COMPETENCIES NEEDED BY STUDENTS OF TECHNICAL COLLEGES IN DOMESTIC AND INDUSTRIAL INSTALLATION

The study was undertaken to fulfill the need of the future and continuity of domestic and industrial installation in the society through adequate competency acquisition by technical college students that constitute the main source of workforce in electrical installation on successful graduation. It was pertinent to carry out this study since the National Business and Technical Examination (NBTE) showed consistent poor performance of students of electrical installation trade. The study focused on the competencies needed by technical college students of electrical installation trade. Two research questions guided the study. A survey research design was adopted. The instrument used was a 58 item questionnaire that elicited information from students on the needed competencies in domestic and industrial installation. The questionnaire was administered on the 170 final year students of electrical installation and retrieved by the researcher. The reliability of the instrument was determined by using Cronbach alpha which yielded 0.84. The data collected from the respondents were analyzed using a five point scale. The means and standard deviations were determined and any item that scored 3.50 and above were regarded as being needed by respondents. From the data analyzed, it was found that students require competencies in domestic and industrial installation. Many aspects including carrying out connections of single and poly phase distribution boards, explaining of working drawings and IEE regulations, installation of generators and electric motors, performing effective earthing and others were found to be needed by students.