INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Business education like many other subjects in the school system has been defined in several ways by several scholars, to suit different situations and purposes. Some scholars define it from the way it is practiced in the field, while others define it from the angle it is taught in schools and colleges. Jubril (2010) defines business education as a specialized area of vocational education that provides educational training, skills development, attitudes adjustment towards business orientation and academic challenges.
While Bilyaminu (2011) views business education as an aspect of total education programme that provides the knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding needed to perform in the business world as a producer and/or consumer of goods and services. Hence from the definitions, business education can be summarized a programme designed to provide students with the basic processes of educational training; decision making; the philosophy, theory, and psychology of management; practical applications; business start-up and operational procedures.
Curriculum is cluttered by an array of definitions of the concept. It is defined asprescribed course of studies, which students must learn in order to reach a certain level ofeducation. Coles (2013) defined curriculum as the sum of all the activities, experiencesand learning opportunities that institution(s) and teacher(s) have responsibility for eitherdeliberately or by default to make learning take place. Thus, curriculum can be said to be a plan activities of learning opportunities for a specific timeframe guided towards changing learners’ behaviour.
Business education curriculum is part of continuous process of planning anddevelopment, that involves selection of learning experiences calculated to help in theattainment of goals and objectives of the programme. According to Coles (2013),Business Education curriculum was designed to educate students in the skills, processes,understandings and responsibilities necessary for success in the world of business. Dike(2009) viewed business education curriculum as an educational process of action aboutopportunities for engagement of students to be educated in business and educationalrelated discipline. Business education curriculum in this context is responsible forequipping students with skills, attributes, knowledge, attitudes and behaviours required forteaching, entrepreneurship, administrative and clerical work.
Lapan,Tucker, Kim andKosciulek (2000); Nabi (2003) and Senior (2009) indicated that, a goodcurriculum should provide students with skills on:- effective communication; supervision;coordinating; planning and think strategically; clear vision; Information and Communication Technology; creativity/self-confidence; good self-management and time-management which are consider as requisite skills for job opportunity.Lee Harvey (2013) highlighted that the job opportunities of graduates come from a complex mix of skills; knowledge; aptitudes; abilities; self-confidence; self-awareness; work and life experience of the candidates.
Bearing in mind that Business education being one of the vocational programmes in Nigeria was targeted at empowering students with skills for the world of life and creates for them employment opportunities. As attested by Federal Republic of Nigeria (2014) that maintained that, business education is to among others impart skills, knowledge and abilities necessary for gainful employment or self-reliant economically. The curriculum focused on fostering student’s acquisition of skills in managerial, communication, ethics and human relations, scientific and 21st century technological needs for teaching, administrative/clerical fieldwork and self-reliance. Strengthen this view, Chukwurah (2010) and Stephen (2010) maintained that business education curriculum was prepared to provide students with knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values required for graduates gainful employment or self-reliance. This has necessitated the study into the inadequacies of curriculum content in business Education.
Statement of the Problem
In Nigeria, university education plays a crucial role in contributing to economic and human development. The nation’s professional and highly skilled personnel such as engineers, managers, technicians and teachers among others are products of universities. Curricula of universities in this context define the in-depth knowledge, skills, competency and attitudes to be achieved. As a result, the curricula are prepared towards integrating relevant skills with diversity in considerations to enable graduates gain job and enhance their performance in the fieldwork (Robert, 2016). As a result, curriculum of business education is geared towards equipping students with broader requisite knowledge and skills attributes, such as team-working, communication, leadership, critical thinking and problem solving for graduals employability has emphasized by philosophy of business education programme in Nigeria.
Despite the laudable philosophy of business education programme in Nigeria, recent studies have shown that business education graduates do suffer labour market discriminations in areas of administrative, banking and financial institutions in the country. Oduma (2010) reported that, most employers of labour continue to reject business education graduates arguing that their skill is only needed in the classroom. Beside the discriminations, graduates of business education programme do not haveadequate skills for life and services to society in various spheres of human endeavour.Indeed, most graduates of the programme lack adequate skill and knowledge forentrepreneurship in the country. It is due to this backdrops that this study is aimed at examining the inadequacies of curriculum content in Business Education.
Purpose of the study
The purpose of the study is to ascertain the inadequacies in curriculum content of business education. Specifically, the study will ascertain;
- The current curriculum contents for business education students.
- The inadequacies in the current curriculum contents
- The ways to address the inadequacy of the current curriculum content.
Significance of the Study
The study will be beneficial to curriculum planner, government, educators (Lecturers)and future researchers.
Curriculum planer will benefit from the study as the study will enable them see the reason to adjust the current curriculum to fit into the current situation in Nigeria economy.
Business educator (Lecturers) will benefit from the study as the study will help have a focus on what to teach that will be of benefit for student in class during lectures.
Future researchers will benefit fromthe as the findings of the study will serve as a reference material for other related studies.
Scope of the Study
The scope of the study cover inadequacies in curriculum content of business education
Research Questions
- What is current curriculum contents for business education students?
- What are inadequacies in the current curriculum contents?
What are the ways to address the inadequacy of the current curriculum content?
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