THE SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE OF 21ST CENTURY CRITICAL SKILLS THAT ENHANCED SELF-EMPLOYABILITY

A. O.Ojo¹, O. A.Jesuleye¹A. D.Dada²

ABSTRACT

This paper examined the sources of knowledge of 21^st century critical skills that enhanced self-employability of the youth corps in Southwest, Nigeria. The study observed how the youth corps acquired their knowledge of 21^st century critical skills that enhanced them self-employability. The study was conducted among the National Youth Service Corps in Southwest, Nigeria believing that the same procedure would be applicable to the youths in the remaining five geo-political zones of the country. A snow-ball sampling technique was adopted to administer a well-structured questionnaire on three hundred and eighty-two (382) youth corps in Southwest, Nigeria. Three hundred and fifty (350) copies of the questionnaire were returned, correctly filled and used for the study with a record of 91.6% response rate. A multiple of analytical methods were employed for data analysis. These include descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistical tools include: frequency counts and percentages; the inferential statistics were: regression, correlation and analysis of variance analyses. The results in descending order of mean are as follows: skill acquisition/entrepreneurship development programme (0.4020), seminar and workshop (0.3464), personal exploit (0.2582), vocational training and skills acquisition centres (0.2255), entrepreneurial business knowledge (0.1830) among others. This study concludes that the youths should see sources of knowledge of 21^st century critical skills such as innovation challenges programme, empowerment trust fund, foundations, and business innovation as mere competitive undertaken.  They should also see the exercises involved as means of developing their perseverance and conscientious nature when they eventually establish their businesses. The study recommends that government agencies and stakeholders need to consistently organise training for entrepreneurs and acquire the knowledge necessary to maintain consistent economic dynamics. In addition, entrepreneurs need to see training and retraining as a means of maintaining business relevance, and therefore need to work collectively on it.

Keywords: Knowledge, Critical Skills, Youth Corps, Self-employability