HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING: A TOOL FOR IMPROVING THE MANAGEMENT OF BUSINESS EDUCATION PROGRAMME FOR SKILLS ACQUISITIONIN DELTA STATE

Abstract

The study examined human resource development and training as a tool for improving the management of business education programme for skills acquisition in Delta State. Two research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested. Descriptive survey research method was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised all the 122 business educators in Delta State tertiary institutions. Instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire validated by three experts in education. The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the three clusters yielded co-efficient values of 0.88 and 0.78 for section B and C respectively with over-all co-coefficient value of 0.83 which indicated that the instrument was deemed reliable for the study. The data collected from the respondents were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test. Finding of the study revealed that organizing mentorship programme for business educators, organizing on the job training programmes in conjunction with experts, encouraging business educators to undertake studies on current business practices, organizing seminars for business educators were current trends in business education are discussed with other experts and encouraging business educators to attend conferences where they can trade ideas with colleagues among others are some of the human resource development practices for improving the management of business education programme for skills acquisition in Delta State. It was also revealed that the role of human resource development and training in improving the management of business education programme for skills acquisition in Delta state are that it exposes business educators to the latest techniques of teaching skills, improve the knowledge of business educators in their areas of specialization, creates an effective team of business educators who can handle the institutions challenges effortlessly, ensures the optimum utilization of management skills for the achievement of institutional goals and increases morale of business educators among others. Based on these findings it was recommended among others, that administrators of business education programme should consistently organize human resource development programmes for lecturers so as to keep them up to date with the latest trends in their areas of specializations

Keywords: Human Resource Development, Training, Management, Business Education, Skills Acquisition