IMPACT OF APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING ON SKILLS ACQUISITION AND WORKFORCE READINESS AMONG TECHNICAL EDUCATION UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITIES OF EDUCATION IN SOUTH-WEST, NIGERIA

The study investigated the Impact of Apprenticeship Training on Skills Acquisition and Workforce Readiness among Technical Education Undergraduate Students in Universities of Education in South-West, Nigeria The population of the study comprised all 200, 300 and 400 levels undergraduate students in Technical Education programmes in the four selected Universities of Education in South-West Nigeria. A sample size of 200 students (170 males; 85% and 30 females; 15%) was chosen using multistage sampling technique method. The instrument used for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled: Apprenticeship Training, Skills Acquisition and Work force Readiness Questionnaire (ATSAWRQ ) which was developed by the researche to measure respondents perceptions of apprenticeship training and its influence on skills acquisition, employability, and self-reliance. Responses were measured using a 4-point Likert scale: Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D), and Strongly Disagree (SD). The instrument was validated by three experts in technical education and educational measurement , and reliability was established using Cronbachs alpha coefficient which yielded 0.78 . Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential analysis to test hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance. Findings from the study indicate that apprenticeship training has a significant positive impact on students acquisition of practical skills.