CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Technology has been described as the bedrock for global development, and many
nations of the world have keyed into it, Technology which is the primary engine of
economic growth, plays a fundamental role in wealth creation, improvement of the quality
of life and real economic growth and transformation in any society. It also provides the key
to unlock any country’s potential in terms of decreasing overhead cost associated with
outsourcing and creating employment opportunities. The impact of technology is felt in
every aspect of human life so much that it elaborately linked with all aspects of human and
nation development. Nigeria as a nation has seen the increasing importance of global
technology development, In recent times most of it polices are titled towards technology as
the main driver of economy development.
According to (Okonji 2014) in recognition of technology as the touchstone of development,
Nigeria in its national school curriculum included technology as a field of specialization at
secondary education level.
Technical Colleges in Nigeria are the institutions that give full vocational training
intended to prepare students for entry into various technical occupations. The institutions
train craftsmen in building construction, Radio, Television and Electronic works, Electrical
Installation and Maintenance, Auto-mechanics, Plumbing and Pipe fitting, Carpentry and
Joinery, Painting and Decorating, Welding and Fabrication, Cabinet Making among others.
Graduates of technical colleges may be employed in the public sector or establish their own
businesses and employ others .The teacher education curriculum is designed to produce
competent and responsible professional teachers needed for growth and development in
Nigeria.
In the light of the above, Electrical Installation and Maintenance works as offered in
technical colleges prepares an individual with job satisfying requirements towards
employment and self-reliance. Electrical installation and maintenance work provides
technical training to meet the demands of electrical industries and individual allowing the
students to identify their career objectives (Ogwa 2016). Skill is the ability to perform well
in a given task it is usually gained through training, Training which is designed for
manpower development of the school system and educational enterprise as whole. If
teacher are to perform
their function effectively and efficiently, its therefore become
imperative for them to receive training in new skills and modern methodology because of
the constant change and development in science and technology in the world today.
(Eduwen, 2016) The higher the level of educational attainment by the teacher, the higher
the need of the level of educational standard in the country. Skill acquisition in electrical
installation and maintenance works employs measures and develops jobs in electrical
installation geared towards making students confident and self-reliant. Electrical
installation and maintenance works curriculum is designed to prepare the students to
acquire entry level knowledge and manipulative skills for employment in the electrical
industry in Nigeria and Imo State in particular.
Electrical Installation is one of the courses offered in technical colleges. It comprise
of the following subjects Domestic and Industrial Installation, Basic Electricity, Cable
Jointing and battery charger, Winding of Electrical Machines. As contained in the National
Board for Technical Education (NBTE) curriculum
a) Domestic Installation is to provide the trainee with the knowledge and skills to
enable him Carryout Electrical Installation in and outside the building. Domestic
Installation is concerned with the installation of electrical components and equipments in a
building. Domestic Installation also involves conduit wiring, surface wiring as well as
maintenance of electrical fittings; such as lightings used in homes mostly within the range
of 0.5V – 415V
B) Industrial Installation goals according to National Board for Technical Education
(NBTE) , are to provide the trainee
with the knowledge and skills which will enable them carryout all types of industrial and
factory installations, Industrial Installation involves voltage ranging from 415V - 33KVA
and above is for industrial consumption using high tension conductors (Gupta, 2005).
Which Conductors are made from aluminum, copper and alloy. High voltage ranging from
415V and above is transmitted through over head conductors, underground and trunking,
which could be in Alternating Current (AC) or Direct Current (DC) for the use of machines
and equipment of high power consumption.
C) Cable Jointing and battery charger provides the trainee with the knowledge and
skills which enables him with proficiency in various methods of cable terminations and
jointing of Cable as well have the knowledge in cables and conductors rating or gauge.
Electrical Cables are in different types and sizes Armored cable, over head conductors boss
bars and communication cables use in transmission. While battery charger gives you an
insight about the working operation of D.C current and the best way to maintain and take
care of batteries. Under electrical installation there is need for and electrical and
electronics teacher to possess essential knowledge and competency in electrical drafting
and technical drawing. Drafting which is the type of drawing that gives information about
the passage of electrical cables, position of lighting points and fittings ,Electrical drafting
are absolutely crucial for documentary ,troubleshooting and communicating information
about power systems it ensure that system run smoothly and safe. Drafting also provides
visual representation describing electrical system or circuits which are used to explain
design to electrical engineers or other workers who use the diagrams to install or repairs
an electrical system. It is also very important that and electrical and electronics teacher
possess competency in electrical fault rectification because faults are inevitable events
that most that place in any technology. when the teacher possess all the necessary
knowledge in electrical and electronics subjects the skills he possess makes him effective
and efficient in presenting his lesson to the student and make him stand the test of time
Electrical installation as subject is taught in technical college, Technical college graduates
are trained to be skilled and self- reliant. They also require knowledge and skills that will
enable them to be employable or proceed to higher education institutions. Many technical
college graduates especially those in electrical installation and maintenance are jobless.
They are jobless not because of the absence of job opportunities in industries but because
they lack Electrical installation competency enough to take up the available skilled jobs
available, this means that graduates of Technical colleges are not competent enough to
take up available job opportunities in industries and homes one should not anticipate them
to be self-reliant. Study conducted by UNEVOC shows that majority of graduates from our
universities lack the required knowledge and skills to carry out Electrical installation work
rather does who do not pass through technical colleges perform better in electrical
installation because of the kind of work exposure they are exposed to, They are exposed to
real work activities more than the university graduates in developing countries like
Nigeria, the graduates are not self-reliant due to incompetence.
According to national policy on education (2014) 6th edition which stipulate that
trainee of technical colleges should be able to:
a) secure employment either at the end of whole course or after completing one
modules of employable skills
b) be able set up their own businesses and become self-employed and employ others
c) Pursue further education in advance craft and technical programmers’ and in postsecondary
(tertiary)
technical institutions such as polytechnics, college of
education and the universities.
Electrical installations is taught by Electricity and Electronic teachers Electricity
and Electronics teachers are trained in Colleges of Education (Technical), Polytechnics and
Universities. Such teachers are trained in order to teach electrical installation among other
related courses.
Technical colleges are regarded as principal vocational institution in Nigeria. They
give full training intended to prepare students for entry into various occupations.
Technical colleges like other institutions exist in both rural and urban areas. Electricity and
Electronics teachers in either rural or urban They make use of same curriculum in
teaching and learning Therefore, Electricity and Electronics teachers require the same
level of competency to teach effectively and also adapt to changes
in science and
technology.
Offorma (2010) stressed that attention should be paid to the competence of
teachers as that will determine the quality of graduates being produced Competency is the
ability to perform well in a given task compared with standard, specific abilities are
acquired through experience or training. Ability to act in any action, skills, that are
characterized with complexities and difficulties with accomplishment. This is to say that
skill is the ability acquired or learned with practice to perform a task. skill is a manual
dexterity through repetitive performance of an operation. (Shetima 2010) quoting Okoro
and Ezeji “ viewed skill as a well established habit of doing something in the most economi
c way involving the acquisition of performance capabilities. According to these authors,
possessing a skill means demonstrating the habit of acting, thinking or behaving in a
specific activity, which becomes automatic. Therefore, in planning technical education,
emphasis should be given to the development of occupational competence. The ultimate
test of a good technical education programme is not how much factual information
students can remember but what technical skill they posses or perform in their technical
fields of employment (Okoro, 2006) If there is any field of human endeavors where
technology changes rapidly, is the Electrical and Electronics. It is
the pivot
of
technological growth and development. Most technological changes depend on electricity.
Appliances cannot operate without electricity bringing about the technological
development witnessed today. These appliances include various domestic and industrial
machines and appliances, computers, audio and visual gadgets, sophisticated electrical
equipment among others. Its importance not withstanding, electricity involves a lot of
hazards. Ogbuanya (2005) describe electricity as good servant but a bad master. In
venturing a vision of technological possibilities rather than simply projecting linear or
exponential changes in performance, it is crucial to think not only of how technical
improvements lead to the substitution of a new generation of tools for existing ones, but
also of how entirely new uses, and indeed new needs, might emerge (Riel, Wolfgang &
Barrie 2009). Therefore, Electricity and Electronic teachers with varying qualification,
knowledge and skills need to update their knowledge and skills through regular training, in
order not to be obsolete. That informed the introduction of Technical Teachers Training
Programme (TTTP). The programme was principally designed for improvement of
technical teachers’ knowledge and skills. Unfortunately, this programme was conceived
without first identifying the needs of the teacher. In other word, there is need to find out
the areas the teachers lack required competency and need for improvement in their
performance before embarking on any training or re-training of technical teacher. In the
midst of other factors that lead to poor performance of technical college trainee the
competence of the teachers is outstanding. Unless Electricity and Electronics teachers
possessed required competencies to effectively teach Electrical Installation, the problem of
unemployable graduates will continue to hunt the country’s technical education at
secondary school level. As the saying goes, no education system can rise above the quality
of its teachers. Hence this study designs to find out the Electrical Installation competencies
required by Electricity and Electronicss teachers in technical colleges.
Statement of the Problem
Development in the world today has become very rapid, Today’s world of technology
depends largely on high skilled and competent manpower for productivity. Technical
college has major role to play in the production of competent manpower for electrical
industries and domestic usage, It is expected that graduates should possess skills and
competencies which will enable them perform in their areas of discipline . Onoh and
Onyebuenyi ( 2017), Electrical installation and maintenance works taught in technical are
poised with potentials of equipping the student with prerequisite skills to propel them
contribute meaningfully to national and economic development, self-reliant and become
job creators towards
reduction of unemployment, most electrical installation and
maintenance works graduates roam the street unemployed because they can not get
employed or establish their own business due to the fact they lack saleable which may be
as a result of ill training
or inadequate skill acquisition among graduates of electrical
installation and maintenance work. Hence there is need for identification and integration
of relevant skills needed in electrical installation works into technical college curriculum
in Imo state .
Furthermore, the standard of performance of Nigeria technical graduates in general
is at the moment very low thereby retarding the overall productivity of the Nigeria
economy. Despite all effort by the government to ensure qualitative education at the
technical colleges and bring about high competent products both in academic and
employability, there have been persistent reports of high failure rate among graduates of
the colleges (NABTEB, 2006). One probable cause of the high failure of students in recent
years is due to lack of required competencies in teaching methods employed by instructors
to teach the students.
According to Eze (2010), an organized training and work environment ensures
effective teaching and learning ,this training and work environment includes standard
laboratories , workshop, lecture halls ,tool cabinets ,However , in most cases this training
environment even when they are in deplorable state such that effective teaching and
learning cannot be achieved yet they are still left unattended to, this causes problem as
teachers continue to adopt improper teaching strategies , manage instructional materials,
facilities and even training environment. This however creates concern hence the current
trends of globalization in the world has called for a shift from the traditional method of
instruction to the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT), if effective teaching
and learning is expected to be achieved
The above situation creates doubt on the
possessed competency of teachers in Technical Colleges. No education programme can rise
above its teachers national policy on education (2014), therefore poor skill oriented
Electrical installation maintenance
graduates of technical college is a reflection of the
quality of Electrical and Electronics teachers in technical college. These teachers attended
different institution and so possess different qualification and experience. Some of the
skills they possess on graduation become obsolete as time goes and while others need
updating. The needs for teachers
to be retrained not once or twice but on continuous
basis to improve their knowledge, competency, skill and attitude towards teaching and
learning will be of great advantage to the educational system which will help to reduce the
rate of unskilled and incompetent graduate of electrical and installation in our school
system. It is against this backdrop of incompetency, among the teachers and their product
which is the student, that the researcher deemed it imperative to determine the best
training that can improve the teachers productivity, skills,
and competency
competent to train skilled and productive technicians and craftsmen in technical colleges.
Purpose of the Study
The major purpose of this study is to determine the competencies and skills
required by Electricity
installation effectively.
and
Electronics
teachers to enable them teach electrical
Specifically the study aims at determining Electrical Installation
maintenance work
Competencies required by Electricity and electronics teachers to teach:1. Domestic Installation.
2 Industrial Installation.
3 Cable joining and battery charger
Significance of the study
The finding of this study will be beneficial to the principal of technical colleges,
Electrical trade teachers, Electrical
trade students, ministries of education and
researchers; National Board for Technical Education. They can use the result of the study
to organize training, workshop and seminar for Electrical and Electronics Teachers in
order to update their skills and knowledge in Electrical Installation. The ministries will also
use the findings of study to employ teachers (i.e.) using the findings as a basis to select
qualified Electrical and Electronics teachers for technical colleges.
The findings of the study will be beneficial to Electrical and Electronics industries
where technical college graduates seek for employment upon graduation. Electrical
installation graduates will be better equipped with practical skills to perform more
effectively in their various jobs and assignment in the industries. This will also help the
industries minimize the huge financial expenditure on retraining of technical college
graduates upon employment due the competencies acquired while in the school system.
It will also help in planning of a successful curriculum, beneficial to curriculum
planners and training institutions. In that this institution will be able to incorporate the
aspect of teacher competency required, as identified skills in the curriculum.
The findings will help the curriculum programmes aimed and persuading
Electrical/Electronic teachers, technicians to adopt improve competence practice as well as
develop skills, knowledge and attitude favorable to change in Electrical Installation world
to day.
The findings of the study will be beneficial to Electrical and Electronics teachers
because if the competency required of these teachers are upgraded through in-service
training,, the teachers will use the new knowledge and skills acquired to impact the
necessary knowledge to the students. This invariably will motivate the student to learn
and also give the teacher the confidence of job satisfaction.
The findings of the study will be beneficial to students because when the
Electrical/Electronic teachers are well equipped with competencies required, he/she will
instill this knowledge in the students. The students will therefore learn better and be able
to work more effectively due to improved skill and competency acquisition. If this is
achieve parents will also be happy because they will see value in their efforts.
The society will also benefit from the findings of the study because when Students
graduates with expected skills; they will reduce the problem of quack electrical installation
technicians thereby, offering good services to the society. This will go a long way in
achieving the much needed technological development in Nigeria.
Research Questions
The following research question are formulated to guide the study.
1. What are the Competencies required by Electrical and Electronics Teachers to teach
Domestic Installation?
2. What are the Competencies needed by Electrical and Electronic Teachers to teach
Industrial Installation?
3. What are the Competencies needs by Electrical and Electronic Teachers to teach
Cable Joining?
4. What are the appropriate training facilities that will enhance the competencies of
Electrical installation maintenance work teacher.
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses will be tested will be tested in study
H01: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of qualified and less
qualified Electrical and Electronics teachers in the competencies they require to
teach Domestic installation.
H02: There is no significant difference between the mean responses of qualified and less
qualified Electrical and Electronics teachers on competencies they require to teach
Industrial Installation.
H03: Significance difference does not exist between the mean responses of qualified and
less qualified Electrical/Electronic teachers competencies they require in skilled
improvement of Cable Joining.
H04: there is no significant difference in the mean response of qualified and less qualified
electrical
teacher on the competency need in electrical installation maintenance
work .
Scope of the study
The scope of this study focuses on the competency need in electrical installation
maintenance work in technical colleges in Imo State. And Electrical teachers’ ability to
perform task, which will be delimited to Domestic Installation, Industrial Installation, cable
joining and. Delimiting: - Basic Electricity and Battery Charging. With the view to ascertain
what is required, what is obtainable, and what is needed from the teachers for
improvement in skills and competencies in technical colleges in Imo States of Nigeria.
Significant of the Study:
The finding from this study will be of great benefit to the student s in electrical
and electronics technology , the teachers, society, researchers and even the parents .The
findings of the study will assist the state Ministry of Education and Science to appreciate
the relevance of skills and competence needs of electrical installation teachers. The
ministry can use the findings of the study to organize programme like workshop, training,
seminars for technical teachers to update them with the new and recent technological
development in society .The finding of this study will benefit the society in the sense that
electrical teachers and electrical
graduates can apply the
knowledge
of electrical
maintenance work to help the people in the society in maintaining their electrical
equipments and appliances.
Operational Definition of Terms:
Technology: The organization, method, system and devices which are the result of
scientific knowledge for practical purposes.
Programme: A set of related measures or activities with a particular long-aim.
Competency: The ability to perform some task successfully and efficiently with
much stress.
Industrial installation: refers to much complex form of electrical installation or
wiring.
Domestic installation: refers to the installations within the scope of the residential
building that are not too complex.
Obsolete: old fashioned or no longer useful.
Institution : refers to an institution or place for formal education.