STUDENTS AND LECTURERS' PERCEPTIONS OF THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND STRATEGIES IN QUALITY ASSURANCE IN BUSINESS EDUCATION IN GOVERNMENT UNIVERSITIES IN EDO STATE

Abstract

There has been growing concern over the declining quality of higher education in
Nigeria in recent times. Against this background, this study investigated the perceptions of students and lecturers on the role of National Universities Commission (NUC) and its activities, Students' Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) and Teaching Practice which are government agencies and strategies in achieving quality assurance in business education programmes in two public universities in Edo State. The population comprised 469 final year students and all lecturers, associate lecturers and instructors of business education in University of Benin, Benin City and Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma. The study employed a descriptive survey design and the study sample was one hundred and twenty (120) final year business education students and all the twenty-eight (28) lecturers from the population totaling one hundred and forty-eight (148). Students were sampled using the proportionate random sampling while all the lecturers, associate lecturers and instructors were used because of smallness of size. A questionnaire which was validated by experts in measurement and evaluation for content validity with a reliability coefficient of 0.75 was the instrument used to gather data from the field for the purpose of the study. The results revealed that both students and lecturers have positive perceptions about the roles of these government agencies and strategies. They supported these strategies in achieving quality assurance in business education in Nigerian universities even though the lecturers have higher perceptions than the students. It was therefore, recommended that these agencies and strategies should continue in their quality assurance activities so that the culture of quality assurance could be sustain in both inputs, processes and products of business education taking into cognizance national needs and global trends amongst others.