ROLE OF TERTIARY EDUCATION IN EMPOWERMENT AND JOB CREATION THROUGH EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND INNOVATIONS IN UDI LGA OF ENUGU STATE

Abstract

This study was set to determine the role of tertiary education in empowerment and job creation through emerging technologies and innovations in Udi LGA of Enugu State. Two research questions guided the study in line with two null hypotheses. The study adopted descriptive survey research design and was carried out in Udi LGA of Enugu State. The population for the study constitutes 67 Information Technology (IT) Practitioners (43 male and 23 female practitioners obtained through purposive sampling). Data pertinent to the study was collected using a structured questionnaire developed by the researcher titled “Role of Tertiary Education in Empowerment and Job Creation Questionnaire (RTEEJCQ)”. The questionnaire was validated by three research experts and the reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha in SPSS which gave a reliability co-efficient result of 0.71. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while hypotheses were tested using t-test in SPSS at .05 level of significance and appropriate degree of freedom. Some of the findings include that skill for business, painting, enhancing a 3D model, sanding, assembling, definition of quality, application engineering, understanding of 3D technologies and others are the skill training areas inherent in tertiary education through training. The study thereafter recommended that lecturers should always be retrained on trending innovations for proper training of students for relevance upon graduation, and research funding/grants should be provided and made accessible to all lecturers for capacity development.