ABSTRACT
This research work was carried out to
assess the contributions of University
of Benin to manpower development in Nigeria.
The motivating factor of this study
was derived from the realization that higher education plays an important role
in manpower development in Nigeria. For
this reason, some research questions were raised to find out the contributions
of higher education to manpower development taking University of Benin
as a case study. The research instrument
used was the questionnaire, which was constructed and administered to final
year students from four (4) different faculties.
The survey research design was used while
simple random sampling technique was used in getting the samples for the
study. Based on the data collected and
interpreted, it was discovered that higher education is a tool for national
development and shown the importance and relevance of higher education to
nation building. However, a lot still
needs to be done to improve the quality and quantity of higher education in Nigeria
for effective manpower development.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Approval ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Abstract vii
Table of
Contents ix
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background of
the Study 1
Statement of the
Problem 5
Research
Questions 7
Purpose of Study 8
Basic
Assumptions 9
Significance of
the Study 9
Scope/Delimitation
of the Study 13
Limitations of
the Study 13
Definition of
Terms 13
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Meaning of Manpower Development 17
Purpose and Role of Manpower Development 19
Approaches to Manpower Development 20
- Human
Capital Approach 20
- Educational
Approach 23
Challenges facing Higher Education in
Nigeria 38
Relationship between Higher Education and
Manpower Development 44
Summary of Literature Review 47
CHAPTER
THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The Research
Design 51
Population of
the Study 51
Sample and
Sampling Procedure 51
The Instrument
for Data Collection 52
The Validity of
the Instrument 52
The Reliability
of the Instrument 53
Administration
of the Instrument 54
Method of Data
Analysis 54
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
OF RESULTS
Data Analysis and Discussion of Results 55
Discussion of Results 66
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary 68
Major Findings 70
Conclusion 71
Recommendations 73
Suggestions for Further Research 75
References 76
Appendix 78
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Education has been defined in diverse
ways to suit the situation o r process under review. Education is the complete development of
human such that he/she becomes functionally useful to himself/herself, society
and humanity at large. It is the
aggregate of the process through which a person develops abilities, attitudes
and forms of behavior that are of positive value in the society in which he/she
lives. Education in its general sense is
fundamental and basic to human and overall societal development. It is in turn, makes its recipient
self-reliant and self-sustaining. The
extent of development of societies has been associated to the extent of the
literacy of its citizenry.
The
importance of education to national development project cannot be
over-emphasized. Since the attainment of
national independence in October, 1960, the successive Nigerian governments
have acknowledged this fact and have instituted various measures of policy
commitment and action; more also, in electioneering campaigns and national
budgets.
Politicians and policy makers alike
have always recognized and politicized the centrality of good education,
especially higher education in national development. Hence, they have frequently stress on the establishment
of more universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and the expansion of
existing higher education institutions by advocating for the creation of
multi-campus arrangements, provision of adequate infrastructural materials,
qualified teachers and so forth (Araromi and Adeyoju, 1996:83). In fact, it is sufficiently clear that a
nation which fails to provide good education for her citizens would sooner or
later face the logical antithesis of sustainable development: Mass illiteracy,
superstition, poverty, diseases, de-industrialization and low
productivity. This mainly explains why
governments are highly interested in the educational system, particularly in
developing countries.
To this end, the Federal Government
declared in the preamble to the National Policy on Education revised in 2004
(the first clear-cut education policy in Nigeria) that:
“Education in Nigeria is no
more a private enterprise, but a huge government venture that has witnessed a
progressive evolution of government’s complete and dynamic intervention and
active participation.
The Federal government of Nigeria has
adopted education as an instrument par excellence for effecting national
development. It is only natural that
government should clarify the philosophy and objectives that underlie its
current massive investment in education and spell out in clear or unequivocal
terms the policies that guide government’s educational effort”.
Manpower development is the continuous
systematic analysis of the skilled manpower that are required in the
economy. This involves the
quantification of the required manpower in terms of quality, type and amount of
education.
Higher education is a veritable tool
for manpower development, but manpower development can be enhanced if adequate attention
is given to the higher educational system in Nigeria and the University of
Benin in particular. Higher education is
still grossly inadequately funded, with several negative consequences for
academic freedom and university autonomy.
Infrastructural facilities, equipments for teaching, research and
learning are either lacking or very inadequate.
From the above preamble, it is clear
that government recognizes that for it to be quite meaningful, education has to
be pertinently related to the national development agenda.
Statement of the Problem
This study derives from the concern on
how adequate or otherwise, contemporary higher education in Nigeria
provides for manpower needs (technical and managerial) of manufacturing
industries. In spite of the increasing
proliferation of universities and polytechnics in Nigeria during the past decade, it
is evident that the profile of links between higher education and industries
especially in the areas of development and utilization of skilled labour has
not been meaningfully investigated. In
fact, the original objective of universities serving as centres for generating
innovative knowledge and personal requisite for creating new productive systems
and on the other hand producing graduate manpower to help in maintaining these
systems, especially in industries tends to be rapidly compromised (Longe, 1991)
A probably more disturbing scenario is
that as technological changes occur in the Nigerian manufacturing sector
through import substitution industrialization, the latter does not seem to
stimulate a commensurate review in the curricular of the students who are
supposedly trained to meet the manpower needs of our industries. All these have led us to the following
thematic puzzle namely “how far and how well does higher education in Nigeria
satisfy the manpower needs of the industrial sector with particular reference
to manufacturing”?
Research Questions
The following research questions were
raised and examined in the course of the study:
1.
How do people perceive the role of University of Benin in manpower development?
2.
How can manpower development be enhanced in
higher institutions?
3.
Does a student’s study area determine his place
of employment?
4.
What is the relevance of higher education in
national development?
5.
Does University
of Benin provide adequate
manpower requirement needed for national development?
Purpose of Study
The main objective of this study was
to investigate the adequacy of higher education on manpower development needs
of manufacturing industries. Other
specific purpose of the research includes:
1.
To ascertain how manpower development can be
enhanced in higher institution like University of Benin.
2.
To find out if students area of study determine
their place of employment.
3.
To determine the relevance of higher education (University of Benin) in national development.
4.
To find out if University of Benin
provides adequate manpower development.
Basic Assumptions
The study has the following
assumptions:
1.
Most students prefer universities to
polytechnics when it comes to choosing higher institutions.
2.
Higher education is the key to manpower
development n Nigeria.
3.
The level of manpower development depends on the
quality and quantity of knowledge gained from higher institution.
Significance of the study
This study is considered first and foremost
a contribution to the evolution and growth of knowledge on the linkage between
higher education and work in Nigeria. It
is a universal norm that higher education is both an instrument as well as a
means for the training of specialized manpower appropriate for different
vocational purposes. One area where the
links between higher education and manpower development have perhaps produced
the most far-reaching benefits for mankind is manufacturing.
This
is particularly evident in view of the profound skills and creativity provided
by the linkage of education and industrial manufacturing and which frequently
find expression in scientific, technological and socio-economic development.
However, over the years and presently
too, policy makers, intellectuals and other professionals have tended to
conceptualize and make decisions regarding higher education and industrial
manufacturing in Nigeria as if they are independent and self-creating processes
(Ukaegbou and Agunwanba, 1991). Hence
little or no research and practical attention is paid to exploring and
deepening the organic complementary between education and industry which is the
engine of sustainable development. For instance in a cross-sectional study
conducted in selected industries, universities and research institutions in
1985, Ukaegbou found that Nigerian scientists and engineers employed in various
sectors of the economy were conspicuously under-utilized. The reason is partly that their educational
training in schools does not harmonize with the imperatives of technological
acquisition in industries. Hence often
time, technicians and expatriates are preferred over graduates of higher
education especially under circumstances of imported technology.
Finally, this study is considered
timely in view of the growing anxiety over the deteriorating standard of higher
education in Nigeria
which in turn provokes an array of public and private concerns. Since the Gray
Longe Commission on Higher Education in Nigeria in the 1990s submitted its
report to the Federal Government in 1991, it has become increasingly evident
that improved funding among other things strongly recommended by the commission
may not after all be the principal remedy to many a short fall in Nigerian
tertiary education. Hence, in his
broadcast to mark the country’s 36th independence anniversary, the
Nigerian Military leader, General Sanni Abacha inaugurated a new commission to
investigate the problems of higher education in Nigeria and make appropriate
recommendations to the Federal government.
This project therefore promises to make significant input into the
Nigerian public policy machinery on critical constraints of higher education in
the country and the way forward.
Scope / Delimitation of the Study
The purpose of this work focuses on
investigating the role of higher education in manpower development needs. For
convenience, the study was limited to the University of Benin.
Limitations of the Study
One major limitations of this work is
inadequate funds to get materials for research study. Other limitations include time and poor
co-ordination of materials.
Definition of Terms
Operationally, it is a more or less
specialized type of education which individual students obtain at the
post-secondary level of schooling such as universities, polytechnics, colleges
of education and other monotechnics.
Higher
Education: Higher education is
used as a means for training people to develop appropriate manpower needed to
operate in any sector of employment they find themselves.
Manpower
Development: Manpower development now
commonly referred to as human capital resource development, is an ongoing
process that analyses, forecasts and projects an organization’s future
productivity.
Manpower development is a process that
seeks to optimize an organization’s usage of its human resources. It requires an integrated approach that
addresses multi-dimensional skills to creative thinking and leadership. Organizations with high productivity levels
have made manpower development an integral part of their business culture. Manpower development is the appropriate skill
needed to function effectively in an organization. So, many people are educated but yet they
lack the skill to fit into an organization when it comes to performing duties,
appropriate development of working skills can enhance such a person’s
capabilities.
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