Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies: Home

Abstract:
Education is one of the bases for employment but most graduates tend to suffer unemployment in spite of the knowledge and skills they may have acquired during their academic years. In view of this, this study tried to find out the extent to which the educational system in Nigerian tertiary institutions has successfully made graduates employable upon graduation. This study investigated the Nigerian educational system especially as it seemed to have relied more on theoretical than practical learning. The study gave answers to three research questions and adopted the role theory as was propounded by Ralph Linto and George Herbert Mead. The researchers adopted a qualitative research design and interviewed 15 Key Persons. Data were collected through observation and Key Persons Interview. The research findings revealed that the entrepreneurship education and the industrial training exercise was an effective tool for reducing the rate of graduate unemployment in Awka south. But the short falls of these tools vary from the lack of funds to get materials for entrepreneurship practicals to the lack of industrial training placement and the demand for those seeking industrial training placement to pay an acceptance fee by the organization where they seek to do their industrial training exercise. The study therefore recommended that school management collaborates with organizations to find industrial training placement for students and also, that government funds be made available for entrepreneurship practicals.

Keywords: Education, Entrepreneurship education, Graduate Unemployment, Industrial Training.

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