Skills in Foundry Technology Required by Mechanical Technology Graduates for Entrepreneurship Development in Rivers State Tertiary Institutions

Abstract

The study examines skills in foundry technology required by Mechanical Technology graduates for entrepreneurship development in Rivers State tertiary institutions. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. Four research questions and four hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population of the study was 83 comprised of 22 lecturers of the three tertiary institutions offering Mechanical Technology Education and 61 metalwork technicians from industries in Rivers State. No sampling was done as the population size was considered manageable. The instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire titled “Skills in Foundry Technology Required by Mechanical Technology Graduates for Entrepreneurship Development (SFTRMTGED)”. The reliability of the instrument was obtained using Cronbach Alpha Coefficient Method and it yielded a reliability index of 0.87. Research questions were analyzed using mean with standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using z-test. The finding of the study revealed that all the items listed on pattern making, core making, moulding and melting/heat treatment skills in foundry technology were all required by Mechanical Technology graduates for entrepreneurship development in Rivers State tertiary institutions. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that pattern making skills in foundry technology identified in this study should be integrated into the curriculum of mechanical technology programmes in order to provide employment for graduates.