SKILL ACQUISITION IN BUSINESS EDUCATION PROGRAMME: A PREDICTOR FOR EFFECTIVE JOB PERFORMANCE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION GRADUATES IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Abstract

The study was carried out to examine how skill acquisition in business education programme can predict job performance of business education graduates in the digital era. Three research questions were raised for the study and one hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population was made up of the entire staff of Business education department, non academic staff (graduates of business education only), ministry of tertiary education and ministry of education and human capital development staff of Kwara state (graduates of Business education only). Randomly, 160 respondents were used as sample using purposive sampling technique. The instrument used for the study was structured questionnaire validated by experts. A reliability test was conducted with the use of Cronbach Alpha which yielded reliability coefficient values of 0.88, 0.81, and 0.76 respectively and was considered adequate. Mean rating was used to answer the three research questions while regression analysis statistics at 0.05 levels of significance was used to test the only null hypothesis. It was revealed that the knowledge acquired in business education programme is enough to make Business education graduates perform better in the digital era. It was recommended among others that Management of various schools need to realise that the world is in a digital era, therefore the need for acquiring various modern technologies for business education programmes for best job performance. It was also recommended that the focus of the curriculum of business education programme should be on skill acquisition rather than theory knowledge.

Key words:Skill Acquisition, Business Education, Predictor, Job Performance, DigitalERA