ABSTRACT

This study surveyed Entrepreneurship Education in three Colleges of
Education in Nigeria. Descriptive Survey was used and the objectives of
the study were; to examine the content quality of vocational training
given to the students; find out whether the NCE students can become
self-reliant and freelance after school and if the students are familiar
with the concept of freelance, self- reliance and entrepreneurship. A
sample of 294 students and 24 lecturers from three colleges of education
(College of Education Minna, Federal College of Education, Kontagora
and College of Education - Federal Capital Territory Zuba, Abuja) were
used. The instruments used for the study were interview, observation and
questionnaire. The Data collected were analysed and results presented
in frequency distribution and percentage, table of mean score and
standard deviation. While chi- square was used to test the hypotheses.
The findings of the study showed that the students were exposed to
vocational skills in the relevant areas of Fine and Applied Arts. Some
of the students may become self - reliant and freelance after school,
some may not. Seventy five percent of the students are familiar with
vocational concept of freelance, self - reliance and entrepreneurship.
The study concludes that the importance and relevance of Fine and
Applied Arts at the National Certificate of Education (NCE) level cannot
be underestimated if the goals of a self - reliant nation must be
attained as specified in the National Commission for Colleges of
Education (NCCE) Minimum Standard. Also there cannot be effective
vocational skills training where there are inadequate lecturers, art
studios, materials, facilities and infrastructure; poor funding and
negative attitude of parents, the students and college management
towards skills training courses. As a result of the findings, it was
suggested that government should re- structure the NCE Fine and Applied
Arts curriculum so that the NCE will be tailored toward entrepreneurship
to enhance vocational skills in the students. Finally it was suggested
that students should be encouraged to be job creators instead of being
job seekers which can be achieved by engaging them in an extensive
industrial training programme in relevant industries, organisations and
professional bodies.