AN ASSESSMENT OF IGBO APPRENTICESHIP SCHEMES ON DEVELOPMENT OF SMEs IN ENUGU STATE

Abstract

The study is an assessment of Igbo apprenticeship schemes on development of SMEs in Enugu State. The specific objectives were to; examine the effect of knowledge-based qualification on the innovation and creativity of SMEs in Enugu State; evaluate the effect of functional skills on the commitment of quality of SMEs in Enugu State and identify the effect of competence-based qualification on the interpersonal skills of SMEs in Enugu State. The population of the study consists of the owners and mentees of the selected business owners in Enugu metropolis with the total population for the study as two hundred and eleven (211).  The study used the survey approach. The primary sources were personal interview and the administration of questionnaire. A stratified sampling method was adopted.  One hundred and sixty-seven (167) persons staff returned the questionnaire and accurately filled. That gave 79 percent response rate.  The validity of the instrument was tested using content analysis and the result was good. The reliability was tested using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r). It gave a reliability co-efficient of 0.81 which was also good. Data was presented and analysed by mean score (3.0 and above agreed while below 3.0 disagreed) and Z – test was used to test the hypotheses with aid of Special Package for Statistical Software (SPSS). The findings indicated that knowledge-based qualification had positive effect on creativity of SMEs in Enugu State, r (95, n = 167) = 6.268 < 8.435, p <.05.  Functional skills had positive effect on the commitment of quality of SMEs in Enugu State r (95, n = 167) = 5.281 < 6.906, p <.05. Competence based qualification had positive effect on the interpersonal skills of SMEs in Enugu State r (95, n = 167) =6.210 < 7.525, p <.05. The study concluded that Knowledge based qualification; Functional skills and Competence based qualification had positive effect on the creativity, commitment of quality and the interpersonal skills of SMEs in Enugu State.  The study recommended among others that the apprentice should understand on how to plan a personal enterprise, duties of human and public relation in the sustainability of individual business enterprises and effective utilization of profits.