Policy reforms in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for sustainable development in Abia State, Nigeria

The study determined the relevance of policy reforms in Technical Vocational Education and Training for sustainable development in Abia State, Nigeria. The survey research design was used. The population of the study consisted of 4,302 persons made up of 300 officers of Vocational Technical Education Boards and 4,002 teachers of vocational subjects in all the Vocational Technical schools in Abia State in the 2020/2021 academic year. The sample comprised 356 respondents made up of 32 Vocational Technical Education Boards staff and 324 vocational teachers. The sample was selected using stratified random sampling technique. A questionnaire titled “TVET Policy Reforms for Sustainable Development in Abia State Questionnaire” was used for data collection. The questionnaire which contained 31 items structured on a four-point scale was validated by three experts and its internal consistency reliability index was 0.88 determined using Cronbach alpha statistics. The mean with standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while independent t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that reforms are needed in 10 areas of the TVET policy; and that TVET policy reforms are useful for sustainable development in 10 ways. Also, 10 challenges against achievement of TVET policy objectives were found. The researchers concluded that there is dire need for reforms in Nigeria’s TVET policy in the ten areas identified in this study in order to facilitate sustainable development in Abia State and the entire country. It was recommended among others, that the Federal Ministry of Education should initiate moves for significant reforms in Technical Vocational Education and Training policy in Nigeria as soon as is practicable.