Topic: Impact Of Entrepreneurship Education On The Reduction Of Unemployment Among Youths In Oshimili South Local Government Area Of Delta State

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the impact of entrepreneurship education on the reduction of unemployment among youths in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study was comprised off all the youths in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State and the sample was 100 youths who were randomly selected to represent the entire population. Three research questions were formulated to guide the study and questionnaires were administered on the selected youths. Data were collected and analyzed using mean statistics. The analysis showed that entrepreneurial education has been a useful tool for reducing unemployment; entrepreneurship education has enhanced the acquisition of the necessary skills for gainful employment among youths and it has helped the youths to become self-reliant in Oshimili South Local Government Area. On the basis of the findings, the researchers recommended among others that Funding of entrepreneurship education should be taken seriously by the federal government and entrepreneurship education should be inculcated into the school’s curriculum to promote human empowerment and development through entrepreneurial skill acquisition. 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background to the Study

Education remains a vital transformational tool and formidable instrument for socio-economic empowerment, wealth creation, and employment generation, poverty alleviation and value orientation which government has talked about for so long now. Suffice it to be mentioned that education, training and experience can increase the supply of entrepreneurs by making available more skills which are suitable for entrepreneurial endeavor.

The role of entrepreneurship in unemployment reduction cannot be over-emphasized. Entrepreneurship generates growth because it serves as a vehicle for innovation, change, and a conduit for knowledge spillovers. Entrepreneurship education involves the willingness of persons to persistently pursue the opportunity to create wealth. This is done through innovative creation of products or services that will meet customers’ needs, using scarce resources judiciously in a way that results in the growth of enterprise which satisfies the expectation of stakeholders. Business education in Nigeria should emphasize entrepreneurship consciousness for it to be relevant in achieving the right type of value and attitudes for the survival of the individual and the Nigeria society.

Having been successfully equipped with entrepreneurial skills through persistent education, one is ready to contribute positively in reducing unemployment by being self-employed.

Entrepreneurship education stands out to be an antidote to unemployment having worked in line with today’s educational policies that highlight self-reliance, self-employment, gainful employment and also consistent with the global awareness. Entrepreneurship education enhances the acquisition of necessary skills for gainful and self-employment. As a specialized training given to students to acquire skills, ideas and managerial abilities and capabilities for self-employment stands as a panacea to unemployment saga in Nigeria (Ezema, 2013).

Entrepreneurship education as part of the total educational system is the type of education that involves the acquisition of skills, ideas and management abilities necessary for job creation.

An entrepreneur promotes employment rather than seeking for an employment. Therefore, there is a need to embrace this type of education and provide all the necessary resources needed to make functional. Quality entrepreneurship education could be used as a tool for fighting the war against poverty and unemployment in Nigeria.

According to Agi and Yellowe (2013) education is important to the development of human resources, impartation of appropriate skills, knowledge and attitude. It is the basis for transformation, industrialization and a high way to global knowledge economy. Relating to security, Agi and Yellowe (2013) explained further that education is regarded as a means of achieving culture of peace, gender equality and positive African values. It is therefore the understanding of many that education leads to national transformation and development, through reduction in poverty and to ensured peace and security. Nwabuama (2014) view entrepreneurship education as the identification of the general characteristics of entrepreneurs and how potential entrepreneurs particularly the youths can be trained in management techniques needed for effective performance of persons for long time survival of an organization after the acquisition of occupational skills. Entrepreneurship education prepares youths to be responsible and entering individuals who become entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial thinkers by exposing them in real life learning experiences where they will be required to think, take risks, manage circumstances and incidentally learn from the outcome. Ememe (2010) observes that entrepreneurship education enables youths to seek for success in ventures through one’s effort.

According to Ebele (2011), entrepreneurship education is the teaching of knowledge and a skill that enables the students to plan, start and run their own business. In the view of Swarland (2013), entrepreneurship education aims to stimulate creativity in students, enables them to identify opportunities for innovation and motivate them to transform the ideas into practical and targeted activities whether in a social, cultural or economic context. Amusan (2014) agrees that entrepreneurship education will provide opportunities for students to access their attitude, aptitude and skills relating to those necessary for developing and running business.

Entrepreneurship education entails teaching students, learners and would-be businessmen, the essential skills required to build viable enterprises, equipping the trainees with skills needed for taking responsibility and developing initiatives of prospective trainees (Ezeani, 2012).

Ogundele (2012) viewed the idea of entrepreneurship as a multidimensional phenomenon. It was found that the processes of emergence, behaviour and performance of indigenous entrepreneurs were separately and in combinations affected not by a single but multiple factors, in ranging degrees. These factors included economic, socio-cultural, ecological, managerial, educational developmental, experiential, technological, structural, ethical and innovative issues. He concluded that any policy designed to change entrepreneurship scenario in Nigeria will require multiple and simultaneous approaches in the development of necessary changes in the behaviour of indigenous entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurial education also has a general education department as well as a professional entrepreneurship development and education component in Nigerian higher institutions, which is meant for all categories of students in the institution. Thus, all higher institutions in Nigeria integrates entrepreneurship education for all students irrespective of initial course admission and expect them to start their own businesses after graduation either on vocational or professional level to alleviate poverty and join in the scheme of improving their social-economy environment in particularly and beyond for self economic emancipation. They are also fit to work closely with Entrepreneurs with Small and Medium Enterprises (SME). This will go a long way to reduce unemployment in Oshimili South local government.

1.2     Statement of the Problem

Entrepreneurship skills acquired through entrepreneurial education has been recognized as an important aspect of organization and economies (Dickson et al, 2014). It contributes in an immeasurable ways toward creating new job, wealth creation, poverty reduction, and income generation for government, individuals, and youths in particular. Schumpeter (2011) argued that entrepreneurial education is very significant to the growth and development of economies. Having understood the vital role of entrepreneurship in economic development, it become apparent that careful attention is needed to invest and promote entrepreneurship. Meanwhile, education is seen as one of the precondition for entrepreneurship development particularly in a place where the spirit and culture is very minimal. It is said to be an important determinant of selection into entrepreneurship, formation of new venture and entrepreneurial success.

Unemployment problem in Nigeria, Oshimili South in particular is a hydra headed phenomena going by its many-sided nature.

Though unemployment has become a global phenomenon of the 21stcentury, the problem is becoming more complex each passing year in Nigeria. Unemployment, underemployment and unmitigated rural-urban migration have come to characterize the Nigerian labour market.

This has been compounded by frightening number of joiners as schools, polytechnics and universities churn out leavers in a geometric progression. This has impacted on the rate of social vices like robbery, kidnapping, prostitution, human trafficking, child abuse and unfair labour practices experienced mostly by the unemployed youths, which are other noticeable dimensions to the complexities of contemporary Nigerian employment dynamics.

The experiences of developed economies in relation to the roles played by entrepreneurship buttresses the fact that the importance of entrepreneurship cannot be over-emphasized especially among the developing countries.

The role played by entrepreneurship education over the years has been a topical issue thereby resulting to public concern about its contribution to economic growth, development and job creation among youths.

It is in the wake of the above that this study aimed at examining the impact of entrepreneurship education in unemployment reduction among youths in Oshimili South Local Government Area of Delta State.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to examine the role of entrepreneurship education in unemployment reduction among youths in Oshimili South local government. Specifically the aims of the study are:

1. To find out the extent to which entrepreneurial education has been a useful tool for reducing unemployment in Oshimili South local government.
2. To find out the extent to which entrepreneurship education has enhanced the acquisition of the necessary skills for gainful employment among youths in Oshimili South Local Government Area.
3. To find out the extent to which entrepreneurship education has helped the youths to become self-reliant in Oshimili South Local Government Area.

• • Research Questions

The following questions were formulated to guide the study:

1. To what extent has entrepreneurial education been a useful tool for unemployment reduction in Oshimili south?
2. To what extent has entrepreneurship education helped in the acquisition of skills for gainful employment among the youths in Oshimili South?
3. To what extent has entrepreneurship education helped the youths in becoming self-reliant in Oshimili South?

1.5 Significance of the Study

The findings of this study would be of great help to the youths, educationists, entrepreneurs and the government.

The study would enable the youths to understand the role of entrepreneurship in creating employment by identifying the available business opportunities.

It will also go a long way in helping those in the educational system to put more effort in teaching entrepreneurship education for job creation and crime reduction in Oshimili South. The study will also assist entrepreneurs to encourage the youths to learn skills for self-reliance.

The findings of the study will also be of help to the government to invest more on entrepreneurship education for youth empowerment and unemployment reduction.

Finally, the study will be an addition to the literature in this field.

1.6 Scope of the Study

This study focused on the impact of entrepreneurial education in reducing unemployment among youths in Oshimili south local government.

Pages:  57

Category: Project

Format:  Word & PDF               

Chapters: 1-5                                          

Source: Imsuinfo

Material contains Table of Content, Abstract and References.