PERCEIVED STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE SCHOOL INDUSTRY COLLABORATION FOR IMPROVING SKILLS AMONG BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS IN DELTA STATE

Abstract

The study focused on perceived strategies to promote school-industry collaboration for improving skills among Business Education students in Delta State. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a descriptivesurvey design. The population of the study consisted of 41 Business Educators from Delta state University Abraka and Delta state Polytechnics Ogwashi-Uku and Ozoro. A structured questionnaire with a 4 point rating was used to obtain data. The instrument was subjected to validation by three experts and a pilot test was conducted to obtain reliability coefficient of 0.82 using Cronbach Alpha formular. With the help of two research assistants, 41 copies of the instrument were administered and retrieved for analysis. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while analysis of variance was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that school-industry collaboration will be of immense benefits to schools (Universities and Polytechnics). It recommended among others that there is the need for a renewed policy by both the Federal and state Governments to make industries absorb students for SIWES with a view to training students to acquire better industrial skills.