EMPOWERING MECHANICAL TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS THROUGH CAPACITY BUILDING FOR ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY IN RIVERS STATE

The study investigated capacity building needs for mechanical technology education students’ selfreliance and sustainable economic development in tertiary institutions in Rivers state, specifically, the study investigated mechanical tool operational skills required for capacity building of mechanical technology education students’ self-reliance and sustainable economic development in tertiary institutions in Rivers State, and Welding and fabrication skills required for mechanical technology education students’ capacity building for self-reliance and sustainable economic development in tertiary institutions in Rivers State. Two research questions and hypotheses were answered and tested at 0.5 level of significance. A descriptive survey design guided the study. The population of the study comprised of 36 mechanical technology education lecturers and 16 workshop technologists in the three tertiary institutions in Rivers state that offer programmes, namely: Rivers state university Port Harcourt, Ignatius Ajuru University of education Port Harcourt and Federal college of education (Technical) omoku in affiliation with university of Nigeria Nsukka. The population was manageable, therefore, no sampling technique was used for the study. Self-made survey questionnaire served as the instrument for the study. The instrument was face validated by two experts. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient which yielded a coefficient of .74. Mean and standard Deviation were used to answer the research questions while z-test statistical tool was used to test the hypotheses. The study found out among others that Knurling skills, Skills to identify and use hand reamers accurately, skills to demonstrate the use of all controls on the vertical milling machine, Skills to weld with Gas Tungsten Arc welding, Skills to weld all kind of joints, Skills to identify basic semi-precision measuring tools. Lecturers should concentrate more on building the practical skills than theoretical knowledge on the students