Policy Initiatives for Enhancing Apprenticeship Training Programmes for Sustainable Skill Acquisition in Cross River State b

Abstract

The study focused on policy initiatives for enhancing traditional apprenticeship training programmes for sustainable skill acquisition in Cross River State. Three research questions were asked and three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The survey research design was adopted for the study. The target population was 2,545 comprising 2,000 Apprenticeship Trainees and 545Registered Master Craftsmen from the five Local Government Areas involved in the study. Sample size was 390 randomly selected using multi stage sampling technique. A well-structured PIEATP questionnaire developed from guided focused group discussion was face-validated by three experts and used for data collection. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach Alpha method and a coefficient of 0.73 was obtained. Five research assistants helped to distribute and retrieve the copies of the questionnaire through personal contact at 98% return rate. With the help of Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS), descriptive statistics were employed to answer the research questions while Independent sample t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at a probability level of 0.05. The findings of the study revealed no functional policies to regulate apprenticeship training programmes for sustainable skills acquisition in Cross River State as the trainings are not systematically and formally carried out by the master craftsmen. The study advocated functional policies to regulate the standard of trainee admission, training content and procedures, evaluation and certification of trainees upon graduation.