CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Education and training, which is dependent on all stakeholders, including the state, educators, and learners, is critical to the progress of developing an entrepreneurial culture in Africa. Apart from educational effect and influence, the school is the location where the most (holistic) profound impact on the growth of youth can be made (Njoroge and Gathungu, 2013).The aim of entrepreneurship education is to instill an entrepreneurial spirit and culture in students (Akpomi, 2009; Adejimola and Olufunmilayo, 2009). Kolvereid and Moen (1997; Peterman and Kennedy, 2003) identified entrepreneurship education as one of the critical determinants that can affect students' career choices.Since graduates were unable to contribute meaningfully to economic growth through self-employment, entrepreneurship education was introduced into schools.The Federal Ministry of Education, through its regulatory and supervisory agencies – the National Universities Commission (NUC), the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).  – introduced entrepreneurship education into the curricula of universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education to make Nigerian graduates more resourceful and self-reliant.This became essential in order to provide a practical solution to the country's endemic unemployment crisis. As a result, entrepreneurship growth is now a required course for all students at all three stages of tertiary education, regardless of their fields of specialization (Yahya, 2011).Scholars have advocated the need for higher education institutions to instill entrepreneurial spirit in their offerings in different ways. For example, Nwangwu (2007) argued in favor of entrepreneurial schooling, claiming that graduates with proper expertise and experience would be more imaginative and ambitious when it comes to finding noble business opportunities.More universities have introduced a wide variety of entrepreneurship programs and training practices, according to Fayolle (2004) and Bhandari (2006), which seems to be affecting students in terms of creating entrepreneurial potential and entering into the market of their choices.

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Nigeria's population has been steadily increasing, and job opportunities, especially for graduates, are becoming increasingly scarce. The inference is that jobless graduates are dispersed across the world, posing a problem. Furthermore, university education in Nigeria has grown dramatically, with a growing number of graduates; however, the majority of these graduates are unemployed due to  lack of skills to be self employed or be employed.Graduate unemployment has resulted in a rise in abduction, prostitution, armed robbery, political thuggery, and advanced fee theft among the youth. A careful assessment of the situation reveals that the majority of these graduates participate in these practices due to a lack of necessary expertise for self-employment.For the past few years, a lack of employability skills as a result of insufficient and outdated professional training in universities in South-East Nigeria has pushed some university graduates into the labor force in search of work. This pitiful condition prompted the creation of entrepreneurship learning centers with the aim of instilling entrepreneurial skills in future graduates.This means that if our universities' current college programs and activities will help students develop the expertise and abilities needed by employers and as self-employed people, these students will be less likely to be jobless after graduation.

1.3       OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

i.          To determine the degree to which entrepreneurial skills are instilled in undergraduates by entrepreneurship education program material.

ii.        To determine the degree to which entrepreneurship curriculum pedagogies are being used to help students develop entrepreneurial skills.

iii.      To determine the degree to which resource people are used to develop entrepreneurship skills.

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS 

I.          To what extent does undergraduate entrepreneurship education curriculum instill entrepreneurial skills?

II.      To what degree are entrepreneurship curriculum pedagogies used to help students develop entrepreneurial skills?

III.    To what degree are resource people used to help undergraduates develop their entrepreneurship skills?

1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research is both theoretical and realistic in nature. In terms of philosophy, the thesis will be based on Taylor's cognitive solution theory (1998). In practice, university students, lecturers, the National Universities Commission (NUC), policymakers, the administration, academics and researchers, and the general public will benefit greatly from the work.

1.6       SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study was delimited to state universities in south-eastern Nigeria due to the fact that entrepreneurship development centres are established in them.

1.7       LIMITATION OF STUDY

The fact that entrepreneurship development centres have not been established in all universities limited the research work of the study.

1.8       DEFINITION OF TERMS

ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION: Entrepreneurial education is characterized as an entire education and training activity (whether it is an educational system or a non-educational system) aimed at developing participants' entrepreneurial purpose or any of the factors that influence the intention, such as experience, desirability, and viability of the business idea.

ENTREPRENEURIAL : Entrepreneurship is described as "the capacity of a person to put ideas into motion." It encompasses traits such as imagination, ingenuity, and risk-taking, as well as the ability to schedule and execute projects to meet goals. It is regarded as essential for fostering creativity, competition, and economic development. Fostering an entrepreneurial mindset encourages the creation of new businesses and the expansion of existing ones.

UNDERGRADUATES: An undergraduate is a student in college or university who is not pursuing a doctoral degree. After high school, you should get a bachelor's degree. Undergraduates are university and college students who have graduated from high school and been admitted to college but have not yet completed their studies.

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