Technological Skills Requisite by Motor Vehicle Mechanics Trainees of Technical Colleges for Optimal Productivity and Sustainability in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Motor vehicle mechanics trainees who generally enjoyed the regular flow of customers for effective maintenance and repairs of conventional vehicles are now faced with the challenges of diagnosing and servicing modern vehicles. This prompts the study to examine the technological skills requisite by motor vehicle mechanics (MVM) trainees of technical colleges for optimal productivity and sustainability in Ogun State Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study employed descriptive survey research design. Three hundred and fifty-four professionals comprising of 28 MVM teachers in nine technical colleges and 326 registered automobile industrial technicians in Ogun State constituted the study population. Total enumeration was used to select all the 28 MVM teachers because of manageable size while proportionate stratified random sampling techniques was used to select 89 registered automobile industrial technicians in Ogun State as study sample. The instrument used for data collection was 17-item structured questionnaire which was designed on a modified 4-point Likert scale titled ‘Technology Skills Requisite Trainees Questionnaire (TSRTQ). The instrument was face and content validated by three research experts from Department of Industrial Technical Education, Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun. 0.86 reliability co-efficient (r) value was obtained through Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient. 117 copies of the questionnaire were retrieved by the researcher with the help of three research assistants. Mean and standard deviation was used to analyse the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses. It was found out that it is essential for trainees to be equipped with the skills in handling modern diagnostic equipment to perform On-Board Diagnoses and servicing electronics control units (ECUs) in motor vehicle. Therefore, it was recommended that curriculum planners and policy makers should ensure that MVM curriculum is reviewed to incorporate technological skills requisite in motor vehicle industry to enable trainees’ suite in and enhance their sustainable development upon graduation.