Assessment of the Entrepreneurial Skills of Business Education Students in Establishing Small-Scale Businesses in Taraba State, Nigeria

This study examined the entrepreneurial skills of Business Education students for the establishment of small-scale businesses in Taraba State, Nigeria. Three specific objectives guided the study, alongside three research questions and three null hypotheses. A descriptive survey research design was employed. The study population comprised 479 Business Education students, from which a sample of 230 respondents was selected using the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sample size determination procedure. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire titled Entrepreneurial Skills of Business Education Students Questionnaire (ESBESQ). The instrument was validated by three experts in the field of education, while its reliability was established using the Cronbach’s alpha method, yielding a coefficient of 0.81. The collected data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation, and the null hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings indicated that creativity, marketing, and business management skills are highly required by Business Education students for the successful establishment of small-scale businesses in Taraba State. Based on these results, the study concluded that the acquisition of new skills enhances market development and promotes job creation, thereby contributing significantly to societal socioeconomic advancement. Consequently, it was recommended that adequately funded model entrepreneurship centers be established in all tertiary institutions in Taraba State, Nigeria, with strong emphasis on practical exposure and functional skill acquisition.