AKSU Journal of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development

CORRELATES ANALYTICS OF SKILL COMPETENCIES AMONG YOUNG ADULTS; EXPERIENCES FROM FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE, AKWA IBOM STATE UNIVERSITY, OBIO AKPA

Author:  Jemimah Timothy Ekanem, Emem Bassey Inyang and Glory Edwin Bassey

Abstract
Competency in skill acquisition training programmes introduced into educational institutions could be an effective strategy for poverty reduction in developing economies. Relating these training programmes to the situational contexts of beneficiaries has been very elusive in the literature. Using the descriptive and relational survey design, this study analysed the correlates of skill competencies among trainees who benefitted from the 2016 Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) in Akwa Ibom State University (AKSU). It specifically assessed the incidence and levels of skill competency among the trainees and analysed the influence of trainees’ social and economic variables on their level of competency in vocational skills. Data were obtained from the 62 trainees that participated in 2016 SIWES using a well-designed and validated questionnaire. Descriptive Statistics, Incidence index, composite index and binary logistic regression were the analytical tools used in the study. Results showed that, only 44.9% of trainees were competent in farming skills pooled from the eight subsectors of agricultural production, majority (55.1%) of the trainees were not competent in the practical skills they were exposed to. Again, from a follow up analysis the trainees who affirmed to be competent had low competency in 17 skills, average competency in 33 skills and high competency in 27 skills. The binary logistic regression results showed that trainees’ gender, age, marital status, and ownership of farm(s) were also reliable and significant predictors of skill competencies in the study area, χ2 (12) = 19.156, p < .0005. These factors should be seen by development institutions/agencies as viable and potent factors in the design, formulation of contents and implementation of vocational skills acquisition training programmes for young adult learners if the programme is well intentioned.