Title:
IMPROVEMENT OF EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS OF BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS IN PUBLIC TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN ANAMBRA STATE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Authors:
Associate Prof. Joy A. Okeke-Ezeanyanwu , Nigeria

Abstract:
The study determined the strategies for the improvement of employability skills of business education students in public tertiary institutions in Anambra State. Two specific objectives, two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. Survey research design was used for the study. Population of the study was 128 Business Educators in public tertiary institutions that offer business education programme in Anambra State. The entirepopulation was used as the sample size because of its manageable size. A 20-item four point rating scale structured questionnaire developed by the researcher was used for study. The response options were Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD). The instrument was validated by two experts, one in business education and the other in measurement and evaluation. Reliability of the instrument was established using 20 business educators from tertiary institutions in Delta State and Cronbach Alpha reliability method was used. Co-efficient values of 0.95 and 0.94 and an overall reliability value of 0.90 were obtained. 128 copies of the questionnaire were administered by the researcher and two research assistants. 121 copies of the questionnaire were returned and found usable. Data collected were analyzed using mean (x) and standard deviation (SD) and t-test statistics was used to test the null hypotheses. Findings of the study revealed that work based learning and mentoring are strategies for improving the acquisition of employability skills of business education students in public tertiary institutions in Anambra State. Recommendations were made among which was that business educators at tertiary institutions should respond positively to their responsibilities by changing their instructional strategies in order to enhance the acquisition of employability skills by business education graduates.