Education for Self-Employment: An Appraisal of Rivers State University’s Adult Education and Community Development Programme

Abstract

The study appraised Rivers State University’s Adult Education and Community Development undergraduate programme in respect to the self-employment abilities it confers on her students. The research design employed was the descriptive survey technique. The population consisted all the undergraduate students of Adult Education and Community Development, and graduates of the programme precisely 2012/2013 graduates, totalling 468 people. Simple random sampling technique was used to compose a sample of 200 people (169 students; 31 graduates,) for the study. Three research questions were answered in the study. The instrument used was two structured questionnaire titled Rivers State University’s Adult Education and Community Development Programme and Graduate's Perception of Self-employment Abilities Questionnaire (RSUAECDPGPSEAQ); and Rivers State University’s Adult Education and Community Development Programme and Student's Perception of Self-employment Abilities Questionnaire (RSUAECDPGPSEAQ). They were subjected to face and content validation by experts in Adult Education and, Measurement and Evaluation. Mean was used to answer the research questions, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (r) was used to test the hypotheses. The findings showed a significant relationship in the two hypotheses. The result implies that Rivers State University’s Adult Education and Community Development Programme equips students with skills needed for post-graduation self-employment. Students and graduates however lack presentation skills needed to market these skills to potential clients. The study recommended collaborative efforts of National University Commission with all faculties on our campuses to emphasize skills needed for post-graduation self-employment through her academic programmes.