THE IMPACT OF STUDENT INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME ON THE PERFORMANCE OF MOTOR VEHICLE MECHANICS’ WORK GRADUATING STUDENTS OF TECHNICAL COLLEGES IN NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The training of today’s motor vehicle mechanics is not only expertise demanding, but also requires a lot of facilities which has to be effectively utilized for the impartation of the relevant skills and knowledge required by trainees for effective maintenance of modern automobiles. The main purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) on the performance of Motor Vehicle Mechanics’ Work(MVMW)(NTC III) graduating students of technical colleges in North Central Nigeria. The study answered one research question and tested one null hypothesis in line with the purpose of the study. The population for the study was 465; consisting of 418 male and 38 female MVMW National Technical Certificate(NTC) III graduating students for the 2017/2018 session, in the 22 accredited technical colleges in North-Central States of Nigeria, and 9 MVMW graduates of technical colleges in the area of study who were operating functional workshops. The study adopted Multi-stage Sampling Technique to select a sample size of 189 which comprised of 165 male and 15 female MVMW NTC III graduating students and 9 MVMW graduates of technical colleges from the area of the study. The study utilized both quantitative and qualitative techniques. A questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion (FGD)were used as the instruments for data collection. The reliability coefficient of the instrument yielded 0.82.The research question was answered using mean and standard deviation; while the null hypothesis was tested using t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The finding of the study revealed thatSIWES enhances the industrial skill acquisition and work experience of students, thus augmenting their theoretical knowledge and making them more efficient at solving the practical problems of the work environment.

Keywords:Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES), Performance of MVMW Graduating Students