Facilitating School-to-Work Transitions of Vocational and Technical Education Graduates Through Work-Based Learning

Abstract

The high unemployment rate among Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) graduates is disheartening, hence the study facilitates the School-to-work transition of VTE graduates through Work-Based Learning (WBL) as the rate of unemployment among VTE graduates are growing geometrically. Two research questions were utilized for this purpose. In the methodology, the type of design used was a descriptive survey. The study was conducted in higher institutions in Niger State, Nigeria; specifically, in the higher institutions offering VTE programmes. The population of the study was 455 which comprised 146 Lecturers and 309 Employers. A simple random sampling technique was used to sample 265 participants which comprised 102 Lecturers and 163 Employers were selected using the normal selection process. A questionnaire was used as the data-collecting tool. Three experienced researchers in VTE checked the data collecting tool for the appropriateness of the content. The index for the internal consistency of the data collecting tool based on parts is 0.901 for Part 1 and 0.862 for Part B. The index for the internal consistency of the data collecting tool for the total content was established as 0.912. The study found that WBL is beneficial and can enhance the school-to-work transition. It was recommended among others that, an enabling environment should be created between schools and industries, to enter into partnership for effective teaching and learning in institutions and Government through Industrial Training Fund and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) should jointly build and furnish industrial training villages in each state of the federation where students of various VTE programmes can learn skills.