ACQUISITION OF 21ST CENTURY SKILLS NEEDED FOR BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION GRADUATE EMPOWERMENT IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

The study examined the acquisition of 21^st century skills needed for Business and Technology Education graduate empowerment in Rivers State. Three research questions were answered with corresponding null hypotheses that were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study employed the descriptive research survey design. The population of the study was 185 postgraduate students (master’s and Doctorate) of 2021/2022 academic session. Due to small population size, census population was used. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire tagged “Business and Technology Education Graduate Empowerment 21^st Century Skill Questionnaire” which was design in the patterned of modified 4-point rating scale. The instrument was validated the test-retest method was used while Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used to establish a reliability coefficient of 0.87. Copies of the instrument retrieved were analysed using mean with standard deviation to answer research questions while the null hypotheses formulated were tested using z-test. The findings of the study show that innovative skills, digital skills and critical thinking skills identified in the study were needed as 21^st century skills for graduate empowerment in Rivers State. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that individual students should be able to participate in different programmes that could enhance personal development to be innovative entrepreneurially as it is needed in 21^st century jobs while regular workshop and seminars should be organized for lecturers to upgrade their skills and knowledge for easy transfer of knowledge to the students especially on the digital skills. This is because many lecturers are not using the e- technology.

Keywords: 21^st Century, Skills, Technology Education, Business Education, Acquisition, Empowerment and Graduate