OPERATIONAL APPROACHES FOR SUSTAINING VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION AMIDST COVID-19 AND ECONOMIC RECESSION IN NIGER-DELTA, NIGERIA

The study investigated operational approaches for sustaining vocational and technical education (VTE) amidst Covid-19 and economic recession in Niger-Delta Nigeria. Specifically, the study was carried out in Edo-Delta States. The population and sample of the study was 425 respondents comprising 338 VTE lecturers and 87 frontline health workers from seven public medical facilities actively involved in Covid-19 treatment in the States. Instrument for the study was structured into three sections in line with the three research questions that guided the study. The instrument was face and content-validated by five experts which include three Professors in VTE from Nnamdi Azikiwe University and two Senior Health workers in Anambra State. The reliability of the instrument was varied out using Cronbach Alpha reliability which yielded a coefficient index of 0.862. Out of the 425 copies of the questionnaire administered, 413 copies were completely filled and returned representing 97.2% return rate. Data for the study were analysed using mean for answering the research questions while and t-test statistics were employed for testing the three hypotheses. The study identified 10 underline factors that could exacerbate the impact of Covid-19 and economic recession on VTE, 11 operational approaches for enhancing preparedness of VTE and 8 operational approaches for enhancing distance learning in VTE in the midst of Covid-19 and economic recession in Niger-Delta, Nigeria. The study recommended among others that improved provision of electronic resources for online teaching and learning and strict compliance of teachers and students in Nigerian schools to lay down Covid-19 prevention protocols.