THE ROLE OF THE INDUSTRY AND OTHER AGENCIES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF STUDENTS’ INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME (SIWES)

THE ROLE OF THE INDUSTRY AND OTHER AGENCIES IN THE MANAGEMENT OF STUDENTS’ INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME (SIWES)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the Study 

A structured and supervised training intervention, the Student Industrial Work-Experience Scheme (SIWES) helps students build their occupational competencies while also achieving their stated and particular learning and career goals.

All undergraduates in Nigerian universities majoring in technical, business, applied science, or specialised engineering are obligated to complete the curriculum (ITF, 2004a).

The inadequacy of practical training for students majoring in vocational, engineering, science, and technology in Nigerian universities and polytechnics led to the 1973 introduction of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) program, which includes SIWES.

That is the requirement for facilitating the alignment of students’ academic understanding with the practical components of their industrial training.

Students are prepared for a successful transition from school to the workforce by learning industry-specific skills through the Scheme. Higher education students can gain the necessary knowledge and familiarity with machinery and equipment that is not often available in their classrooms through this chance.

Our industrialists had been worried for some time before the initiative was ever considered that students leaving our universities did not have the practical experience necessary to find work in the manufacturing sector. That being the case, business owners felt that academic programs were more concerned with theory than practical application.

This is the context in which the Fund’s founding years of 1973–1974 presented the initiative to familiarise students with the skills necessary to operate the equipment and machinery of their businesses.

Consequently, as a result of government education policy, participation in SIWES is now a prerequisite for the awarding of Diploma and Degree credentials in particular fields in the majority of the country’s higher education institutions.

Industry in the country began to rely on technical proficiency for the production process and the preservation of business resources, which led to the establishment of industrial training programs (Mafe, 2010).

What is presently known as Yaba College of Technology was actually its birthplace, the Yaba Technical Institute. Sponsors for the students included both public and private organisations at that time.

It was common practice for students to return to their jobs during extended holidays. As a result, students gained practical experience in the workplace, which they augmented with what they learnt in the classroom (Uyah, 2004).

In those early days, organisations’ graduates were likely a reflection of the quality of education and training accessible to them. But it was noticeable that faculty members in Nigerian universities were dying out, which led to a decline in the quality of education that students received.

The majority of the social critics were faculty members, and when military imperialists started terrorising them, they opted to go abroad for better opportunities. Academics filled the void with unqualified faculty members.

The issue was made even worse when most of the expats departed Nigeria for their home countries, leaving a skills gap that the country’s recent college grads were ill-equipped to fill.

In light of this, several Nigerian multinational corporations set up training programs, including Flour Mill Nigeria Plc, Bago plc, Nigerite, Unilever Nigeria plc, Texaco Overseas (TO), and Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL).

Additionally, in 1998, Shell Petroleum launched its Intensive Training programme to help employees gain technical skills via practical experience.

In light of this, education and training are the two most fundamental means of acquiring knowledge, and they are both critical to the success of modern businesses and communities. The first person in the above example had a wealth of knowledge about driving from their education; the second person had sufficient training from their training; and the third person had the upper hand because they could improve their driving by combining theory and practice.

The core and justification for industrial training is the requirement to integrate theoretical understanding with practical abilities to generate outputs like commodities and services, or to be productive. Without training, there can be no good education, and vice versa; similarly, there can be no good training without education.

Knowledge-How Ability and Do-How Capability are two types of learning that, in order to be productive, an individual needs to be able to integrate and use. This is especially true in this century. Careers in vocational engineering, science, and technology (VEST) are highly dependent on this stipulation.

1.2 Statement Of The Problem

Due to inadequate facilities, universities continue to devote a great deal of resources on theoretical studies with little to no focus on practical application. Thus, there are chasms between what students learn in the classroom and what they can find in the workplace.

As part of SIWES’s mission to help students make the leap from the classroom to the workforce, ITF is responsible for providing them with the industry-based skills they’ll need to fill these gaps.

Industries and other bodies tasked with overseeing students’ industrial work experience programs don’t seem to plan ahead enough to recruit enough students to make the program a success. Because of this, research on how businesses and other organisations oversee industrial work experience programs for students is urgently needed.

1.3 The Objectives Of The Study

Examining how industry and other authorities administer SIWES (students’ industrial work experience scheme) is the primary goal of this study. To be more precise, the study aims to:

1. determine how various organisations and businesses contribute to the implementation of the SIWES program.

2. find out what each regulatory body does in the industrial work experience program for pupils.

3. investigate how students’ academic performance is affected by the duration of SIWES.

4. Determine if school exposure to SIWES affects kids’ grades.

 1.4 Research  Questions

(1) How are businesses and other organisations involved in overseeing the SIWES program for students?

How does the length of SIWES affect students’ grades?

(3) How does the length of SIWES affect students’ academic performance?

(4) What impact has SIWES exposure had on students’ academic achievement?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

When it comes to running the SIWES, or student industrial work experience initiative, there is a strong connection between businesses and other organisations.

1.6 The Significance of the Research

Many people, including those in the fields of business education, education policy, school administration, researchers, and the general public, will benefit much from reading this study. These studies will help students in business education do better in school and will also put them in touch with potential employers during their SIWES.

Curriculum developers can use this study’s findings to inform their decisions about how to incorporate SIWES into their lessons, which should improve students’ performance in vocational training.

1.7 The Scope Of The Study

Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) administration is the focus of this study, which also examines the part played by other agencies.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

Because it is an academic endeavour with a time constraint, the study was restricted to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and certain enterprises and agencies inside the state.

1.9. Definition Of Terms

Students are prepared for the demands of the workforce by participating in SIWES, the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme.

A person or thing’s role is the function it assumes or the part it plays in a given scenario.

An economic activity that deals with the transformation of raw materials into finished goods through the use of factories is known as an industry.

AGENCY: A company or organisation that acts as an intermediary between two or more businesses by rendering one or more services on behalf of the other.

The term “management” refers to the steps taken to oversee and direct various entities.