Human Capital Development in Technical Vocational Education (TVE) for Sustainable National Development

The globalization process, knowledge economy and the emergence of new modes of production in the industries in the 21st century has brought about new challenges for the developing economies and their labor markets. However,  there is a clear indication now that human skills plays an important role in sustaining the current pace of growth and development through enhanced productivity of human capital. The paper discussed extensively on human capital development in TVE for sustainable national development in Nigeria. The paper also stressed on the concept of TVE and role of TVE human capital development for sustainable national development in Nigeria. The paper concludes that TVE institutions at all levels should be well equipped with good infrastructures, workshop facilities as well as employing qualified teachers to enable the graduates of the program to acquire the required skills for gainful employment in order for them to contribute to the development of their society and the nation at large. Keywords: Human Capital Development,   Technical    Vocational   Education,   Productivity,    Sustainable                   National Development

Integrating Technical and Vocational Education in Youth Empowerment Programmes: An Approach to Nation Building and Job Creation in Nigeria

Youth empowerment in many nations is geared towards equipping youths with skills to for self employment and Nation building. The rate of unemployment and underemployment among Nigerian youths and graduates in on the rising, crime and poverty rate has equally increased. The federal government of Nigeria, International organizations and Non-governmental organizations has introduced some youth empowerment programmes to curtail the problem of unemployment in Nigeria. Despite the efforts of the government and other bodies to help in curbing this situation, it all seems that the expected results of these programmes are not seen. This is as a result of the syllabus of some of the programmes for the reason that they do not appropriately integrate Vocational and Technical Education in its program content. Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) leads to applied and practical skills acquisition.  Integrating VTE in youth empowerment programmes will greatly equip the beneficiaries of the programme with practical skills; self reliance and this will in turn reduce underemployment and unemployment to the barest minimum and increase the economical growth of the Nation. Keyword: Youth empowerment, Technical Vocational Education and Training, Nation building, Job creatio

Assessment of Wood Waste Management Practices in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Minna, Niger State.

The purpose of the study is to assess the management practices adopted by small and medium scale enterprises in managing wood waste in Nigeria. Wood waste mismanagement is a serious environmental threat in Niger State. The evident disposal of wood wastes on the streets, water bodies and the open air burning indicates that wood waste management practices which includes the collection, disposal, recycling and reuse of wood waste are inefficient and insufficient and therefore will pose a great threat the sustenance of Nigerian timber forests, human health and environmental balance. The objectives of the study are to identify: wood waste collection practices, wood waste recycling practices and wood waste disposal practices in SMEs in Niger State. The study adopted Survey research design. Data were collected from administration of questionnaire.The population of the study was 17 respondents. The respondents were drawn from six medium scale enterprises and 11 small scale enterprises in Minna, Niger State. Survey was carried out to identify SMEs in the study area. The respondents for the study were drawn from 6 medium scale enterprises and 11 small scale enterprises. The total population was used for the study hence there was no sampling technique. Data collected from the questionnaire was analyzed using Mean and Standard deviation and t-test. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research questions, while t-test was used to test the Null Hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study on wood waste collection revealed that wood waste generated in SMEs are collected by poultry and animal farmers and used as animal beddings and others are collected by households and used as cooking fuel, the remnant of the wastes are burnt while others are used as landfills. The findings also revealed that wood waste are not collected by waste collection agencies nor composite boards manufacturing industries. The findings on wood waste recycling practices revealed that there are facilities for recycling, treatment and sorting of wood waste in Minna. In addition, there are wood waste disposal, storage or incineration facilities in Minna. Therefore, this study recommends that the agencies and bodies that are mandated to check and regulate wood waste should be appraised annually to ensure that their duties are effectively carried out. It is also important that necessary facilities for waste collection, storage and recycling should be made available in Niger State by the government so as to maximize wood waste utilization and create wealth and jobs in the state. Keyword: Assessment, Wood Waste, Wood Waste Management, Management Practices, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/90-08 Publication date: June 30th 202

ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MANAGERS OF TECHNICAL COLLEGE WORKSHOPS: A CASE OF NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA

This study assesses the effectiveness of managers of technical college workshops from the perspective of stakeholders in North Central Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was employed. Three research questions and two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A 35-item questionnaire developed by the researchers and validated by three experts was used to collect data from 101 administrators, 140 teachers, and 24 workshop personnel randomly sampled and stratified along trades in technical colleges. Mean was employed to answer the research questions while one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to test the hypotheses using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for data analysis. Result revealed that respondent shared similar opinions on the management of technical college workshops. It was therefore recommended that: The managers of the workshops should use alternative approaches in the management of workshop instead of waiting for government to provide everything; maintenance of tools should be a regular practice in the workshops; administrators should recommend teachers and workshop personnel to attend seminars regularly in order to update their knowledge on current practices in the management of technical college workshops among others