A SURVEY OF RELEVANCE
OF BUSINESS EDUCATION PROGRAM TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Education is obviously the basic
instrument of economic growth and technological advancement of any society. It
is in recognition of this fact that governments commit immense resources to
ensure the provision of education for their citizens and also tailored their
policies towards ensuring that it is made accessible to the generality of their
citizenry (Oyebade et al., 2008). However, business education is an essential
element of this general education. It is concerned with the impartation of
business orientation and knowledge for personal and national development.
Business education involves teaching
students the fundamentals, concepts, theories and processes of business. To
Okoli (2010), business education is an important part of the general education
which emphasizes on skills and competencies acquisition for use in offices and
business related occupations.
Similarly, Nwanewezi (2010) describes
business education as encompassing education for office occupations, business
teaching, business administration and economic understanding. In all,
Abdulkadir (2011) noted that one remarkable important characteristic of
business education program is that, its products can function independently as
self-employed and employers of labor. To this end, the tenet of business
education embraces basic education for teaching career, entrepreneurship,
business understanding, office environment and vocational practices.
Education in this field occurs at
several levels, including primary, secondary and higher education, with the
greatest activity in the later. However, Igboke (2005) enumerated the following
as the objectives of business education at all levels of education:
·
To develop basic
skills for personal use in the future
·
To acquire the basic
knowledge and skills of business education
·
To relate the
knowledge and skills acquired to national development
·
To develop basic
skills in office occupation
·
To provide the needed
background for teaching in business subjects
·
To prepare students
for further training in business studies
·
To provide
orientation and basic skills with which to start a life of work for those who
may not undergo further training
For education to really serve as a
veritable vehicle for socioeconomic growth and development as well as for the
actualization of these lofty objectives of business education in tandem,
educational institutions and its systems must function optimally in relation to
its set standards.
Historically, business education did
not come about in Nigeria through government, but through the individual
initiative of a few Nigerian entrepreneurs. Such individuals were quick to
realize the importance of business education not only to their personal, but
also to national economic growth and development. As a matter of fact, prior to
Nigeria’s independence and 10 years after, business teacher education, like
other vocational and technical education disciplines, was not given any thought
in Nigerian teacher education curricula. This is not to say that the Colonial
educational administrators
did not recognize the importance of this form of teacher education. As reported
by Ekpenyong (1992), some form of business and technical teacher education
programme was introduced in the curricula of Higher College, Yaba (1932-47),
and of Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology (1954-61).
Business education exposes students to different
ways of being innovative, It also facilitates Job Competence, as well as development
of understanding for vocational opportunities available in the field of
business. Entrepreneurship without adequate education, knowledge and skills,
usually leads to failure. Judging by the figures that are coming out of the
Education Ministry. In the last few years, at least 60% of graduates are not
able to get employment immediately which does not encourage economic growth (Lawal
2005). Because of that, people go into one entrepreneurial venture or another,
but unfortunately, they have not been adequately prepared to face the attendant
challenges in business. Now it has become necessary to incorporate Business
education into the curriculum in order to prepare our graduates for self-employment.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Business Education is a type of training which,
while playing its part in the achievement of the general aims of education on
any given level, has its primary objective as the preparation of people to
enter into a career, to render efficient service and to advance from their
present level of employment to higher levels which always have significance
effect on the economic development (Osuala 2003). Basic Business Education
affords to every individual an opportunity to develop the skills, abilities and
understanding that will enable him to handle competently his personal business
affairs; to develop an understanding of the vocational opportunity available in
the broad field of business and to assume his citizenship responsibilities
through enlightened participation in, as well as an understanding and
appreciation of the business system (Osuala 2003). Furthermore, Basic Business
Education is the broad area of knowledge that deals with the economy. It
identifies and explains the role of business as an economic institution and
provides content and experience that prepare the individual for effective
participation as a citizen and consumer. The researcher is examining the
relevance of business education on the economic development of Nigeria.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The
following are the objectives of this study:
1. To
examine the relevance of Business education program on economic development of
Nigeria.
2. To
examine how the Business education program in Nigeria is operated.
3. To
determine the relationship between Business education program and economic
development of Nigeria.
1.4 RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
1. What
is the relevance of Business education program on economic development of
Nigeria?
2. How
is the Business education program in Nigeria operated?
3. What
is the relationship between Business education program and economic development
of Nigeria?
1.5 HYPOTHESIS
HO:
There is no significant relationship between Business education program and
economic development of Nigeria
HA:
There is significant relationship between Business education program and
economic development of Nigeria
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The
following are the significance of this study:
1. Results
from this study will educate the government of Nigeria, stakeholders in the
business sector on the relevance of business education on the economic
development of Nigeria.
2. This research will also serve as a
resource base to other scholars and researchers interested in carrying out
further research in this field subsequently, if applied will go to an extent to
provide new explanation to the topic
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This
study on a survey on the relevance of business education program to economic
development of Nigeria will cover the Curriculum of business education from
primary to tertiary education level in Nigeria with the view of identifying the
influence on the Nigeria economic development.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the
efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature
or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire
and interview).
Time constraint– The researcher will simultaneously engage in this
study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time
devoted for the research work.
REFERENCES
Abdulkadir,
A.A., 2011. The role of entrepreneurship education in empowering Nigerian
youths. Bus Edu. J., 8(1): 14-22.
Igboke,
S.A., 2005. Business Education: Principles and Methods. Jones Communication
Publishers, Enugu.
Lawal,
S.S., 2005. The need to improve teacher quality in business education programme
in Nigerian universities. Int. J. Edu. Res., 11(1): 42-51.
Nwanewezi,
M.C., 2010. Problems in business education research in ICT era as perceived by
business educators. Bus. Edu. J., 7(2): 46-54.
Okoli,
B.E., 2010. A case for entrenchment of ICT literacy in the business education
programme. J. Voc. Adult Edu., 7(1): 82-87.
Oyebade,
S.A., S.A. Oladipo and J.A. Adetoro, 2008. Determinants and Strategies for
Quality Assurance in Nigerian University Education. Retrieved from:
http://herp-net.org, (Accessed on: August 4, 2012).