APPRAISAL OF SKILLS ACQUIRED FOR GAINFUL EMPLOYMENT BY GRADUATES OF ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION TRADE OF TECHNICAL COLLEGES IN EBONYI STATE

The study aimed at determining the level of skills and job performance of graduates of electrical installation trade of technical colleges in Ebonyi State. The study was guided by two research questions that bordered on finding out practical skills acquired by graduates of technical colleges and the level of actual job performance. A descriptive research design was adopted. The population of the study consisted of 97 respondents comprising 67 technical college graduates of electrical installation trade and 30 work based supervisors in the state. Two sets of questionnaire were constructed based on practical work skills and job performance tasks within the clusters. Each of the questionnaire comprised of 30 items in the task skill areas of electrical installation. The data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The findings of` the study include among others that the graduates of electrical installation trade in technical colleges in Ebonyi State excellently acquired skills in domestic electrical installation. There was no significant difference between the mean responses of graduates and work based supervisors on graduates' job performance in electrical installation trade. Graduates also expressed moderate skills acquisition and job performance in certain aspects of electrical installation. It was recommended that the teachers should carry out a retraining for graduates that lacked skills and job performance in certain aspects of electrical installation trade work.