge
BE is confined to a specific phase of life BE is a lifelong process that begins at birth
BE is homogeneous and identical for everyone BE is differentiated (because every group and culture has
its own distinct basic learning needs)
BE is static and does not tend to change BE is dynamic and subject to change
BE is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education BE involves every ministry and every government
authority responsible for educational activities
BE is a government responsibility Source: Torres 1993 BE is the responsibility of government as well as of
society as a whole, and educational activities therefore
require consensus and coordination

9. Literature Review
• Upon graduation from high school, many students find
themselves on the road of life with little direction, their
career path developments limited by their lack of
exposure to a good solid career education program
(Galloway, 1983). In today's world of work, students need
specific skills that many business leaders and community
members feel are lacking in today's graduating students.
The acquisition of these skills -- the employability skills --
and the teaching of these skills, is the subject of this
study which focused on junior high and middle schools.
This project highlighted the reason why it is necessary for
schools to teach employability skills and examined the
skills needed in today's job market.

10. Conceptual Framework
Predominantly
Employable
Upper Basic
School Leavers
Predominantly
Un-
employable
Upper Basic
School Leavers
Development
and Astute
Implementation
of Innovative
Programme of
Study for Upper
Basic School
Students

11. Methodology
• Research Design – This study is predominantly qualitative, with in-
depth search for the state of employability skills amongst students and
teaching staff in the Upper Basic Schools. Thus, the study entailed the
use of survey with in-depth interview, focused group discussion, overt
and covert observations etc. However, the experimental design will
be used to ascertain the degree of effectiveness of the intervention.
• Population, Sample & Sampling Technique – The population for this
study includes: Upper Basic School [UBS] Students; Teachers in the
Upper Basic Schools; Education Authorities; Employers of labour;
Parents; and Community Leaders; Law enforcement agents. In all, the
population of targeted UBS leavers is estimated at 25 million annually
in Nigeria. Being a qualitative study, specific and limited number of
UBS students were randomly selected from stratified targeted
population. The sample distribution is displayed on the next slide.

12. Sample Distribution of Schools in Nigeria
Northern
Nigeria
South
West Ngr
South
East Ngr
Total
Public State/LG -- 1 1 2
Federal
Unity
1 -- -- 1
Command -- -- 1 1
Nomadic -- -- -- --
Private Individual 1 2 -- 3
Mission
/Quaranic
-- 1 1 2
Total 2 4 3 9
12 Students were randomly selected from JS 1 & 2 respecting gender balance. SS 1&2 were added
in some schools. The total sample of students involved in the study was:

13. Instruments
• School Profile Form - The School Profile Form [SPF] was
designed to capture the school profile and ICT resources.
• Curriculum Evaluation Grid - Nigeria recently released a
new curriculum which was not yet fully in circulation. Both
curricula were evaluated. Key curriculum
components/content were reviewed with regard to their
relevance to the enhancement of school leavers’
employability. The core prompts were: ‘A’ - if the
employability indicator is in the curriculum; ‘B’ - if it is not
in the curriculum; ‘C’ - if it has practical component; ‘D’ -
if practical work was done; ‘E’ - if there was a programme
in place to sustain the practical work to ensure it becomes
part of students’ habit or lifestyle outside school
• Classroom Observation Grid - This is a structured
observation of classroom teaching activities.

14. Instruments
• Teachers Questionnaire [TQ] - TQ was developed to assess
Teacher’s knowledge of the concept of employability and the
curriculum as it relates to Upper Basic students.
• Students’ Assessment Battery [SAB] - The SAB was developed to
assess the level of proficiency of students on key employability
skills.
• Students’ Practicality Test [SPT] – Students practically
demonstrated some of the employability skills they have acquired.
• Focused Group Discussion [FGD] Guideline - FGD guideline was
designed to draw on the wealth of experience of stakeholders.
• Overt Observation Gadgets [OOG]- OOGs such as iPAD and Tablet’s
video and camera were used to capture relevant performance
activities displayed by students to demonstrate their level of
employability skills. The FGD event was also recorded with these
gadgets.

15. Procedure for Data Collection
• Three Assistant Principal Researchers [APR] were
appointed and trained.
• The APR for the North [covering Federal Capital
Territory (FCT) and Nassarawa State] was
nominated by the Federal Minister of Education.
• The APRs further trained the State Assistant
Researchers [SARs] and School-Based Directors of
Programmes [SBDP] who were the end users of the
various instruments earmarked for collection of
baseline data. Relevant official permissions were
obtained.

16. Data Analysis
Quantitative Analysis
• Baseline data collected were analysed with basic
descriptive statistics such as frequency count,
percentages, mean, and charts. The
experimental segment of the study will use the t-
test and ANOVA statistics to test for mean
differences
Qualitative Analysis
• Pictures and video recordings of some events
were also made. Qualitative analyses of the FGDs
were also made. The APR for South-west
geopolitical zone also made a video documentary
report.

17. Results
Table 2: SUMMARY OF
SCHOOL PROFILE
School
Category
Functional
Computers
Total UBS
Student
Population
Utilization of
PC by
Students
WEST ITAM SEC. SCH, EKIT ITAM 2,
AKWA IBOM
Public
6 3800 No
LUTHERAN HIGH SCHOOL, OBOT IDIM
IBESIKPO, AKWA IBOM
Christian
Mission School
24 439 Yes
AIRFORCE COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL,
AKWA IBOM
Private Elite
[Military]
20 256 Yes
AUNTY DELE COLLEGE, LAFIA,
NASSARAWA
Private
20 270 Yes
FEDERAL GOVT BOYS COLLEGE, ABUJA Federal Govt
Model School
45 696 Yes
COVENANT UNIVERSITY SEC SCHOOL,
OTA, OGUN STATE
Private Elite
20 318 Yes
VICTORY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE,
IBADAN
Christian
Mission School
30 141 Yes
URBAN DAY SECONDARY SCHOOL,
IBADAN
Public
1 799 No
CHRIST ANGLICAN SECONDARY
SCHOOL, IBADAN
Public
0 476 No

18. Results
• The result in Table 2 shows that: Federal Government Boys College,
Air Force Comprehensive School and Private/Mission schools like
Lutheran, Aunty Dele. Covenant Secondary School and Victory
Christian College tend to have sizeable number of functional
computer which were equally available for students’ usage.
However, virtually all the public schools sampled had no functional
computer. West Itam and Urban Day Secondary Schools that tend
to have six and one functional computers respectively did not make
it available for students’ usage. They were for administrative use.
• The result further shows that the public schools tend to be
overpopulated with students when compared with the private and
Government model schools [Watch the video].
• These findings have strong implications for training for
enhancement of employability skills. The student population and
paucity of ICT facilities in Public schools are apt to hinder effective
and sustainable inculcation of employability skills in the students

19. West Itam Secondary School, Uyo,
Akwa Ibom, Nigeria – SS2 Students

20. Curriculum Evaluation
• One of the new features added to Nigeria’s new curriculum is the
merging of subjects. For instance Introductory Technology,
Agricultural Science and Basic Science were merged into one
subject. Consequently, instead of the previous 17 subjects taken by
UBS or JSS students, they now have 10 subjects. Since little or no
content was lost, this has made the new subject more loaded and
demanding in terms of implementation. For some subjects, more
real life practical activities were included. Often, the challenge is
with non availability of training and practical materials [for school
and for student’s personal practice] to allow for sustainable
implementation.
• The evaluation further revealed a number of gaps in the new
curriculum when measured against the targets of employability
skills expected in the UBS or JSS leavers. The area of consistent
shortfall in virtually all the content areas were the issues of practical
work and sustainability programme. They were simply lacking in
many subjects in virtually all the schools sampled. This are the
cornerstones of entrepreneurship and employability skills.

21. Curriculum Evaluation Outcome
• Speaking, Non-verbal cues [body language],
Handwriting, Negotiation, Listening Skill,
Consumer education, Creative thinking skills,
ability to test ideas and solutions; Writing simple
business plan, implementing business plan
Generating Capital and Investment knowledge
cum skill were conspicuously lacking in the new
curriculum.
• Sustainability of acquired entrepreneurial skill
was also conspicuously missing.

22. Table 4: Students’ Achievement in
Basic Entrepreneurial Skills
EnglishApplicationletter
FrenchApplicationLetter
Dev.AreasClassification
ScienceKnowledge-CO
ManagementSkill
Husbandryskill-Agric
LeadershipSkill
Mathsskill1
Mathsskill2
SpokenEnglish-apptletter
SpokenDialect-apptletter
SpokenFrench-apptletter
SMSusage
Emailusage
Excelusage
Total(%)
West Itam, Akwa Ibom 4.7 0.5 5.6 3.8 6.1 4.8 5.5 4.0 0.0 5.2 4.3 0.4 3.3 0.9 0.0 32.6
Airforce Compre Sch A/Ibp, 5.6 1.8 5.6 5.8 9.2 5.4 6.3 0.0 0.0 6.9 3.8 0.6 4.0 0.9 0.0 37.3
Lutheran, A/Ibom 5.7 0.3 6.1 4.5 7.8 6.0 8.5 2.9 0.5 5.6 2.6 0.0 3.1 2.4 0.0 37.1
Federal Govt Boys Abuja 4.5 1.7 5.9 3.2 7.7 5 6.8 2.9 0 4.3 5.4 2.1 1.86 0.7 0.3 34.9
Aunty Dele College, Lafia 4.6 0 5 2.6 9 5.9 7.1 2.4 0 4.5 2.2 0 1.41 0.0 0.0 29.7
Urban Day Sec Sch, Ibadan 6.5 0.6 3.6 1 5.8 3.7 7.9 1 0 3 2.3 0.3 3.6 0.0 0.0 26.2
Chrst Angl Sec Sch, Ibadan 4.8 0 4.5 3.2 6.8 4.3 8.1 0.9 0 3.7 3.3 0.2 3.18 0.0 2.3 30.2
Victory Ibadan, Oyo State 6.6 2.4 4.5 3.8 5 2.9 2.9 3.3 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 20.9
Covenant Univ Sec Sch, Ota 5.8 0.2 4.6 3 7.6 5 6.8 2 0 6 1.8 0.2 7.8 0.0 0.0 33.9
Note: The total score per category or section is 10 marks

23. Students’ Achievement in Basic
Entrepreneurial Skills
• From the results in Table 4, it is apparent that majority
of the students sampled could communicate fairly well
in Written and Verbal English Language. However, they
were grossly deficient in written and spoken French.
Ironically, many of them were also deficient in the use of
their native language [dialect].
• The results further show that many of the students have
challenges with mathematical computational skills,
email usage, excel usage and related basic
entrepreneurial skills. These are vital employability
skills in the 21st century.
• This finding is further reiterating the earlier submissions
that Teachers and Students require further innovative
training to enhance their employability skills.

24. Outcome of Focused Group Discussion
[Expected Skills Profile for Upper Basic School Leavers]
• WRITING SKILLS
– Understanding basic syntax and grammar rules plus common
mistakes in English
– Writing Letters – Formal and Informal [Applying for Job;
Communicating Friends & Biz Partners]
– Writing Articles [to change views and opinions]
– Writing Stories/Novels [Publishing]
– Writing Business Proposals
– Writing Simple Drama Scripts [Drama & Film Production]
– Writing Reports
– Handwriting
– Typing Skill/Word Processing [also under ICT] [Business Centre]

25. Outcome of Focused Group Discussion
[Expected Skills Profile for Upper Basic School Leavers]
• LISTENING, SPEAKING & COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS
– Phonetics – right pronunciation skill
– Listening Comprehension, especially of foreign tongues
– Persuasive Speech
– Public Speaking
– Motivational speaker
– Debate
– MC
– Comedy
– Vocabulary& Spelling Skill Development
– Non-verbal Body Languages

26. Outcome of Focused Group Discussion
[Expected Skills Profile for Upper Basic School Leavers]
• NUMERACY SKILLS
– Calling & Writing Numbers [normally and in words]
– Addition skill [with integers, decimals and fractions]
– Subtraction skill [with integers, decimals and fractions]
– Multiplication skill [with integers, decimals and fractions]
– Division skill [with integers, decimals and fractions]
– Simple Proportion, Percentage & Profit/Loss Calculations
– Simple Algebra
– Measurements & Geometry
– Basic Statistics
Note: In all 12 categories of entrepreneurial skills and about
120 sub-skills were derived during the FGDs. Many of the
skills were simply not in the curriculum or there were no
requisite resources [human and material] to inculcate and
sustain the skills in the students

27. Summary of Findings
• On the overall, except in few instances, girls were
predominantly more than boys in all the classes and
schools sampled. This has profound implication for
development of employability skills as females are known
to be the ultimate family and nation builders, after God.
• Government model schools like Federal Government Boys
College and Air Force Comprehensive School as well as
Private/Mission schools like Lutheran, Aunty Dele.
Covenant Secondary School and Victory Christian College
tend to have sizeable number of functional computer which
were equally available for students’ usage. Virtually all the
public schools sampled had few or no functional computer
which they did not make available for students’ usage.

28. Summary of Findings
• Majority of the Teachers sampled had a fairly good
understanding of the concept of employability and how it
can be inculcated in the UBS or JSS students. However, a
good number of them still need training to upgrade their
practical skill – particularly in the employability skills lacking
in the curriculum.
• Many of the Teachers did not inculcate in the students, the
targeted employability skills, except in some aspects of
English Language, Mathematics, Home Economics and
Agricultural Science
• Predominantly the method of teaching used by most
Teachers was the VERBAL TEACHER CENTRED APPROACH
often void of practicality and students’ involvement except
occasional question and answer sessions thrown at
students

29. Summary of Findings
• The outcome of the prevalent teaching method in virtually
all the schools sampled was ROTE LEARNING which is only
barely suitable for passing in examination. It is however
not suitable for preparation of students for the world of
works.
• Some of the challenges faced were: where Teachers have
an idea of how to make the lesson practical and related to
real life event, the practical materials and gadgets were
often lacking. A number of Teachers also lack technical
expertise.
• The teaching competencies of teachers in the light of
enhancing the employability skills of UBS or JSS leavers
were sub-standard and could hardly deliver the laudable
objective of this project. There is dire need for training of
Teachers and School Management along this line

30. Discussion
• Majority of the Teachers and consequently the students lack
essential employability skill. Given that a significant proportion of
these students do not transit to higher education and those who
manage to transit often lack basic needs, the need to build their
employability skills, such that would not only make them
employable but capable to setting up their own micro business and
employ others is imperative. This agrees with the submission of the
U.S. Department of Labor reports by the Secretary’s Commission on
Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS)–What Work Requires of Schools
(June 1991) and Learning a Living (April 1992)–which offer a
multidimensional set of “skills that young people need to succeed in
the world of work” (SCANS 1992, p. xiii). Similar to the Australian
report, the SCANS studies found that the new high-performance
workplace demands workers who have a solid foundation in the
traditional basic academic skills, in the thinking skills necessary to
put knowledge to work, and in the personal characteristics that
make a worker confident, trustworthy, and responsible.

31. Recommendation
• It is strongly recommended that this study be
carried to a logical conclusion, It should not stop
at the level of experimentation and report
writing. It should be ensured that students do
not only acquire these employability skills, but
should be guided, in collaboration with their
parents or guardians to set up a micro-business
where they can continue to practice and perfect
the skills they have acquired in the course of this
project. This sustainability drive is essential to
prevent all the effort put into this project being
wasted. This will be the authentic proof of
success for this project.

32. Conclusion
• From the results and findings reported thus far, it is
quite apparent the baseline study in Nigeria has
fulfilled its purpose – revealing the gaps in the
employability skills of Students, Teachers and School
Management. The findings tend to reiterate the
significance of this project. The video clips on some of
the public schools sampled, coupled with the
documentary report from South West Nigeria APR
further highlighted the danger of delay. Failure to
expedite action in enhancing the employability skills of
the teeming population of youths from the UBS or JSS
level, which is escalating with each passing year, is apt
to have a boomerang effect that is likely to culminate
in economic, psychological, political and social
meltdown – God forbid!

33. References
• Galloway Brent (1983). Teaching Employability
Skills To Young People In Junior High and
Middle Schools Calgary: University of Calgary,
• Torres, R M (1993). "What is the expanded
vision of basic education?", Education en los
Medios, No. 19, Instituto FRONE-SIS, Quito
• UNESCO Institute of Statistics(2008): UNESCO
Institute for Statistics, Data Centre,
http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/ReportFolders/ReportFolders.aspx