ROLE OF EDUCATIONAL PLANNERS IN ENHANCING ENROLMENT IN TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION PROGRAMMES IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

The study was conducted to ascertain the roles of educational planners in enhancing enrolment in technical and vocational education programmes in Rivers State. The descriptive survey design was used in the study having a sample of 75 participants (42 educational planners from tertiary institutions and 33 educational planners from technical colleges). The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire titled “Role of Educational Planners in Enrolment in Technical and vocational Education Questionnaire.” The instrument was validated by three experts in technical education. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained via Cronbach Alpha and a reliability coefficient of 0.87 was obtained. A total of 75 copies of the instrument were distributed to the participants and all the distributed questionnaires were retrieved and used for data analysis. Mean was used to answer the research questions and the hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance using a z-test. The result of the study showed among others that attaching prospects of technical education programmes on billboards and banners; creating and actively participating in social media platforms and establishing partnerships with organisations that can provide job opportunities for technical education graduates are some of the roles educational planners need to play towards enhancing enrolment in technical education programmes. It was therefore recommended among others that educational planners should regularly engage the public on enlightenment programmes to sensitize the masses on the prospects of technical education programmesas well as the need for early introduction of technical education to young people in Nigeria.