ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS NEED OF BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS FOR SELF EMPLOYMENT IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This research investigated the entrepreneurial skills need of business education students for self-employment in Akwa Ibom State. Two specific objectives, Two research questions and Two null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population of the study was 234 business education lecturers and students made up of 48 business educators and 186 final year Business Education Students in Akwa Ibom State. The sample of the study was 187 respondents made up of 149 business education students and 38 business educators. Convenience sampling technique was used for the study. A structured questionnaire titled "Entrepreneurial Skills Need of Business Education Students for Self-Employment Questionnaire (ESNBESSEQ)" was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three lecturers from University of Uyo. Cronbach alpha test was used to estimate the reliability coefficient of the instruments. The completed questionnaires were collected, collated and analysed using Mean and Improvement Need Index (INI) to answer the research questions while Independent t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings emerged from the study revealed that there is skill need and significant difference between business educators and business education students on creativity and marketing skills need of business education students for self-employment in Akwa Ibom State. It was concluded that for business education to assume self-employment in Akwa Ibom State, they require entrepreneurial skills. Based on the findings and conclusion of the study, it was recommended that business education curriculum developers should integrate project-based learning into the curriculum in order to encourage students to develop innovative business ideas and prototypes and allow students to think creatively and develop problem-solving skills.