AN ASSESSMENT OF WOMEN'S ATTITUDES TOWARDS SPECIAL SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAMMES IN SOUTHERN NIGERIA: IMPLICATION FOR VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION FOR DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

SANNI ROTIMI AKINWALE (PhD).

VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION DEPT

FACULTY OF EDUCATION

ADEKUNLE AJASIN UNIVERSITY, AKUNGBA AKOKO

INTRODUCTION

Since the United Nations declared 1975 as the International Year of Women and the period 1975-1985 as the decade for women, and the fourth world conference on women was held in Beijing in 1995, efforts to raise women's economic status through appropriate training and education as a means of liberating them from men's subjugation and all forms of discrimination which has been their challenge have increased (Osunde and Omoruyi (2003.) Before the 1960s, women's activities were not pronounced and recognized, their services were largely seems to be unproductive and devalued (Omoruyi, 1999). In African society, women were confined to be subordinate of men; hence, for a long time the training they received was confined to their role as mothers and home managers. One major reason which was adduced for women's low status has been lack of access to education and income, they have had to depend entirely on their husbands to provide and meet their financial obligations.

Since 1978, in line with global developments, there has been a drastic turn around in the affairs of women in Nigeria, particularly in the south. A series of efforts have been made to empower women. Women's development has become a prominent issue in development planning activities. This has also been subject to constant review in line with global focus and the economic realities of our nation.

The most worthwhile of all efforts towards emancipation of women is the establishment of vocational education and special training programmes designed to help women acquire relevant saleable and marketable skills that would enable them earn income and become self-dependent and self-reliant (Sanni, 2015). Recent developments in this area show that women's education and training has occupied a central position in the activities of government and non-government at organizations who are involved in educational programmes for women (Osuola and Omoruyi, 2003). Before the late 1980s, there were only a few centres for women's education: located in Owo, Idoani Otuo, Irrua, Auchi, Afuze, Igarra and other parts of the country. In recent times however, the number of women's education centre has continued to increase as a result of the activities of the various women's commission at the federal, state and local government levels geared towards improving the economic and social status of women. These skill training centres provide women with skills in tie and dye, cloth weaving, basket weaving, poultry, bead making, hair dressing, tailoring, baking and confectioneries, among others that will make them self-reliant and economically independent. The special skills training programmes are targeted at raising the economic status of women as well promoting self-reliance and financial independence.

Statement of Problem

It has been asserted that most programmes designed for woman in the country have been largely concentrated in urban areas at the expense of rural areas, where the majority of woman live. Needless to say, programmes which are targeted at rural areas where the majority of the women dwell and find their means of livelihood will produce a more far-reaching effect. The perceptions and attitudes of women will undoubtedly help to provide an insight into their level of involvement and will also help to establish if the programme is reaching out to the majority of the women who constitute the target group. If the attitudes of the women are known they can provide guidelines for making vital decisions on the overall organization and implementation of vocational and skill training programme. It is against this backdrop that this study was carried out to ascertain women's perceptions and attitude towards the special training programme established for them.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to assess women's attitudes towards special skill training programme in southern Nigeria, specifically the study will assess:

1. The attitudes of the rural and urban women towards special skills training programmes

2. The perceptions of rural and urban women's towards special skills training programmes

Research Questions:

The following research questions guides the study.

1. What is the attitude of rural and urban women towards women special skills training programme?

2. How do the rural and urban women perceive the women special training programmes established for them?

Methodology

The study adopted simple descriptive survey research design in discovering the attitudes of rural and urban women towards the special skills training programmes. Nwogu (2005) stated that survey study is one in which a group of people or items are studied by collecting and analyzing data from only a few people or items consider to be representation of the entire group employs questionnaire and interview to determine opinion preference, attitude and perception of people about an issue.

Population of the Study

The population of the study consisted of all rural and urban women in the special skills training centre in the southern part of Nigeria. The target population is 4,500 rural and urban women.

Sample and Sample Techniques

The sample of the study consisted of a total of 420 female participants selected using the simple random technique from six women's special skills training centre in the southern part of Nigeria. Seventy participants each were chosen from each of the six centre.

Instrumentation

The instrument for data collection for the study was a scale designed to assess the attitudes and opinions of women towards the special skills training programmes. Simple knowledge items on opinion and attitudes were raised. The scale was designed by following the likert rating technique of scale construction. The women with assistance of field research assistants, recorded their responses on a four-point continuum of the survey scale ranging from strongly Agree to strongly Disagree, with a weighting of 4 to 1. The cut-off point of 2.5 was determined by finding the mean of the values assigned to the options.

Validation of Instrument

To validate the technique some experts in the Faculty of Education, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akugba Akoko were asked to scrutinize it and make comments on the construct validation. Their comments and suggestions led to the modification of some of the items raised initially and the addition of some others.

Reliability of the Instrument

To determine the reliability of the technique, a test, re-test procedure was adopted with an interval time of two weeks. The result produced a reliability coefficient estimate of 0.72.

Method of Data Analysis

Data collected was analysed using simple mean, frequency count and simple percentages. Means scores were calculated by multiplying the frequency of response under each category and dividing the sum of the values obtained under each response category by the number of respondents. The mean score was also used to classify the attitude as "highly favourable" "favourable" and "unfavourable" mean scores of 3.00 -4.00 was regarded as highly favourable 250-2.99 "favourable and any score below 2.50 was classified as "unfavourable".

Results and Findings of the Study

The results and findings of the study are presented in the tables below

LOCATION FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE

Urban 269 63.81%

Rural 151 36.19%

Total 420 100.00

Table 1: Distribution of respondents based on location

The data on table 1 shows that of the 420 women respondents, 269 (63.81%) were urban while 151 (36.19%) were from rural areas, thus, the majority of the participants were urban dwellers, probably because most of the skill training centre are located in urban areas and that only a few could travel from rural areas to enroll in the programmes.

S/N ATTITUDINAL VARIABLE URBAN RURAL DECISION

1. I am delighted being part of the programme 3.49 3.92 AGREE

2. The programme have equipped me with basic vocational skills 3.32 3.66 AGREE

3. The programme have improved my economic 3.20 3.82 AGREE

4. Almost all women are participated in the programme 3.54 1.18 VARIATION

5. The programme have provided opportunity for the women to be wealthy 3.11 2.71 AGREE

6. Women should be motivated to be fully involved in the programme 3.32 3.70 AGREE

7. Women who participated in the programme have acquired economic and social progress 3.50 3.62 AGREE

8. The special training programme are the best avenue for imparting vocational skills and knowledge 3.01 3.86 AGREE

9. As a result of my participation in the proramme I am now aware of greater opportunities available for me in life 3.62 3.75 AGREE

10. My involvement in the programme has created in me a sense of belonging 3.97 3.85 AGREE

11. The programme can create a high self concept and confidence in woman 3.15 3.62 AGREE

12. My participation in the programme has given me positive self image. 2.92 3.35 AGREE

Table 2: Attitude of women participants towards special skill training programme.

Attitude of women participants towards special skill training programmes are similar in the attitudes toward the programme in all areas examined except concerning level of participation and involvement. The urban and rural participants do not agree that almost all the women are involved in the programmes. While the participants from the urban area are of the opinion that almost all women are participating in the programmes, those from the rural areas are of different opinion and disagreed.

The weighted mean was also used to compute the level of attitude of the participants towards the prgrammes. The result is presented in figure 1, which shows that 62 percent of urban participants and 88 percent of rural participants had a highly favourable attitude towards the women's special skills training programme 35 percent of urban participants and 3 percent of rural participants had an unfavourable attitude towards the programmes. If one add the highly favourable and the favouable attitude categories, it can be seen that 97% of the participants from the urban and 96% of the participants from the rural area demonstrated a favourable disposition towards the programme.

Fig 1. Participants attitude towards the special training programme

Discussion of Results

The results of the study reveals that the rural and urban women participants have similar attitudes towards the special skills training programme and majority of the women in southern Nigeria were found to have a positive attitudes towards the programme. This findings is in agreement with the findings of Olaitan (2010) who reported the attitudes of beneficiaries of skills enrolment of youths in home economics occupations for work towards peace in the Niger Delta, and also in agreement with the findings of Onwuadi (2011) who suggested that male and female trainees in skill acquisition training centres had similar attitudes towards vocational and technical education programme

However, it was revealed from the study that the rural and urban women participants differ in their opinion on the level of women's participation in the programmes in the area under study. This variation may be explained in terms of the percentage of participation of participants from the area since more women who engaged in the programmes came from the urban area, this problem led the participants from these centres to perceive that almost all women were involved. The findings also revealed that not many women in the area under study have taken advantages of the special skills training programmes to improve their financial status. In spite of this the result also revealed that the attitudes of the participants towards the programmes are similar irrespective of the area where they come from.

The women's participations in the programme have been quiet good and their attitudes have also been very positive. This implies that women are enthusiastic about the programme and the benefits and successes that can be gained, indicating that the full participation of the women, irrespective of where they reside, must be given the attention it deserves. It is apparent that rural women are more eager in their expressions of approval than their urban counterparts. This is quiet revealing because it is a pointer to the fact that the rural women are now keen to improve their life style through the acquisition of vocational skills and knowledge.

IMPLICATION FOR VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

The findings of this study have important implication for the development and implementation of vocational and technical education for women in Nigeria. Firstly, the programmes will have to be expanded so that more women can participate especially in rural areas since the participants have positive attitudes towards the programmes, expansionist policy should be pursued while at the same time diversifying the training or skills provided.

The government should formulate a deliberate policy aimed of creating awareness, particularly among rural women and break the culture taboos that. might hinder their full and active participation in the special skills training programmes.

Conclusion and Recommendation

It can be concluded that women in urban and rural areas in Nigeria have positive attitudes towards special skills training programme designed specifically for them. In view of this the programme should be retained and a concerted effort made to expand on the prorammes so that more women across the country can participate and benefit. The rate of development should not be allowed to drop, but should be sustained and improved upon in order to opportunities for more women to benefit from the programmes. Adequate monitoring and evaluation and feed back of the programmes should be vigorously pursued to ensure effective implementation

References

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Nworgu, B.G, (2005) Types and uses of some inferential statistical tools in educational research, Enugun, Rearts and Gold.

Olaitan, S.O (2010) Community-based financing of development projects. Nsukka, excellent Press.

Omoruyi, F.E.O. (1999) An Assessment of women Empowerment education proramme of FSP in Edo State. Unpublished Mimeograph, university of Benin, Benin city.

Onwuadi, C.C. (2011), Perception of adult educators on life long learning in a global society. Journal of adult Education and Development

Osunde A.U, and Omoruyi F.E.O (2003) "Adult education Programme in Nigeria An empirical study Indian Journal of Adult Education

Sanni R.A. (2015) Evaluation of the skill Training Components of the Accelerated Poverty Alleviation Programme in Ondo State, Nigeria. Unpublished mimeograph, University of Nigeria Nsakka.