ICT Skill Needs of Nigerian Secondary School Leavers Towards
Sustainable Economy and Peaceful Co-existence
Nnenna Ekpereka Ibezim
Department of Vocational Teacher Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Keywords: ICT, Skills, Peace, Economic Empowerment, School Leavers.
Abstract: The high rate of youth unemployment in Nigeria is posing a threat to the social peace of the country. Hence,
this study, to identify the ICT skill needs of Nigerian secondary school leavers towards sustainable economy
and peaceful co-existence. Three research questions, one hypothesis, were formulated, answered and tested
in the study. The survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study was 2,765
final year secondary school students at the verge of graduation in the seven public secondary schools in
Nsukka urban, Enugu State, Nigeria. A Sample size of 700 students, drawn using a simple random sampling
technique was studied. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data, and Cronbach alpha technique
was used to determine the internal consistency of the items, which yielded a co-efficient of 0.81. Data
collected were analyzed using mean while t-test statistic was used to test the hypothesis. The study
identified viable basic computer skill needs, software development skill needs, and hardware maintenance
skill needs of the school leavers, and recommended that the government and curriculum planners should
integrate the identified skill needs into the secondary school curriculum to empower the youths for
economic sustenance and peaceful co-existence.
1 INTRODUCTION
Peace is an occurrence of harmony characterized by
the lack of violence, conflict behaviors and the
freedom from fear of violence. It is commonly
understood to mean the existence of healthy or
newly healed prosperity in matters of social or
economic welfare, the establishment of equality, and
a working political order that serves the true
interests of all (Wikipedia, 2009). It is a state of
mutual harmony between people or groups,
especially in personal relations.
In Africa today, one emerging threat to peace
and security is youth unemployment. According to
Amadi (2014), the priority of African leaders should
be to provide African citizens with education, skills,
healthcare, food security, employment opportunities
in a peaceful and democratic environment and
develop governance structures that are participatory,
transparent and accountable to the citizens.
Adebayo (2013) attests to this by stating
particularly that despite the abundant human and
natural resources available in Nigeria, West Africa,
the unemployment rate has continued to be on the
increase. The author further said that every year,
thousands of graduates are produced but there are no
jobs for majority of them. Nigerian streets are
littered with youth hawkers who ordinarily would
have found gainful employment in some enterprise.
Furthermore, the large number of youths who are
unemployed are capable of undermining democratic
practice as they constitute a serious threat if engaged
by the political class for clandestine and criminal
activities (Adebayo, 2013) This is because according
to Osakwe (2013), high levels of unemployment can
threaten the security of any nation. To worsen it, is
the fact that a great number of those unemployed are
mostly university graduates and secondary school
leavers who are supposed to be the workforce
strength of any society (Ochonma, 2011).
Secondary education in Nigeria, is the second in
the tripod of education starting from the Primary,
Secondary and Tertiary stages in ascending order of
magnitude. Secondary education has two distinct
objectives which are: Preparing recipients for higher
education and preparing recipients for useful living
within the society (news24Nigeria, 2012).
Secondary school education in Nigeria is in two tiers
– the Junior and the Senior. Each tier has a three-
year duration, and designed to equip its graduates
who wish to end their educational career at the end
of any of the tiers, with saleable skills that would
386
Ekpereka Ibezim N..
ICT Skill Needs of Nigerian Secondary School Leavers Towards Sustainable Economy and Peaceful Co-existence.
DOI: 10.5220/0005455003860392
In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU-2015), pages 386-392
ISBN: 978-989-758-107-6
Copyright
c
2015 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)
make for self reliance. However, the secondary
school education has failed in this area of skill
acquisition (vocation) partly because the reasons for
its inclusion in the curriculum have been forgotten
or because of ignorance of its benefits
(news24Nigeria, 2012). The geometric increase of
youth unemployment in the country, which includes
to a large extent, male and female secondary leavers,
attests to the fact that this aim is not being achieved.
To reduce youth unemployment in the nation,
viable entrepreneurship education should be
incorporated into the curricula of secondary and
tertiary schools. Doing this will also turn the
graduates into job -creators and not job-seekers. This
will help to curb the trend of graduates seeking the
elusive white-collars jobs (Adebayo, 2013).
One viable area where entrepreneurship
education can be focused on for empowering our
youths for gainful and self employment is the area of
Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
ICT is an umbrella term that includes any
communication device or application,
encompassing: radio, television, cellular phones,
computer and network hardware and software,
satellite systems and so on, as well as the various
services and applications associated with them, such
as videoconferencing and distance learning (Rouse,
2005). ICT refers to technologies that provide access
to information through telecommunications. It
focuses primarily on communication technologies
which includes the Internet, wireless networks, cell
phones, and other communication mediums.
ICT skills are those related to the use of
computers and then the ability to transmit stored
information through fixed line networks or through
wireless phone networks. It has to do with the
knowledge of and ability to use communications
technology such as telephony hardware, computers,
etc. Today, ICTs are transforming the world of
work, creating new job opportunities and making
labor markets more innovative, inclusive, and
global. According to Vein (2013), ICTs are
influencing employment both as an industry that
creates jobs and as a tool that empowers workers to
access new forms of work, in new and more flexible
ways. The emerging ICT-enabled employment
opportunities matter because countries around the
world are looking to create more good jobs, which
have positive social and economic sustainability for
workers and for society.
According to Tatum (2014), economic
sustainability is the term used to identify various
strategies that make it possible to use available
resources to their best advantage. The idea is to
promote the use of those resources in a way that is
both efficient and responsible, and likely to provide
long-term benefits. The goal is to establish
profitability over the long term.
ICTs are providing new avenues for sustainable
economy and job creation that could help tackle
global unemployment. ICTs connect people to jobs.
Online employment marketplaces are helping an
estimated 12 million people worldwide find work by
connecting them with employers globally (Vein,
2013). There are job search services using internet-
based and mobile tools and such services empower
workers by making labour markets more transparent
and inclusive.
For young people ICT offer a way into more
formal careers, as well as providing supplementary
income. The future of ICT is therefore secure with
the coming generations and that is why Olatunde in
Aminu (2013), appealed to the federal and state
governments of Nigeria to empower the youth with
necessary ICT skills to make them self-employed.
He emphasized that ICT is one of the sectors
through which, the Nigerian youth could be
empowered without necessarily depending on
government for white collar jobs or waiting for any
assistance to meet daily upkeep. Aminu (2013)
further reported that ICT will ensure that many
unemployed youths are responsible to themselves
and also contribute their quota to the country’s
Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is because,
according to Olatunde, there are still software and
the hardware sub-sectors of ICT with diverse
opportunities yet to be fully exploited.
Consequently, since the secondary school leavers
in Nigeria are within the age bracket of youths that
are vulnerable and may become a source of unrest
and instability in the country if not usefully engaged,
this study is focused on identifying their ICT skills
needs in order to integrate them into the school
curriculum or youth economic empowerment
programmes organized in the country, to ensure
economic sustainability and peaceful co-existence.
To address this issue, the study specifically
identified:
1. Basic Computer skill needs of Nigerian
secondary school leavers for sustainable
economy and peaceful co-existence.
2. Software development skill needs of Nigerian
secondary school leavers for sustainable
economy and peaceful co-existence.
3. Hardware Maintenance skill needs of Nigerian
secondary school leavers for sustainable
economy and peaceful co-existence.
ICTSkillNeedsofNigerianSecondarySchoolLeaversTowardsSustainableEconomyandPeacefulCo-existence
387
2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What are the basic computer skill needs of
Nigerian secondary school leavers for
sustainable economy and peaceful co-existence?
2. What are the software development skill needs of
Nigerian secondary school leavers for
sustainable economy and peaceful co-existence?
3. What are the hardware maintenance skill needs
of Nigerian secondary school leavers for
sustainable economy and peaceful co-existence
3 HYPOTHESIS
Ho: Gender is not a source of significant difference
in the ICT skill needs of Nigerian secondary
school leavers towards sustainable economy
and peaceful co-existence.
4 METHODOLOGY
The study adopted the survey research design and
was carried out in Nsukka, Enugu state, Nigeria. The
population for the study was 2,765 final year
secondary school students at the verge of graduation
in the seven public secondary schools in Nsukka
metropolis.
A sample size of 700 students, drawn using the
simple random sampling technique to select one
hundred students from each school, was studied. A
structured questionnaire was developed from the
literature reviewed to obtain data for the study and
was face validated by three experts knowledgeable
in the application of ICT for entrepreneurship
development. The Cronbach alpha technique was
used to determine the internal consistency of the
questionnaire items which yielded a co-efficient of
0.81. The scale for the questionnaire was Highly
Needed (HN), Averagely Needed (AN), Slightly
Needed (SN), and Not Needed (NN) with
weightings of 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively.
Data obtained from 675 students were analyzed
and studied. The weighted mean was used to answer
the research questions, while t-test statistic was used
to test the hypothesis. A cut off point of 2.5 was
used to determine the ICT skill needs of the
secondary school leavers towards sustainable
economy and peaceful co-existence. The null
hypothesis of no significance was accepted for any
item whose significant probability is greater than the
significant probability level (0.05) used for testing
the hypothesis, and was rejected if less. The standard
deviation was used to determine the closeness or
otherwise of the responses of the respondents to the
mean. Any item with a low standard deviation
indicated that there were less variations in the
responses of the respondents, indicating that the
mean values of the items were valid.
5 RESULTS
Data collected for the study are presented in Tables
1 – 3.
Table 1: Respondents mean scores and t- test analysis on the basic computer skill needs of Nigerian secondary school
leavers for sustainable economy and peaceful co-existence.
Key: x = Mean of responses of school leavers, SD= Standard deviation , x
1
= Mean of responses of male school leavers, x
2
= Mean of
responses of female school leavers, t-cal = Calculated t-test value using SPSS, Sig = Probability level at 0.05 level of significance
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Table 2: Respondents mean scores and t- test analysis on Software skill needs of Nigerian secondary school leavers for
sustainable economy and peaceful co-existence.
Key: x = Mean of responses of school leavers, SD= Standard deviation , x
1
= Mean of responses of male school leavers, x
2
= Mean of
responses of female school leavers, t-cal = Calculated t-test value using SPSS, Sig = Probability level at 0.05 level of significance, NN =
Not Needed, N = Needed, S = Significant, NS = Not Significant.
Table 3: Respondents mean scores and t- test analysis on Hardware skill needs of Nigerian secondary school leavers for
sustainable economy and peaceful co-existence.
Key: X = Mean of responses of school leavers, SD= Standard deviation , X1 = Mean of responses of male school leavers, X2 = Mean of
responses of female school leavers, t-cal = Calculated t-test value using SPSS, Sig = Probability level at 0.05 level of significance, N=
Needed, S = Significant, NS = Not Significant.
ICTSkillNeedsofNigerianSecondarySchoolLeaversTowardsSustainableEconomyandPeacefulCo-existence
389
The data presented in Table 1 revealed that 10
items had their mean values ranged from 3.05 – 3.70
which is above the cut off point of 2.5, indicating
that the items are basic computer skill needs of the
secondary school leavers for sustainable economy
and peaceful co-existence. Item 1 had its mean as
2.28 which is lower than the cut off point indicating
that ability to boot a computer is not a basic
computer skill needs of the school leavers.
The data in the table further showed that the
responses of the school leavers varied on
Wordprocess documents/Information (SD = 1.77)
than on the ability to Identify and Utilize computer
peripherals (SD = 0.58).
Table 1 further revealed that five items had their
significant probability less than 0.5, showing that the
null hypothesis of no significance was rejected for
those items, while it was accepted for the remaining
six items whose significant probability was greater
than 0.5.
Data in Table 2 revealed that all the items had
their mean values ranged from 3.11 – 3.48 which is
above the cut off point of 2.5, indicating that the
items are the
Table 3 further revealed that five items had their
significant probability less than 0.5, showing that the
null hypothesis of no significance was rejected for
those items, while it was accepted for the other ten
items whose significant probabilities were greater
than 0.5.
6 DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
Findings on research question 1 revealed 10 basic
computer skill needs of the secondary school leavers
for sustainable economy and peaceful co-existence.
Mckay (2014) had stated that in most places of
business, a Software skill needs of Nigerian
secondary school leavers for sustainable economy
and peaceful co-existence. Furthermore, the table
showed that the responses of the school leavers
varied more on the use of data management
programs e.g MS Access, Oracle, SQL etc (SD =
1.92) than the use of Word processing software (SD
= 0.75).
Table 2 further revealed that four items had their
significant probability less than 0.5, showing that the
null hypothesis of no significance was rejected for
those items, while it was accepted for the remaining
six items whose significant probabilities were
greater than 0.5.
Table 3 revealed that all the items had their mean
values ranged from 3.11 – 3.85 which is above the
cut off point of 2.5, indicating that the items are
hardware skill needs of Nigerian secondary school
leavers for sustainable economy and peaceful co-
existence. Data in the table further showed that the
responses of the school leavers varied more on
managing and maintaining the Servers, PC’s,
Routers and Switches the ability to analyze
qualitative data (SD = 3.41) than on deep knowledge
of printer and cartage refilling (SD = 0.80).
Table 3 further revealed that five items had their
significant probability less than 0.5, showing that the
null hypothesis of no significance was rejected for
those items, while it was accepted for the other ten
items whose significant probabilities were greater
than 0.5. computer is standard, no matter where your
employment is found, there is a good chance that a
computer will be a basic tool to be used. The author
further mentioned the one just need to know some
basics like how to save and open a file, how to use a
word processing program, and how to send and
receive email. Moreover, as recorded in
TARGETjobs (2014), most desk jobs will only need
its seeker to know how to use Microsoft Office
(Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook) and a
handful of websites.
Data in Table 2 revealed crucial software
development skill needs of the school. These
findings are supported by supported by Fowler
(2012) who stated that there is big demand for
people with top-notch computer skills and that
Fowler (2012) who stated that there is big demand
for people with top-notch computer skills and that
this demand typically arises through one of two
ways: either there are plenty of jobs requiring a
particular program or skill set, or there is demand in
very small, niche areas, this demand typically arises
through one of two ways: either there are plenty of
jobs requiring a particular program or skill set, or
there is demand in very small, niche areas, where
few people have the exact knowledge required for
that specialized program in the ever-evolving
technology industry. The author further mentioned
that mobile web development is currently a very
strong area of where few people have the exact
knowledge required for that specialized program in
the ever-evolving technology industry. The author
further mentioned that mobile web development is
currently a very strong area of growth within the IT
industry. Also as recorded by CyberCoders Team
(2013), the most in-demand software development
skills include java/javascript, C#/ASP.NET, C++,
Python, PHP, SQL/MySQL, and iOS/Andriod. The
study also revealed hardware maintenance skill
needs of the secondary school leavers. Computer
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hardware can become damaged over time, and
computer hardware maintenance is necessary for
keeping computers up and running. Computer
hardware maintenance deals with repairing and
replacing broken and failing computer hardware.
According to Burn (2014), it involves taking care
of the computer's physical components, such as its
keyboard, hard drive and internal CD or DVD
drives; cleaning the computer, keeping its fans free
from dust, and defragmenting its hard drives
regularly. The author further said that virus
protection is also part of it, as some viruses can
interfere with computer hardware.
Data from the hypothesis tested in the study,
revealed that there were no significant differences in
the mean rating of the responses of the male and
female secondary school leavers on six basic
computer skill needs, six software development skill
needs, and ten hardware maintenance skill needs for
sustainable economy and peaceful co-existence.
However, there were significant differences in the
mean ratings, in five basic computer skill needs, four
software development skill needs, and five hardware
maintenance skill needs. The implication of these
findings is that for the 22 items where there were no
significant differences in the mean ratings of the
responses, the hypotheses were accepted. This
further implies that despite the differences in gender,
the opinions of the secondary school leavers were
not significantly influenced on the 22 ICT skill
needs for sustainable economy and peaceful co-
existence. On the other hand, the opinions of the
secondary school leavers were however,
significantly influenced on 14 ICT skill needs,
implying that there may be variations in the level of
ICT skills needs as it relates to gender bias, for
sustainable economy and peaceful co-existence.
7 CONCLUSION
A serious threat to peace and security in Nigeria, and
indeed Africa is youth unemployment. In order
reduce youth unemployment, viable
entrepreneurship education should be incorporated
in the school curricula, especially at the secondary
school level where the youthful life starts.
Information Communication Technology (ICT) now
being involved in every facet of life, is a viable area
where entrepreneurship education can be focused on,
for empowering youths for gainful and self
employment. Hence, this study identified the ICT
skills needs of Nigerian secondary school leavers
that could be integrated into the school curricula for
training of youths for sustainable economy and
peaceful co-existence.
8 RECOMMENDATION
Based on the findings and conclusion on the study,
the following recommendations were made:
1. The ICT skill needs identified should be
integrated into the secondary school curriculum
by Curriculum Planners for onward training of
youths for self reliance.
2. Vocational institutes should adopt these
identified ICT skills needs as a guide for training
of youths for economic empowerment.
3. The secondary school leavers can also use the
identified ICT skill needs as a guideline of skills
to acquire on a personal basis.
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