PERCEPTIONS OF BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS ON THE RELEVANCE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
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PERCEPTIONS OF BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS ON THE RELEVANCE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION
ABSTRACT
The researchers conducted an empirical investigation on Business Education Students’ perceptions of the significance of Entrepreneurship Education at Edo State Colleges of Education. To explore this study, the researchers submitted three (3) research questions and one hypothesis.
The study’s conceptual framework was adopted from the Entrepreneurial Event Model (EEM) published by Shapero and Sokol in 1982. The framework displayed at a glance the numerous stages and processes that eventually culminated in business establishment.
The survey design was employed in this investigation. The study’s population consisted of eight hundred and ten (810) Business Education students from both Colleges of Education in the state, with a sample size of one hundred and sixty two (162) individuals chosen using the proportionate stratified random sampling technique.
The instrument employed was a questionnaire titled Business Education Students’ Perceptions of Entrepreneurship Education Questionnaire (BESPEEQ), which was divided into two sections: A and B. Section A contains the respondents’ demographic information, whereas section B contains thirteen (13) opinion statements formatted on a four-point rating scale.
The instrument was validated by three (3) specialists, and the test-re-test reliability approach was employed to acquire a reliability coefficient of 0.78. The instrument was delivered to respondents by research assistants, and the collected data was statistically analysed.
The data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The findings demonstrated the importance of entrepreneurship. It also indicated that skills and entrepreneurship education have an impact on economic development
and that there was no significant difference in how male and female business education students perceived the importance of entrepreneurship education. One of the researchers’ recommendations was that educators make conscious efforts to effectively teach entrepreneurial abilities to pupils.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
The teaching and learning of Entrepreneurship Education in tertiary institutions is of critical importance to all stakeholders. The National Policy on Education views education as a ‘par excellence’ tool for promoting national development (FRN, 2004).
It is believed that education may bring about the necessary socioeconomic and political improvements in the country. The recent call for the inclusion of Entrepreneurship Education in Nigeria’s tertiary educational institutions demonstrates its importance to job creation;
as Nigeria continues to produce graduates from our various institutions who are hardly self-sufficient and rely solely on white collar jobs for sustenance due to a lack of adequate skills that will allow them to function effectively and efficiently towards the development of the economy.
The importance of recognising entrepreneurial education in the Western world began to emerge shortly after World War II. Following World War 11, which lasted six (6) years (1939-1945), there was evidence of the collapse of most economic structures, making it impossible for the government to fully absorb all educational graduates.
However, the situation at the time was not comparable to that of emerging countries such as Nigeria. The discovery of crude oil at Oloibiri in the 1950s triggered an oil boom in the country, and the government treasury had enough funds to fully absorb all graduates from the educational system at various levels.
The collapse of the oil boom, which resulted in an economic recession in the country and its attendant problems of unemployment, poverty, and other social vices such as abduction, young restiveness, and the Boko Haram insurgency, shifted Nigerians’ attention.
The Federal Government introduced entrepreneurship education in 2006 to address the country’s growing unemployment, poverty, and discontent (Ediagbonya, 2013; Imeokparia & Ediagbonya, 2013).
The Federal Government mandated the programme for all students in higher education institutions, regardless of specialisation, and entrepreneurship education is now required as a general studies course in most postsecondary institutions.
The overarching goal is to consistently create an entrepreneurial culture and spirit among students and teachers in order to educate and support system graduates in creating and maintaining viable business enterprises (Urbano, Aponte, & Toledano, 2008).
The Minister of Education emphasised that the National Universities Commission (NUC) was given presidential directives by the Ministry of Education to supervise and coordinate the programme of introducing entrepreneurship education in Nigerian institutions of higher learning in collaboration with all regulatory bodies of higher institutions
– the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) to be handled by the committee.
Nigeria has worked tirelessly since the collapse of the oil boom to achieve youth independence, poverty eradication, and improved economic status through a number of reforms and programme initiatives, including Operation Feed the Nation (OFN), the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), and the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), among others.
Unfortunately, these programmatic activities focused at capacity building and utilisation appear to have had no effect on equipping young school leavers (Youths) with adequate skills that will empower them once they graduate from school (Okolocha & Okolocha 2012).
Despite substantial economic growth, Nigeria’s young full-time unemployment rate was 55.9% from 2006 to 2008. Youth unemployment has risen steadily to this day.
Countries such as Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, China, India, and Korea, to name a few, have joined the ranks of industrialised nations by strengthening their small-scale businesses.
Nigeria, for its part, aspires to join other industrialised countries by 2020. The Federal Ministry of Education made entrepreneurship education one of the compulsory general studies for students in tertiary institutions across the country in an effort to bridge the gap between youth unemployment and job creation.
The goal is to instill in young people the spirit of self-reliance, which has become critical for national economic growth and development. The goal of entrepreneurship education is to instill in students the entrepreneurial spirit and culture (Akpomi, 2009; Adejimola & Olufunmilayo, 2009).
Entrepreneurship education emphasises self-employment over paid employment. This type of education has grown in importance in Nigeria as a result of the country’s high unemployment rate, which has led to social vices and civil turmoil.
It is considered that this type of education may effectively engage individuals, making them more productive and beneficial to themselves and the country as a whole.
The type of capabilities that graduates from our educational institutions possess has a significant impact on the economy’s growth and development. Ihebereme (2010) defines skill acquisition as the process of obtaining or gaining effective and ready knowledge in order to develop one’s aptitude and ability in a specific sector.
Skill acquisition is one of the initiatives implemented in Nigeria with the primary purpose of alleviating poverty, young unrest, sophisticated crime and corruption rates, rural-urban drift, unemployment, and other social vices (Ihebereme, 2010).
The goal of skill acquisition at the higher education level in Nigeria is to provide our students with more practical rather than academic knowledge of income-generating abilities.
Mbionwu (2008) stated that when youngsters are provided enough skill training, they can become self-employed after finishing school, thereby becoming active participants in both community and national development.
The possession of competence is vital in keeping young people from becoming social misfits. According to Ihebereme (2008), skill acquisition (Entrepreneurship) education in the Nigerian educational system serves as a rehabilitator, re-orientator, motivator, and empowerment for the underprivileged (kids with poor parents). These are referred to as entrepreneurship talents (Akudolu, 2010).
Okolocha & Okolocha (2012) defined entrepreneurial abilities as the ability to perform well in a chaotic business environment as an independent or self-employed individual in order to better one’s economic situation and that of society as a whole.
Okebukola’s (2006) study found that the majority of Nigerian graduates lack self-reliance and entrepreneurship abilities. In a similar spirit, Anyakoha (1997), as reported by Olumese and Clark (2011), emphasised that Nigerian colleges currently lack well-articulated instruction for entrepreneurship skill development.
The value of entrepreneurial skills cannot be overstated, as adequate skill acquisition through business will assist young school leavers become self-sufficient and improve their economic situation.
According to Isike (2008), entrepreneurship has been designated both worldwide and nationally as a tool for creating a sustainable economy, which is the basic value of National Economic Empowerment Development Strategies (NEEDS).
Uloko and Ejinkonye (2010) stated that when youngsters are empowered by learning entrepreneurial skills, there is a chance that they will use those talents to establish new pathways for income.
Empowering young people to start enterprises requires the correct acquisition of skills through education and training. Egwanyenga and Ranor (2012) stated that entrepreneurial talents include managerial skills, accounting and financial competency abilities, marketing and sales, general business, and human relations skills. Stakeholders assess graduates’ entrepreneurial talents differently.
Statement of the Problem
Entrepreneurship education is a type of intervention programme that was introduced into Nigeria’s tertiary education sub-sector in 2006 to address the unemployment problem and redirect the attention of our youths/graduates towards job creation by instilling in them relevant entrepreneurial skills that will help the economy grow and develop.
The program’s goals and objectives appear admirable, and in order to attain them, some machinery must be put in place. The inclusion of this subject in the curricula of all Nigerian tertiary institutions is aimed at instilling an entrepreneurial culture and spirit in students. Since the implementation of this initiative, there appears to be an increase in graduate unemployment.
For example, in 2006 the unemployment rate was 5.3 percent, but by 2011, it had climbed to 23.9 percent. Many grads appear to be prowling the streets in quest of white-collar jobs.
Despite the implementation of entrepreneurial education, the rate of poverty, corruption, and other social vices has become a source of concern for the government and all well-meaning citizens.
The experts are very concerned about this situation, and if it continues, no one will debate the need of entrepreneurial instruction in the school curriculum.
The primary goal of this research was to determine the perspectives of Business Education students regarding the significance of Entrepreneurship Education.
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