ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS NEEDED BY TECHNICAL COLLAGE GRADUATES IN SETINGUP SMALL SCALE ENTERPRISE IN WOODWORK TECHNOLOGY

Abstract

The study aimed to assess entrepreneurial skills needed by technical college graduate in setting up small scale enterprises in Woodwork technology in Niger state. Descriptive survey research design was used. The study was conducted in Niger state. The population of the study consists of all seven technical colleges in Niger state. Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted for the study, 140 students, 10 Woodwork technology teachers in the selected technical colleges were randomly selected from the colleges to give total sample size of 150 respondents. Structured questionnaire was used for this study. The instrument was faced validated by three teachers of woodwork technology in Government Technical College, Minna. The researcher engaged in a three-month long observation on all aspects of study. With the help of a research assistant, the researcher also visited the study area and administered the research instrument to them. The data collected from the respondents was analyzed using the mean and standard deviation in answering the research questions and t-test statistic for testing the hypotheses at the probability of 0.05 level of significance. From the findings, it revealed that planning skills were required by woodwork graduates for entry into woodwork enterprise, facilities skills were required by technical college graduates for entry into woodwork enterprise and marketing skill were required by technical college graduates for entry into woodwork enterprise. The study therefore conclude that; entrepreneurial skills are essential for woodwork students and apprentice for establishing small and medium scale enterprises after graduating, in order to gain employment and earn a living. Woodwork graduate require good managerial skills, woodworking skills, and good working habit to excel after graduating, but he reverse is the case. From the findings, the following recommendations were made among others, identified entrepreneurship skills should be integrated into technical college curriculum and module specifications for upholstery making graduates and Government should provide adequate equipment, tools, materials and facilities required for training the students