CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
As life is becoming more dynamic, more complex in educational, socio-cultural, industrial and commercial developments due to the increasing technological advancements, the secretarial profession is not left out and the jobs of secretaries appear and at first sight among those threatened. This is because of new machines, which are threatening to take-over the jobs performed by thee categories of workers thereby making them face job hard of redundancy, retrenchments which will lead to mass unemployment will result.
Nigeria is undergoing technological revaluations just like any other developing country of the world. This technology advancement has actually revolutionized most office activities and procedures. Until recently, the study of secretarial educations programme in our polytechnics especially institute of management and technology (I.M.T), Enugu was based mainly on shorthand, typewriting and office practice. The activities had greatly changed since supervisor of the polytechnic by the NBTE.
The task and activities of these categories of workers in most offices and business circles lave also increased tremendously because of the high office responsibilities expected of the secretary to now handle with little or no supervisions. The scope of the course they now cover before qualification has also greatly increased.
They now have to be trained and educated in too many course and have to acquire more technical skills to be able to handle and manipulate the very modern office machines now inherent in most business offices if they have to be marketable and employable.
Secretarial professions now have to battle with the skills of handling the electric typewriters, scanners, ward processors, the facsimile (FAX) machines, the computers etc. This is to enable him meet up wit the increasing demand of information as and when urgently required which could not have been so carried out with the use of manual typewriters.
It should be noted that these automatic, light -technological machines couldn’t do everything or operate themselves without the human aid, thus making the needs and quests for the professionals in secretarial filed necessary.
The most current and implicating question in the minds of the present day secretarial studies educators and curriculum planners is what to do in order to keep peace with the technological changes in secretarial office equipment. This is because the more knowledgeable the secretaries are in the use of these office technologies, the better prepared our country will be to develop technologically.
Hence, in the opinion of Kanu (1987), there must be positive attitude towards continuous up dating of knowledge for everyone, especially the secretaries, if this age of technological advancement is to be acquired and improved advancement and inter – personnel skills developed.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS
Since a lot of office work is based on the basic knowledge of key boarding and clerical skills, it became apparent that if secretarial education curriculum in our polytechnics are not reviewed, revisited and updated from time, to adequately take care of these technological changes, the products of this profession mighty not be able to face challenges they will meet in future in the course of their working life.
It therefore, becomes apparent that those concerned with the training and education of secretaries in our polytechnics and other institutions of higher learning should always adjust their curriculum so s to catch up and stay afloat with the incessant technological changes and advancements. The problems then is how far has I.M.T been able to adjust its curriculum to reflect the current development? How far have they been able to purchase the equipment required for the training? Do they have qualified personnel to handle these equipments? Are the students being adequately prepared?