Policy Initiatives for Improving the Administration of Technical Teacher Training Programme (Tttp) in Nigeria

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify policy initiatives for improving the administration of the Technical Teacher Training Programme (TTTP) in Nigeria. Nine research questions were developed and three hypotheses formulated to guide the study. Survey research design was adopted for the study. A structured questionnaire was used to obtain data from130 respondents. The population comprised eight middle level and senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Education involved in the administration of the TTTP; 48 academics made up of Coordinators, Deans and Heads of relevant Departments of participating institutions and 74 Directors and their Deputies from State's Ministries of Education. The questionnaire was validated by experts, from NUC and NBTE and tested for reliability with a coefficient of 0.87. The 130 respondents were given the questionnaire and 126 copies of the questionnaire were retrieved. The data collected were analyzed using Mean and Standard Deviation to answer the research questions. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance and relevant degree of freedom. The findings showed that: the 20 existing policy guidelines for the administration of the TTTP were ascertained as still relevant and appropriate. The study also identified 11 policy gaps in planning, five in coordinating, 15 in implementing, and five in evaluating TTTP. It was found out by the study that 16 policy initiatives for planning, seven for coordinating, 13 for implementing and eight for evaluating could be put in place for improving the administration of TTTP. It was found that the three groups of respondents did not differ significantly in their opinions on all the items on the existing policies for administration of TTTP. It was also found out that the three groups of respondents did not differ significantly on 32 out of 36 items on policy gaps but differed significantly on three in planning and one on implementing. The study also found out that the three groups of respondents did not differ significantly in their opinions on 34 out of 38 policy initiatives that could be put in place to improve the administration of TTTP, but differed significantly on two in planning and two in co-ordinating. The findings of no significant difference among the three groups of respondents indicated that their professional characteristics and experiences did not influence their responses significantly, while the reverse was true for those items on which they differed significantly. The study recommended that the existing policy guidelines that were found to be still relevant and appropriate should continue to be utilized, while those initiatives on the improvement of the programme be accepted and developed to full policy guidelines for improving the administration of TTTP in Nigeria.