THE PERCEPTION OF EMPLOYERS ON THE QUALITY OF NIGERIAN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS GRADUATES
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
University education is critical for human resource development. Engineers, administrators/managers, accountants, surgeons and paramedics, lawyers, scientists, technicians, and lecturers are among the professionals educated and trained at universities. According to Anho (2011), the fundamental mission of universities around the world is to promote the life of the mind through intellectual inquiry, as well as to generate, store, and transmit specialized knowledge and sophisticated expertise, as well as higher forms of culture and ethical foundations of conduct.
University education, in particular, is critical to the development of a knowledge economy and society in all nations, according to the World Bank (1999).
The Nigerian Institute of Personnel Management (NIPM)
According to NIPM (2000), the quality of graduates from Nigeria’s public and private universities is rapidly declining, particularly in areas such as communication, technical abilities, human interaction, and social, conceptual, and analytical capacity. To that end, the Nigerian Companies Consultative Association NECA (2000) argued that employers are not recruiting but rather using employment protection methods due to extremely low quality graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions who do not meet industry requirements.
Given the importance of education, especially at the tertiary level, to national development, nations, people, communities, and businesses frequently invest heavily in education in an effort to improve the system’s quality (Akinyemi, Ofem & Ikuenomore, 2012).
As a result, higher education institutions are under enormous pressure from labor employers to produce qualified graduates.
graduates capable of participating in the economy on an individual, national, and global scale (Teichler, 2007). These graduates should have a combination of traits that allow them to approach their professions in an adaptable and proactive manner (Bezuidenhout, 2011).
As a result, the Nigerian government has taken a number of steps to ensure the quality of graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions, including the establishment of the National Universities Commission (NUC), which established the Minimum Academic Standards (MAS) for all undergraduate programs. The MAS determines the content of the curriculum as well as the minimum admission and graduation requirements for each academic area.
Despite the Senate’s internal control measures and the NUC’s external functions via the use of MAS documents and other measures, deficiencies in staff facilities and managerial capabilities persist.
The majority of Nigeria’s tertiary institutions continue to produce graduates in a geometric progression while doing little or nothing to address their employability in the labor market.
Dabalen et al. (2000) and Ogundowole (2002) investigated several causes of low graduation quality in developing countries. One of them, they claim, is a decline in quality assurance, as evidenced by the high rate of human capital flight.
This presents a significant challenge for Nigeria’s higher education institutions, which annually produce over 300,000 graduates, a figure that should normally meet the country’s human capital resource requirements (Oyesiku, 2010). Firms willing to pay a premium for competent employees, on the other hand, are increasingly having difficulty filling job openings. According to Akanmu (2011), Nigerian tertiary institution graduates
have been put to the test in a variety of settings to determine their suitability for the few available white collar jobs. “Not only is the situation sympathetic, but it is also embarrassing that the country’s enormous human material resources have not been trained and exploited to the country’s advantage,” he said. As a result, the purpose of this study was to shine a light on the quality of graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions, with a focus on employers’ perceptions.
1.2 THE PROBLEM’S STATEMENT
Many organizations recognize the importance of having highly competent personnel capable of operating complex software or complex machines. Employer demand for appropriately qualified graduates with the necessary organizational skills to manage workplace issues suggests that their availability is limited in practice.
critical (Akanmu, 2011). (Akanmu, 2011). Employers in Nigeria, on the other hand, have expressed concern about a lack of graduates with the necessary skills to deal with workplace issues. Many graduates seeking jobs in various industries in Nigeria have been turned down by employers who determined that they lacked the necessary skills to carry out job-related tasks (Aryeetey, 2011).
As a result, Nigerian employers frequently complain about graduates’ lack of job readiness. They believe that academic standards have declined significantly in the last decade, and that a university education no longer guarantees communicative or technical ability. As a result, university graduates are sometimes regarded as “partially baked.”
As a result of many institutions’ inability to function properly, the rigor of our universities’ instructional methods has deteriorated. The
This problem has been attributed to a lack of funds as well as inept and insufficient employees to deliver effective instruction.
The value of quality education in Nigeria’s public university system cannot be overstated; according to the National Manpower Board (2009), the Nigerian labor market can only absorb about 10% of the over 3.8 million people produced annually by the Nigerian educational system; this places a premium on quality assurance to ensure that graduates from Nigeria’s public universities are competitive with their counterparts from private and international institutions.
In conclusion, the quality of graduates from Nigerian academic institutions and the country’s unemployment patterns indicate that, without a concerted effort to address the issues surrounding postsecondary graduates’ employability, the situation may worsen (Akanmu, 2011).
This is the context for this study, which looked at the quality of graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions, with a focus on employer perceptions.
1.3 THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVES
The broad goal of this study is to investigate employers’ perceptions of the quality of Nigerian tertiary institution graduates. This research will concentrate on:
i. Establishing the link between educational quality and graduate employability.
ii. Investigating the causes of low-quality graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions.
iii. Investigating the impact of low-quality Nigerian tertiary institution graduates on the labor force.
iv. Identifying measures to improve the quality of Nigerian tertiary institution graduates.
1.4 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH
This study will address the following research questions:
i. What exactly is the connection?
What is the relationship between educational quality and graduate employability?
ii. What are the causes of poor quality graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions?
iii. What are the consequences of low-quality Nigerian tertiary institution graduates entering the labor force?
iv. What are the measures that can be taken to improve the quality of graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions?
1.5 THE STUDY’S IMPORTANCE
This study will benefit society because the findings will highlight the importance of quality education in Nigerian society. This study will also reveal to society the effects of low quality tertiary institution graduates in Nigeria.
Furthermore, the findings of this study will encourage school administrators and policymakers to make effective decisions.
Changes in the educational field that will aid in the reduction of low-quality graduates produced by Nigerian universities.
Finally, this research will add to the existing body of knowledge. As a result, the work will serve as a springboard for future research on the subject.
1.6 STUDY OBJECTIVES
This study will examine employers’ perceptions of the quality of Nigerian tertiary institution graduates in general. It will, however, be specifically focused on determining the relationship between educational quality and graduate employability, investigating the causes of low quality graduates graduating from Nigerian tertiary institutions, investigating the effects of low quality Nigerian tertiary institution graduates in the labor force, and determining the measures that can improve the quality Nigerian tertiary institution graduates.
Those who have graduated from a university.
Graduates from three Edo State tertiary institutions will participate in this study’s survey.
1.7 THE STUDY’S LIMITATIONS
The general focus of this study will be on examining employers’ perceptions of the quality of Nigerian tertiary institution graduates. It will, however, be specifically limited to determining the relationship between educational quality and graduate employability, investigating the causes of low quality graduates graduating from Nigerian tertiary institutions, investigating the effects of low quality Nigerian tertiary institution graduates in the labor force, and investigating the measures that can improve the quality Nigerian tertiary institution graduates.
Graduates from three selected tertiary institutions in Edo State will take part in this study’s survey.
Because only a few respondents were chosen to answer the research instrument, the sample size was limited, and the results cannot be generalized to other secondary schools outside the state.
1.8 TERM DEFINITION
Perception is the way something is perceived, understood, or interpreted.
Employers: A person or organization that hires others.
Quality: The standard of something as measured against similar things; the degree of excellence of something.
Tertiary institutions: A university or other post-secondary institution or higher educational institution is a tertiary institution.
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