JOURNAL OF VOCATIONA:L AND ADULT EDUCATION

Vol. 6, Mo. 1 2007. 4SSN: 15951197

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CONTENTS

Titles

Identification of Learning Experiences and Contents for Learning Programme in Basic Telecommunication in Nigeria B. A. Ogwo & B. N. Ezekoye

Effective Environmental Management Through Recycling of Metallic and . Non Metallic Waste Materials By Local Craftsmen In Minna Metropolis B.N. Atsumbe.

Delta State Employers' Evaluation ofNational Diploma (ND)Accounting Graduates' Work Performance: The Public Sector Perspective. G N. Ndinechi & I. E. Umuemezia.

Vocational Technical Educatio,n: Nigeria's Imperative for achieving the first Millenium Development Goal Initiative Ibeneme 0. T.

Effective Utilization ofWorkshop for Practical Teaching ofTechnology In Technical Education Odu K. 0. & Nwabunike M. C.

Business Teacher Educators' Appraisal of the Revelance of the Objectives and Equipment Component of the NBTE Business Education Curriculum Relative to Employment Requirements. Ndinechi G I. &Asoegwu M. N. N.

Availability and Utilization of Print and Non-Print Instructional Material in Technical & Vocational Schools in Niger State, Nigeria. Mohammed I. Abubakar

Pages

1-11

12-22

23-32

33-38

39-47

48-54

55-67

IJ Incidence of Wastage in Technical Teacher Education Programme At Federal College of Education (Technical) Omuku Rivers State. Okwelle R C. & Nwogu Prince 0.68-75 ·?Fr

Entrepreneurial Competencies Needed By Business Education Graduates for Starting Small Business. Uzo-Okonkwo N.

Effects of Metal earning Instructional Approach on Students Performance In Technical Education. Raymond E. & Hassan A. M ..

.lou mal of I imttional and .-1;/u/t Fducution - (.10 I : I E) J i1/. 6 So I. 7007

76-82

83-90

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Vocational & Technical Education Curriculum for Sustainable Youth Empowerment Odu K. 0 .

Comparative Evaluation ofthe Perceptions ofE1ectrical & Building Students Regarding Technical College Programme Implementation Feature in Niger State. Ibrahim /dris

. A case for Laying Foundations of Sustainable Youth Employment through Aspect of Vocational Education at Primary School. Atsumbe B. N.

Job Satisfaction ofTechnical College Teachers in the North Eastern States ofNigeria. Ezugu Livinus C.

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\ Jmmwl t~{ Voctttimwl am/ .-ltlult Ftlucatimt- (JOVAE) Vol. 6 No 1. J(J(J7 - . -

91-99

100-109

110-118

119-128

Vlll

Incidence of Wastage in Technical Teacher Education Programme At Federal College of Education (Technical)

Omoku Rivers State

Of...weffe} P C. Department of Science and Technical Education

Rivers State University of Science and Technology

Port Harcourt, Rivers State .

.)fostract

:Nwogu Prince Opurum School of Technical Education

Federal College of Education (Technical)

Omoku, Rivers State

This study was designed to estimate percentage wastage in form of dropouts and repetition in a technical education teacher programme. The population comprised 191 students who enrolled into technical education programme of Federal College of Education (Technical) Omoku, in 2002/2003 academic session. Data used were obtained from the college records and analysis was carried out using percentages. The findings revealed 4 2. 08 percent drop-outs and 18.3 2 percent repeaters in a three year cycle. The greatest wastage occurred in year one programme of study. Based on the findings, implications to technical teacher production were drawn. It was recommended among other things that favourable condition of service of technology teachers should be put in place.

Introduction It is widely accepted that the world is

at the threshold of technical information explosion and micro electronic revolution which will create a new way of living and working which, in turn, will make a new demands on the education system (Isyaku, 2003). In this context, there is little wonder for the much importance accorded to technical and vocational education in the National Policy on Education (NPE) . Technical and vocational education (TVE)

in the NPE is understood to be );> An integral part of general

education, );> A means of preparing for

occupational fields and for effective participation in the world of work;

);> An aspect of lifelong learning and a preparation for responsible citizenship;

);> An instrument for promoting environmentally sound sustainable

Joumal offocational and Adult Education - (JGrAE) Tal. 6. 2007 68

Incidence of Wastage in Technical Teacher Education Programme At Federal College of Education (Technical) Omoku Rivers State

development; ~ A method of alleviating poverty.

(Federal Government of Nigeria, 2004; 30): In other to meet the challenges of

the policy thrust of the current educational system, there was urgent need for qualified technical vocational teachers including technology teachers, to teach pre­vocational subjects at primary and secondary schools. One of the measures embarked upon by Government to meet the increasing demand of qualified technical vocational teachers was the establishment of specialized colleges of education (technical) for training of technical vocational teachers for Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE)

Unfortunately, despite these new and other institutions which have been producing technology teachers, for some time, new studies (Isyaku, 2003, Ezeji, 2005, Aina, 2006, Hurbert, 2006, Yakubu, 2006) revealed that there is still a wide gap between the demand and supply of qualified technical teachers to implement pre-vocational education at the primary and secondary schools. Some authors have attempted to give reason for this short fall.

Isyaku (2003) posit that majority of qualified and experienced technical teachers prefer to go to industries where the pastures are greener. Olaitan (1992) and Yakubu (2006) noted that low enrolment rate of entrants into vocational

teacher training programmes was due to the low status of the teacher and poor image of technically oriented personnel.

Nonetheless, impressive as the explanations may be, studies are silent about the problem of wastage in technical teacher education and its effects on the quantity of teacher. Nwankwo (1981) defined wastage in education as the inefficient use of educational resources -human learning, teachers labour, school building and equipment and so on. Educational wastage as described by Adesina (1983) occurs when an investment preparation (in education) does not produce either its desired or anticipated results or produce these results at a scale considerably lower than it has set for itself. Okwelle (2007) had identified seven forms of wastages in technical and vocational education to include; low enrolment rate of entrants, repetition of class; dropouts; under-utilization of human learning, buildings and equipment, non­employment of schoolleavers, brain drain and non-functional skilled manpower.

As wastage of any form hinders the development of vocational teacher education, it becomes necessary to investigate its effect on technical teachers' preparation. The problem of this study therefore is: What is the effect ofwastage in forms of dropouts and class repetition on technical production in Nigeria?

For the purpose of this study,

Journal ofTocational and Adult Education - (.JOVAE) ~ol. 6. 2007 69

Okwelle, P C. & Nwogu Prince Opurum

dropouts refer to students who enrolled at any level of the NCE technical teacher education programme but withdrew from it without completing the compulsory three years cycle on grounds of poor academic performance, voluntary withdrawals, dismissal, illness and so on. Repeaters refer to those students who enrolled into any level of"the NCE technical teacher education programme but remain in the same level following the same course of study as in the previous year.

Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was to

determine the dropout and repetition and cumulative percentage wastage in technical teacher education programme for a given school cycle and its implications on the preparation of qualified technical teacher.

Research Questions The study sought answers to the

following research questions: 1. What is the percentage dropout

wastage in technical teacher education programme in the NCE three year cycle of FCE (T) Omoku?

2. What is the percentage repetition wastage in technical education programme in theNCE three year cycle ofFCE (T) Omoku?

3. What is the cumulative percentage

wastage in technical teacher education programme in the NCE three year cycle of FCE (T) Omoku?

Method The ex-post facto research design

was used to conduct the research in Federal College ofEducation (Technical) Omoku, Rivers State. The college was chosen because it is one of the specialized new colleges of education (technical) equipped for training technical teachers. The college established in 1989 has consistently produced Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) holders in technical education since 1991.

The population for the study comprised the academic records of 191 students who enrolled into the technical education programme ofFederal College ofEducation (Technical) Omoku in 2002/ 2003 academic session. They are referred here to as 2002 entry-cohort of students, who completed their three years school cycle in 2005. Ejieh (1994) defined cohort as a group of people who experienced a certain event together in a specified period oftime. The 2002 entry cohort of students were chosen because they were the last batch of trainees to have used the erstwhile curriculum for NCE (technical) programme of the National Board for Technical Education (1995) . The entire population constituted the sample of the study.

The "Apparent Cohort dropout

Joumal ofTocational and Adult Education - (JOT :·IE) To!. 6. 2007 70

Incidence of Wastage in Technical Teacher Education Programme At Federal College of Education (Technical) Omoku Rivers State

rate" approach (Human Resources Development Canada, 2000) was used for calculating the dropout rate in the study. This approach uses administrative enrolment and graduation counts to model the progress of an entering cohort of students through school to graduation. Using this data it is possible to compare the number of students who enter their first year of school in a particular year with the number of graduates three year later.

A recording sheet designed by the researcher was used to collect data for the study. Data were obtained from the college academic office and the office of the dean, school of technical education. The data included students enrolment figures for 2002/2003 academic session, semester enrollments, number of repeaters, voluntary withdrawals, withdrawals for failure to obtain minimum cumulative point, average (CPA) for promotion to the next level and graduation, dismissal and examination malpractices cases. These were with respect to the 2002 entry -cohort as they progressed from 100'to 300

levels of study. Data was analyzed using

percentages. The percentage of dropouts was estimated by expressing the total number of students from the cohort who withdrew from the programme within the cycle as a percentage of the number of students that enrolled into the programme at the beginning of the 2002/2003 academic session. Similarly, the repetition percentage for the sample was obtained by expressing the total number of students from the cohort who repeated levels of study in the three year cycle, as a percentage of the students that enrolled into the programme at the beginning of the 2002/2003 academic session. The cumulative percentage wastage was simply calculated by the summation of the dropout and repetition percentages.

Findings The findings of this study based on

the analysis of data obtained were summarized in Table 1.

Journal of Vocational and Adult Education - (.JO~Illi) Vol .. 6. 2007 71

Okwelle, P C. & Nwogu Prince Opurum

Discussion The result ofthis study showed that

wastage in form of dropouts and repetition of classes existed significantly among the sampled students from the 2002 cohort at a given technical education programme. The findings of the first research question indicated that the dropout percentage for the sample was 24.08 percent. The highest number of dropouts occurred at 100 level of study with minimum number of dropouts recorded in 300 level (see table 1).

The high number of dropouts recorded in the first year of study as revealed in the study was mainly caused by students who voluntarily withdrew mid­way from the programme. This is consistent with the observation of lkwuagwu ( 1992) that most students voluntarily withdraw from the vocational teacher education for the value the society places on it. According to Ikwuagwu, students with least academic aptitude are admitted into vocational teacher education programmes; adding that these students even while undertaking their courses still continue to sit for admission examination into Universities or Polytechnics, abandoning the programme mid-way on securing admission into such other tertiary institutions. Resources used mid-way by these dropouts is wasted. Ezeji (2005) has decried the prevalent situation where uninterested students are admitted into

TVE programmes and argued that these students only serve to tarnish the image of these programmes since they can not practice their trades even on graduation.

The second research question revealed that the repetition percentage for the students from the cohort sampled was 18 .32 percent . This percentage of repeaters was as a result of the students failing to obtain the minimum CPA to proceed to the next study level and to be awarded theNCE (tech) at the end ofthe three year cycle. The admission of entrants without adequate requisite qualification into technical and vocational teacher training institutions as observed by Mbata (1990) may be a possible explanation to this percentage of repeaters . These students with their poor educational background find it difficult to cope with the programme instruction and hence repeat a level once or many times. Government spend twice or more on these repeaters as the resources used by them in the first attempt are used again, thus constituting wastage which Ojoko (2000) regards as wastage to the individual, his community and the nation.

From the findings on the cumulative percentage wastage in technical teacher education programme in a given cycle, it follows that 42.4 percent of the students from the 2002 cohort could not obtain their NCE (tech) at the end of the three year cycle. This figure is a

Journal of Vocational and Adult Education - (.JO~'AE) Vol. 6. 2007 72

Incidence of Wastage in Teclmical Teacher Education Programme At Federal College of Education (Teclmical) Omoku Rivers State

significant wastage percentage in any meaningful investment. Lastly the study found that the greatest wastage was located at the 100 level of study, with more of dropouts than the repeaters. The case of low societal estimation of TVE programme as observed by Aina (2006) and Yakubu (2006), may have accounted for the greatest wastage percentage at this level.

Implications for Technical Teacher Production

The findings of this study have far­reaching implications to the preparation of technology teachers for primary and post­primary schools. Firstly, the anticipated quantity of teachers to be produced at the end of a school cycle were lower than expected, as only 110 out of the 191 students from the 2002 cohort graduated at the expected time.

Another serious implication of the result of the study to teacher preparation is that scarce resources are wasted on the students who dropped half-way in the programme; extra scarce resources which could have been used in training more of these teachers are spent twice or more on students who repeat one or more years of study.

Conclusion The study was an attempt to

estimate wastage in forms of dropouts and

repetition of classes in technical teacher education programme. Estimated dropout percentage of24.08 percent and repetition percentage of 18.3 2 percent, with a cumulative percentage wastage of 42.4 percent in a given school cycle as revealed by the findings of the study contributes to a significant wastage of resources in technical teacher education. These, adversely affect the quantity of qualified teachers needed to teach technology subjects at the primary and secondary schools.

Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that: 1. At the senior secondary school,

students should be streamed to identify those with aptitudes and potentials for technical education for admission into the technical education programmes.

2. Only students with requisite academic qualification should be admitted into the technical teacher education programme.

3. Improvement of salaries and condition of service of technical teachers, so as to retain people dropping out as a result of admission into IOther lucrative fields .

4. An intensive enlightenment and

Journal of Vocational and Adult Education - (.JOT;4E) Vol. 6. 2007 73

0/,:we/le, P C. & Nwogu Prince Opurum

motivational campaign and propaganda on TVE highlight its benefits and prospects should be mounted.

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