An investigation into the management of workshops in technical schools in the Western Region

Abstract

This Dissertation focuses on assessing the facilities in Technical school workshops in the context of developing the country. A descriptive survey design was adopted. Three research questions were formulated to guide the study. 30-item questionnaire was developed based on the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) standards on Technical school workshops, and was validated by two experts. Data was collected from 20 administrators, 50 teachers, and 50 students randomly sampled and stratified along cluster of engineering and construction trades programmes in Technical schools in the Western Region. The total score was analysed by using parametric statistics from Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) to summarize the scores. A two-tailed t-test with a p- value of 5% (α = 0.05) level of significance was implemented to find the significant difference between the respondents on the management of workshops in technical schools by age and educational background, while Spearman’s correlation was also applied to test whether there was statistical significantly differences in the mean score. Results revealed that administrators, teachers, and students shared similar views on the inadequacy of the facilities in Technical school workshops, majority of the respondents were thirty-five years and above, female enrolment into technical schools very low, the facilities in the school workshops were woefully inadequate. Institution and Cooperate bodies must be sought for help rather than depending solely on the government. In spite of the numerous roles play by teachers in the management of the facilities, more is to be done, else the desire to produce competent graduates that can solve societal problem, would come to nought, unless the implementation of the recommended strategies in order to meet the goals of Technical Education as identified in the National Policy on Education.