Vocational Education Programmes for Enhancement of Youth Employability in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined vocational education programmes for enhancement of youth employability in Rivers State, Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The population of the study consisted of 1,668 respondents in five technical and vocational colleges in Rivers State. A sample of 334 respondents obtained through the proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used for the study. A questionnaire tagged “Vocational Education Programmes for Enhancing Youth Employability” was used for data collection. The questionnaire was structured in line with the four-point summated rating scale response options of very high extent, high extent, low extent, and very low extent. The questionnaire was validated by experts and its reliability index established at 0.78 using Cronbach Alpha. Mean and standard deviation were used for answering the research questions, while z-test was used in testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study found among others that there are no significant differences in the mean responses of educators and students on the extent to which computer training and entrepreneurial skills as vocational education programmes enhance youth employability in Rivers State, Nigeria. The study concluded that when adequately provided, computer training and entrepreneurial skills acquisition will increase the creative and intellectual abilities of youths for gainful employment and prepare them for the challenges of the modern job market. It was recommended among others that government should ensure that vocational education programmes are focused on imparting in youths’ requisite skills for gainful employment.