CAREER INFORMATION GUIDANCE STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING STUDENTS' CHOICE OF VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION SUBJECTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN DELTA STATE

The study was conducted to identify the Career information guidance strategies for increasing students’ choice of vocational and technical education subjects in secondary schools in Delta State. One specific purposes, research questions and hypothesis guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study comprised of 3,585 (1,594 males and 1991 females) teachers of Vocational and Technical Education subjects from 488 public secondary schools in the 11 Education Zones in Delta State. Sample size of 717 teachers of Vocational and Technical Education subjects was used for the study. A structured questionnaire containing 10 items entitled: Career Guidance Strategies for Increasing Students’ Choice of Vocational and Technical Education Subjects in Secondary Schools Questionnaire (CGSQ) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts and tested for reliability using Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient. The overall reliability coefficient obtained was 0.97. Seven hundred and seventeen copies of the questionnaire were administered with the help of five research assistants, and 542 were retrieved from the respondents. Data collected were analyzed using mean to answer the research questions, and t-test statistic was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that career information guidance strategies included: providing students with information related to job opportunities in the vocational and technical education industry; educating students on the skills required for certain jobs in vocational and technical education; keeping students updated on current trends in the job market in relation to VTE jobs and educating students on how to prepare for job search e.g. teaching students how to write CV. The hypothesis tested showed that gender teachers of vocational and technical education subjects did not show significant differences in their mean responses on career information guidance strategies for increasing students’ choice of vocational and technical education subjects in secondary schools in Delta State. The implication of the findings is that lack of career guidance in secondary schools may perpetuate students’ low interest and enrollment in VTE subjects, leading to a shortage of skilled workers in various industries which may exacerbate the skills gap in various industries, making it challenging for employers to find qualified candidates. It was recommended that National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) should map-out specialized mandatory career guidance subjects for secondary schools. Through this policy framework students can be properly guided towards enrolling for vocational subjects.