UNIVERSITY EDUCATION AND YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA. BY SOFOLUWE, ABAYOMI OLUMADE, Ph.

D DEPT OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT, FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, NIGERIA.

Abstract The research was carried out to investigate the relationship between university education and youth entrepreneurship in Nigeria The research design was correlational using the survey method. Purposive technique was used to select 1200 respondents from two geopolitical zones in Nigeria The data gathering instrument was the University Education and Youth Entrepreneurship Questionnaire (UEA YEQ). Three hypotheses generated were tested at .05 level of significance. The data were analysed using Multiple Regression and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient statistics. The findings revealed that university education significantly influenced youth entrepreneurship in Nigeria. It was recommended that university curricula should be re-designed and government must expand the opportunities for entrepreneurship development programme for all the unemployed youth in Nigeria. Introduction Education has been identified as the most powerful instrument for social reform. It imparts knowledge, skills and character to the individual through teaching, learning and experiential activity. Government recognizes the importance of education in national development, and this is reflected in the goals of university education as stated in the (FRN,2004) Unfortunately, these universities are challenged to response to a number of issuesdemocratisation of higher education, staffing, competition, cultism, funding, globalization and ill-structured curricula The inability of higher education to meet the needs as well as the promotion of economic self-reliance and self-sufficiency has resulted into youth joblessness (unemployment) and increasing incidence of social ills among the youths. Capacity development is the panacea for the problems of insecurity, poverty, youth restiveness and unemployment currently prevalent in the country. There is a great concern among the education stakeholders about how university education could meet the needs of the youth through entrepreneurship acquisition in Nigeria Youth entrepreneurs have a crucial role to play in the development and growth of the economy.

It is therefore, the focus of this study to examine university education and youth entrepreneurship in Nigeria .. In order to find solution to the problems, the study is aimed at finding answers to the following questions : 1 Does university education have any significant relationship with youth entrepreneurship? 2 Do university curricula affect youth entrepreneurship? 3 Does university manpower development affect youth entrepreneurship? The study is significant in order to facilitate the acquisition of skills, competence and abilities by the youth in the area of entrepreneurship. Theoretical Framework University Education The Nigerian university system started with a paltry students enrolment of 104 in one university in 1948. The system now comprises 75 universities with students enrolment of over 450,000 in the year 2005 and a concomitant increase in the number of programmes, staff and physical facilities. The goals of higher education as stated in the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004) are to develop intellectual capacity, develop values for the survival of individuals, manpower training, provide enabling and conducive environment as well as to acquire both physical and intellectual skills that will enable individuals to be self-reliant and useful members of the society. These goals are to be pursued through teaching, research, dissemination of existing new information and community service. These goals are witnessing an unprecedented public criticism There is no household in this country that is not concerned about the state of our education system, particularly higher education. The structure is in a deplorable condition. Teachers are demoralized and disenchanted. The system now produces thousands of young people, who roam the streets, in search of jobs that are not available. Unfortunately, incessant and inconsistent changes in government polices on education within the past three decades have precipitated instability and undermined rational management and planning approaches in the system. Thus, as it will be expected, the university system according to Fafunwa(l998), Olutola(1983) and Manuwuike(l982) described as dysfunctional, cosmetic and nonsensical. Entrepreneurship The word entrepreneurship originated from the French word, entrepreneur, meaning to undertake. In earlier periods, it meant the director or manager of a public musical institution or one who gets up entertainments. However, it later came to be used in what was called political economy to mean a contractor acting as intermediary between capital and labour. Thus, according to Fapohunda (2006) entrepreneur is an economic leader who possesses the ability to recognize opportunities for successful introduction of new commodities, new techniques and new sources of supply, and to assemble the necessary plant and equipment, management and labour force and organized them into a running concern. Damachi (2001) saw an entrepreneur as the organizer whose input gave value to the other

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resources when combined in the production process. He further emphasized the role of the entrepreneurs as innovation and technical change, that is the introduction of new combinations of factors in a new process or for new output. Schultz(l990) conceived entrepreneurs as consisting of all (including artisans, housewives, labourers) who allocate their human and other productive resources to bring a dynamic (unstable) economy back into equilibrium. Olutunla(2001) adopted entrepreneurship as selfemployment or small scale enterprise ownership or organization in agriculture, manufacturing and service industries. In general, entrepreneur is used as a referent for one, who undertakes a venture as a manager, a controller or a champion, owner/manager of a business who, by risk and initiative, attempts to make profit. In other words, an entrepreneur has the ability to take the factors of production, that is land, labour and capital and use them to produce new goods and services. Entrepreneurship entails tough and risky decisions to produce new grade and services. Entrepreneurship is very important because it is the source of new jobs created in an economy and consequently the source of economic growth. According to Fapohunda (2006) entrepreneurship has four social benefits: it fosters economic growth, it increases productivity, it creates new technologies, new products and services and it changes and rejuvenates market competition. It is the source of small-scale businesses. There are numerous reasons why entrepreneurship tends to start, survive and grow in all economics. These include employment and income generation, contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, linkage and integration effects, fostering innovation, incubators of potential large industries, industrialisation and technological development (Fatunla, 1998). The features of entrepreneurship include strategic orientation, commitment to opportunity, commitment to resources, management structure, control of resources and reward philosophy. The functions of an entrepreneurship include identification of business opportunities ,selection of opportunities, combination of other factors of production, allocation of resources, planning and controlling, mobilization and utilization of raw materials, risk bearing, innovations and generation of employment opportunities. Objectives of the Study Universities are set up to provide an environment for teaching, research, community participation and moulding of characters. Unfortunately, universities could not meet the needs of the individuals for the promotion of economic self-reliance and self-sufficiency. The study will, among other things, achieve the following objectives. (a) Establish the level of awareness of entrepreneurship. (b) Identify the reasons for the strengths and weaknesses of university education with regard to entrepreneurship. (c) Identify the various approaches for entrepreneurship training in Nigeria .

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. Hypotheses Main Hypothesis : There is no significant relationship between university education and youth entrepreneurship. Sub hypotheses HOl : There is no significant relationship between university curricula and youth entrepreneurship. HO2 : There is no significant relationship between level of university development and youth entrepreneurship.

and youth entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Table 1 Analysis of variance on University Education and Youth Entrepreneurship

Methodology The research was a correlation survey type carried out expost facto because, university education and youth entrepreneurship were studied as if they had already occurred. The two main variables used were goals of university education as the independent variable and youth entrepreneurship as the dependent variable. The indices of university education examined include teaching, research publication and community participation while components of youth entrepreneurship were entrepreneurship development programmes, skilled manpower and labour market. The target population for the study comprised graduates, artisans, entrepreneurs and undergraduate students from higher institutions in the two geopolitical zones selected. 1,200 respondents were used in the selected universities, companies, banks, small scale industries and parastatals. To secure the needed information, a questionnaire tagged UEAYEQ University Education and Youth Entrepreneurship Questionnaire was constructed for the purpose of analyzing the relationship between University Education and Youth Entrepreneurship. The questionnaire was divided into three sections the first section (A) was concerned with personal data of the respondents. Section B (University Education Questionnaire (UEQ was administered to the youths while Youth Entrepreneurship Questionnaire (YEQ) was administered to the employers of labour. The reliability of the instrument was established using a test-retest method and Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistical analysis. The reliability coefficients r of the EAP and YEQ were .72 and .75 respectively. The multiple regression was used to test the main hypothesis while the Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistical techniques was used to test the null hypotheses. In all the tests of the hypotheses, the .05 confidence level was used for determining statistical significance. Results Main Hypothesis: There is no significant relationship between university education

Table 1: shows a calculated F-value of 413 and a critical F-Table of 3.84. The calculated F-value is greater than the critical F-Table (3.84) at .05 significance level and at 1, 1199 degree of freedom Hence, the main hypothesis is rejected. This implies that there is significant relationship between university education and youth entrepreneurship. HOl: There is no significant relationship, between university curricula and youth entrepreneurship. Table 2 Analysis showing correlation coefficient between university curricula and youth entrepreneurship

Table 2: reveals a correlation coefficient of.26 and critical r-value of .139 at .05 alpha value. Thus the hypothesis is rejected which suggest that there may be sufficient relationship between university curricula and youth entrepreneurship.

HO2 : There is no significant relationship between manpower development and

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youth entrepreneurship. Table 3 Analysis showing correlation coefficient of manpower development and youth entrepreneurship.

Table 3 reveals the calculated Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) as .49. This is greater than the critical r-value .139 at .05 level of significance and at 1199 degree of freedom Hence the null hypothesis is rejected which implies that there is significant relationship between manpower development and youth entrepreneurship. Discussion of Findings The finding in Table 1 indicate that the relationship between university education and entrepreneurship was statistically significant. The finding is consistent with the clain by Adenekan (2008) who felt that empowering youths economically is capable of reducing poverty and contributing to the development of the country. FatunIa (2001) conceptualized entrepreneurship as self-employment or the ownership of a small scale enterprise. FRN(2004) states that universities are expected to achieve goals through teaching, research and development and generation and dissemination of knowledge. A variety of modus of programmes including full time and part time, block release, access to training funds such as those provided by Industrial Training Fund(ITF), Students Industrial Work Experience (SIWES), Maintenance of Minimum Academic Standards were involved. Okebukola (2001) concluded that the development of entrepreneurial skills and initiatives should be of paramount importance especially in higher education. This is to facilitate employability of graduates who are increasingly called upon to be not only job seekers but above all, to become job creators. The findings do not agree with some reports in of related literature. Englama (2001) opined that there is excess supply of graduates labour judging by the growing trend of unemployment, underemployment and non employment. Labour market surveys and other studies by government and international agencies reveal that graduate unemployment is a serious problem (Federal Office of Statistics, 2007). Thus, universities have emerged as a system characterized by a lack of clarity of purpose. Farnro (1991) maintained that in spite of the age and structure of universities, they still maintain ambiguous goals. More often, universities are government agencies that are established by law, act or charter. Fafunwa (1998) conceived in adequacies of universities to be lack of clear

definition and prioritization of institutional goals in the university system. He concluded that the time seems to have arrived when Nigerian universities should re-examine their functions and re-define their objectives. The FRN has merely stated what universities ought to do in the typical manner of Farnros (1991). official goals. It does not specify the relative importance to be attached to each goal and in any case actually doing and if so, the effectiveness with which this is being done. On ascertaining the universitys efficiency and effectiveness, the findings of Sofoluwe (1999) implies that most of the universities were operating below efficiency. T h e findings in Table 2 indicated significant relationship between the university curricular and youth entrepreneurship. The curriculum of a university is the totality of the experiences that are offered to the students by the institution in the pursuance of its teaching and learning philosophy, goals and objectives. NUC(1999) emphasized that the curriculum of any programme is aimed at equipping students with knowledge and professional skill. NPE (2004 Rev) emphasized the contribution of university education to national development through intensifying and diversifying its programme for the development of high level manpower. Over the years, a number of programmes have been embarked upon in an attempt to prepare youth for entrepreneurship and curb unemployment. These programmes had no relationship with the university curricula. The various programmes by the Federal, State and Local Governments in Nigeria include Western Government Farm Settlement, Operation Feed the Nation, Green Revolution, Small Scale Enterprises Programme, Family Support Programme, Family Economic Advancement Programme (FEAP) National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Directorate of Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure and National Directorate of Employment, Micro and Small scale Enterprises Credit Financing. The curricula of all the academic programmes taught in Nigerian universities need to be updated in order to reposition graduates to keep up with constant stream of technological advances and the highly dynamic frontiers of knowledge. Given the high level of unemployment in Nigeria, the development of entrepreneurship skills and initiatives should be of paramount importance especially in higher education. Okebukola (2001) opined that in re-designing university curricula, emphasis should be placed on facilitating the acquisition of skills, competencies and abilities which are required by employers of labour. The development of the National Policy on Education was a response to the growing criticism of the Nigerian School curricula and its relevance to the culture and needs of the Nigerian people. Regrettably, a number of deficiencies have been identified in Nigerian universities, some of these are deficiency in English and communication skills, deficiency in technical skills, lack of conceptual analytical skills and lack of management skill. These deficiencies are attributable to inadequate funding, decaying infrastructural facilities, poor academic staff condition leading to brain drain, low quality of intake of students from secondary schools which have been neglected over the years. The findings in Table 3 indicated that the relationship between university manpower development and youth entrepreneurship was statistically significant.

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The work of Fatunla (2001) had earlier show that most educated Nigerians have been used to white collar jobs provided by the government or large companies. There was no culture of training for self employment. Okebukola (2001) stated that there was graduate unemployment and that universities tend to produce fewer graduates in certain areas of critical skills. Dabalen, Oni and Adekola (2000) revealed that the graduates output of all federally funded universities from 1986 to 1996 was 196,545 and these graduates, education, social sciences and the arts disciplines produced 59.311(30.1%), 33,112(16.8%), and 23,436 (11.9%) respectively. In contrast, graduate output over the same ten year period in the more specialized professional disciplines was: medicine 9,285(4.7%), Pharmacy1970 (1.0%), EngineeringfTechnologyll,763(6.0%) and veterinary medicine 1,122(.5%). Statistics from NUC and JAMB (2005) revealed that 913,862 candidates sat for the 2005 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board examinations. It was revealed that the distribution was as follows Social Sciences had 226,664,(24.81%), Administration 168,376(18.42%), Medical Sciences 161,292(17.65%), Engineering/ Technology 142,394(15.58%), Law 69.751(7.63%), Science 68,673(7.51%), Arts 45,870 (5.027%), Education 23,596(2.58%) and Agriculture 7.246 (0.79%). When aggregated into Arts (Social science) and Science (pure! Applied), about 60% of the candidates preferred courses in the Arts. This scenario fell flat in the face of the National Policy that prescribing the admission of 40% to the Arts and 60% for Sciences for university undergraduate programmes. It therefore showed that there is a gaping mismatch between the sort of qualified manpower needed to grow the economy and the pattern of undergraduate applications. Fatunla (2001) opined that educational development should be viewed both in terms of manpower requirements and also in terms of employment opportunities. Adeyemi (1996), writing on the impact of manpower development plan on employment generation, opined that a number of key manpower development institutions were established. These included Indigenization and Nationalisation Policy, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Centre for Management Development (CMD), Administrative Staff College (AS CON), National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), National Directorate of Employment (NDE). These organizations apparently have served the manpower training and retraining needs of the country. The challenge is that their programmes should be upgraded to meet the globalizing world and its attendant competitive pressures.
Recommendations Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made: The curricula of all the academic programmes taught in Nigerian universities need to be updated in order to reposition Nigerian university graduate to be able to keep up with the constant stream of technological advances. There should be an inclusion of a course on entrepreneurship for all universities graduate degree

programmes to encourage self employment and bolster the ability of graduates to create jobs. Universities should adhere the quota assigned to them for admission so as to portray national policy prescription with regards to the Science/Arts of ratio of 60% for science and 40% for the Arts. Youths should be empowered primarily through the development of new governmental and corporate strategies and policies to teach, mentor, and create new platforms for adequate self-expression and economic mental alertness. Universities should strengthen their practical training programmes and skills acquisition through industrial attachment, field practical training, university-industry interaction forum and adequate supervision of students on industrial attachment.. There should be a strong linkage between entrepreneurship and technology so that entrepreneurs can benefit from research and development output of our universities and research institutes. Institutions like the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) should be strengthened to provide training, capital and technical assistance to potential and practising entrepreneurs. The Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP) of the Federal Government has lofty objectives, but it can be more functionally reorganized along the objectives of the NDE so that beneficiaries would not only receive welfare money but are trained to be functionally employed and contribute to the National Income. Research may be intensified on the various aspects of entrepreneurship, such as education and training, new ventures, finance, marketing, organizational strategies, entrepreneurship characteristics and behavior. The public and private sectors should establish an effective feed back mechanism with graduates and their employers to monitor graduates performance at work, in terms of knowledge, skills and adaptability is needed in addition to the provision of adequate funding for universities to enable them revitalize their academic and physical facilities on a continuous basis in order to maintain high academic standards .. Conclusion The studies has revealed that there was a significant relationship between university education and youth entrepreneurship. This implies that the university goals of manpower development and teaching serve as tools for youth entrepreneurship. Functional curricula would lead to the production of good graduates imbued with the requisite skills, knowledge and abilities to make them entrepreneurs and function effectively. Therefore a new educational policy is clearly needed to

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address our educational deficits.

References Adenekan, S (2008). Empowering youth for wealth creation. The Punch. July 24, 2008.P4
Adeyemi, 1. 0 (1996). Impact of development plans in employment generation : Some policy lessons In I.U Umo (ed) Towards full employment strategy in Nigeria. Lagos. Dabalen, A., Oni, B & Adekola, O.A (2000). Labour market prospect of university graduates in Nigeria The World Bank: Paris. Damachi, N.A (2001). Evolution of past policy measure for solving unemployment problems. Bullion. A Publication of the Central Bank of Nigeria Volume 25, (4) 6-14. Englama, A (2001). Unemployment: concepts and issues. Bullion. A publication of the CBN. Vol 25 (4) 1-5. Fafunwa, AB (1998). Sense and nonsense in Nigerian education. Abuja : Umanity Instil. Famro, C.O (1991) Goals and goal congruence in Nigerian universi ties. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis Dorin: Unilorin. Fapohunda, 0.1. (2006). Work, retirement and entrepreneurship development. Nigerian Tribune. Tuesday 26 September, PP 1,27-28. Fatunla, G.T. (1995). Financial issues in entrepreneurship development. Proceedings of the National Seminar on Entrepreneurship : Challenges for the 21st century. Faculty of Management Sciences. Port Harcourt : University of Port Harcourt. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2004) National policy on education Abuja: Federal Ministry of Information. Federal Republic of Nigeria (2007) Statistical digest. Abuja :Federal Office of Statistics. Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (2005) Annual reports. Abuja : JAMB. Kutz, G.C (1982). Management of organization. New York : Haughton Milton. Manuwuike, E. (1982) Dysfunctionalism in African education. New York : Vantage. Micheal, O. (2001) Introduction educational management. Benin City: Ambik National Directorate of Employment (2001). Establishment of Graduate self-em ployment index. Abuja PRS Dept. National Universities Commission (1999). Programme evaluation form Abuja : NUC. National Universities Commission (1989). A survey of the minimum academic standards for disciplines in Nigerian Universities. NUC :Lagos.

e- LEARNING AS AN INNOVATIVE STRATEGY TO INCREASE ENROLMENT IN TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING INSTITUTIONS IN KANYA BY JOHN W. SIMIYU, PHD & MACHARIA JULIET E-Mail: jwsi54@Yahoo.com
Biodam: Dr. John Simiyu is a Senior Lecturer in the department o/Technology Education at Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya. Ms. Macharia is a senior lecturer in the department of communication studies at Moi university, Kenya.

Abstract Various modes of interactive technologies are providing new opportunities and strategies for enhancing teaching at a distance. Distance learning has the potential to increase access and accelerated learning opportunities. Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes experience dwindling enrolments whereby distance learning can be used to employ innovative methods and technologies to increase student enrolment. This paper examines how such modes are used giving a typical example and experience in TVET.

Introduction Distance learning is not a recent innovation in education; correspondence courses having been used for over 160 years since the development of postal service in the 19th century (Moore and Greg, 2005). Computers and the Internet have only made distance learning easier, just as it has for many other day-to-day tasks. Since Internet is global, unlimited and open to public, the teaching applications planned for it has a potential of moderating the nature of distance learning. Distance learning may use all forms of technology, from print to the computer. This range will include radio, television, audio video conferencing, computer-aided instruction and e-Learning/online learning. A distinction is also made between open learning and distance learning. Open education is the system in which the student is free to choose the time and place. Conversely, the term virtual university is sometimes used to describe an openlearning institution that uses the Internet to create an imaginary university environment, which students, faculty and staff can communicate and share information at any time, regardless of location. Thus, new interactive technologies are providing new

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