Competency Improvement Needs of Roadside Furniture Makers for the Production of Quality Products in Bauchi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study determined the competency improvement needs of roadside furniture makers for the production of quality products in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Three research questions guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The study was conducted in Bauchi State, Nigeria. The population of the study consists of 210 roadside furniture makers in Bauchi State, Nigeria. A sample of 138 roadside furniture makers was selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. The instrument used to collect data for the study was a structured questionnaire titled "Competency Improvement Needs of Roadside Furniture Makers Questionnaire" (CINRFMQ) generated from a review of the literature. The instrument was validated by three experts in the field of woodwork technology education from the Department of Vocational and Technology Education, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi, and the School of Vocational and Technical Education, Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic Bauchi. Cronbach's alpha method was used to determine the internal consistency of the questionnaire items. A reliability coefficient of 0.79 was obtained. The data collated was analyzed using the mean and Improvement Needed Index (INI) to answer the research questions. It was found out that roadside furniture makers in Bauchi State, Nigeria needed competency improvement in 6 competency items in basic design processes, 7 competency items in wood finishing, and 10 competency items in woodworking machines operations. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that the roadside furniture makers are lacking in 23 competencies and there is a need to improve these competencies otherwise they will continue to be deficient in the production of quality products. It was, therefore, recommended that the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and Bauchi State Skills Acquisition Centres should organize improvement workshops for roadside furniture makers and the identified competencies should be utilized in the retraining of roadside furniture makers for the production of quality products.