BUSINESS COMPETENCIES REQUIRED BY BUSINESS EDUCATION GRADUATES IN ESTABLISHING SMALL AND MEDUIM SCALE ENTERPRISES IN AWKA NORTH AND SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS IN ANAMBRA STATE

This study examined the business competencies required by business education graduates for establishing small and medium scale enterprises. Three research questions guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was employed. A total of 243 entrepreneurs were sampled using the proportionate stratified sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire. The instrument was validated by two experts. Out of a total of 243 copies of the questionnaire distributed, 232 copies were retrieved which represented 95 percent retrieval. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The findings revealed that technical, planning and managerial competencies were considered required by business education graduates for establishing small and medium scale enterprises. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that business education graduates require technical, planning and managerial competencies for the establishment of small and medium scale enterprises. The study recommended among others that the administrators of business education programmes should partner with entrepreneurs to organize training programmes that will help equip business education students with the requisite entrepreneurial competencies