BUSINESS EDUCATION PROGRAMME: A SYNERGY NEEDED FOR REDUCTION OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN PUBLIC COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN KWARA STATE

This study investigated Business Education programme: A synergy needed for reduction of unemployment in public colleges of education in Kwara State. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population of the study was 265 respondents from the three colleges of education in Kwara State. A structured questionnaire containing 21 items was used to elicit responses from the respondents and generated data for the study. The instrument which was face-validated by three experts from the Department of Business Education, Faculty of Education, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin was used to collect data from the respondents. The study made use of Kuder-Richards formula (K-R 21) to determine the reliability of the instrument and a reliability coefficient of 0.81 was obtained. The data collected for the study were analyzed using mean to answer the research questions raised and standard deviation to determine the closeness or otherwise of the responses from the mean. Findings from the analysis revealed that Business Educations students needed knowledge and skills in accounting for economic survival. In addition, the findings revealed that marketing skills is needed by Business Education students for identification of consumer needs before starting up any business. More so, the findings revealed that office technology management skills are needed by exposing business education students to technology advancement in the world of business for reduction of unemployment. It was recommended amongst others that Students of Business Education who are currently in school should be given adequate information about the benefits of attaching a vocation to their course of study for reduction of unemployment.