CHALLENGES FACED BY BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS DURING THEIR STUDENTS INDUSTRIAL WORK EXPERIENCE SCHEME: SUGGESTIONS FOR INSTITUTIONPRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIP

Abstract

The study was aimed towards assessing the challenges and difficulties faced by Business Education Students during their Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) and make suggestions for institution-industry partnership. Three research questions were raised and three hypotheses tested at
0.05 level of significance. The population of the study consisted of six hundred and nine (609) third and final year business education students in the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt. The entire population was used for the study. A questionnaire designed from literature was used for data collection. Mean and Standard deviation were used in answering the research questions while Z-test and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used to test the hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that the Business Education students studied faced difficulties while trying to get an Industrial Training attachment place, during the I.T. placement and while trying to round off the training. The results also show that the students did not differ in the level of difficulties faced as a result of gender and their option of study while they differed in the level difficulty faced as a result of the industry where they underwent the industry training. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that
tertiary institutions should partner with organizations in the private sector to enable students have the industrial training without much difficulty.

KEYWORDS: SIWES, Institution-private sector partnership, industrial training, Business Education, collaboration.