Evaluation of the Technical Skills and Employability Skills of Technical Education Graduates for Sustainable Development in Delta North Senatorial District

Abstract

This study investigated the technical and employability skills possessed by graduates of technical education for sustainable development in Delta North Senatorial District. Eight research questions and four null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted the ex-post facto descriptive research design. The population comprised all graduates of technical education in the Senatorial District in the last ten years. The sample size comprised 108 graduates of Technical Education in the Senatorial District. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select the sample for the study with questionnaire as instrument and designed by the researcher. The instrument was validated by 2 experts from Technical Education Department, including the researcher’s supervisor, and one expert from the Measurement and Evaluation, Delta State University, Abraka. The instrument’s reliability was ascertained through Cronbach’s Alpha method in which a reliability coefficient of 0.88 was obtained. Data was obtained by administering the questionnaire to 50 graduates of Technical Education of the Delta State University, Abraka, who were not part of the study and was analysed using basic statistical tools in Excel, version 2020. Statistical mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while independent samples t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that graduates of technical education possessed technical skills in oral and written communication in their native languages, basic general knowledge in the field of study and decision-making; that graduates of technical education needed technical skills in ethical commitment capacity, generating new ideas, initiative and entrepreneurial spirit. The study also found that there is no significant difference between the technical skills possessed by male and female graduates of technical education, between the technical skills needed by the male and female graduates, and between the employability skills possessed by male and female graduates. There was also no significant difference between the employability skills needed by male and female graduates for sustainable development in Delta North Senatorial District. The study recommended amongst others, that unemployed graduates of Technical Education should put into practice the technical skills possessed for sustainable development, whenever they have the opportunity of doing so.