THE ROLE OF APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0       Introduction

Apprenticeship training appears to be a perfect educational solution providing a clear way into the labour market. Its heavy emphasis on on-the-job training makes it a potentially attractive option for individuals who are not inclined toward the classroom and lecture hall-based instruction of higher institutions of learning. It is concerned with learning a specific skill under the tutelage of a master that gives no financial reward to the apprentice within the period the training lasts. Apprenticeship training and entrepreneurship development are the focus of this work. This first chapter is divided into the following sections; background of the study, statement of the problem, objective of the study, research questions, research hypothesis, scope and delimitation of the study, significance of the study, justification of the study, and operational definition of terms.

1.1       Background of the Study

The vast contributions of apprenticeship to jobs and skills have long been appreciated by nations eager to foster growth and make access to work for youths easier from their full-time education. Study shows that France and England have around 5% of youths between 16 and 24 years in apprenticeship and have made concerted efforts to expand the capacity (Cilpepper & Thelen, 2010). However, in recent times, positions offered by employers are inadequate to meet the huge demand from youths or to have much effect on the unemployment levels in these countries – the unemployment rate is presently about 20% for 15-24 year olds in both countries and even more in other European countries without apprenticeship trainings or provision (Steedman, 2011)

Although, one can observe a positive relationship existing between apprenticeship and low levels of youth unemployment, it would also be wrong to view apprenticeship majorly as a ‘cure’ for high levels of youth unemployment. Apprenticeship is basically about skill development and trainings to the benefit of companies, their employees and the larger economy. Apprenticeship can accommodate a vast range of abilities, skills and aptitudes because it properly reflects the equally vast range of skills essential to the growth of a modern economy (Bosch & Charest, 2010). However, it is not a sustaining solution to enhance the transition of youths into the labour market with poor academic achievements or other demerits. Apprenticeship implies any system an employer undertakes by contract to employ the services of a young person and to train them or have them trained systematically in a specific trade area for a period fixed in advance, with the only condition being that of the apprentice being bound to work in the employer’s service (Steedman & Ryan, 2010). This training process has led to the development of the bulk of the artisan. Systematic long-term training for a recognized occupation taking place substantially within an undertaking or under an independent craftsman should be governed by a written contract of apprenticeship and be subject to established standards. Apprenticeship training is taken to denote training programmes that combine vocational education with work-based learning for an intermediate occupational skill (i.e., more than routine job training), and that are subject to externally imposed training standards, particularly for their workplace component (Steedman, 2011).

Apprenticeship in the informal economy is a vast concept, incorporating into G20 nations. So as to pass on skills starting with one age then onto the next, poor social orders have created informal apprenticeship frameworks that are absolutely workplace-based. A youthful understudy learns by a method for perception and impersonation from an accomplished ace craftsperson, procures the skills of the exchange and is drafted into the way of life and networks of the business (Streeck, 2012). Apprenticeship understandings are for the most part oral, yet they are installed in the general public’s traditions, standards and conventions. Nations in medieval Europe created solid apprenticeship frameworks controlled by specialties affiliations, the organizations (Streeck, 2012). Today, informal apprenticeship is a broad training framework in nations with substantial informal economies everywhere throughout the world including Nigeria. Varieties regarding rehearses are wide, yet the essential element continues as before: the training assention between a youthful student and an accomplished craftsperson to transmit the skills of an exchange. A large portion of the students turns into the typical endless supply of training. There has been a lot of questions in the execution of a few craftsmen in Nigeria. Regardless of the system’s quality of giving skills significant to Artisans, informal apprenticeship has various shortcomings. Long working hours, dangerous working conditions, low or no stipends or wages, next to zero social assurance if there should arise an occurrence of sickness or mishap, and solid sexual orientation awkward nature are among the negative  effects regularly found in an apprenticeship which is accepted to have a critical impact on the execution of the craftsmen.

From one viewpoint, updating informal apprenticeship is viewed as essential to address these shortcomings. Then again, contrasted with putting resources into growing formal specialized instruction and training, it is a financially savvy approach to put resources into a nation’s skills base and upgrade employability of youth, since training is coordinated into the generation procedure.

1.2       Statement of the Problem

The economic state of Nigeria in the mid-1980s barely made numerous young people confident as they were viewed as ineffectively arranged for the universe of work. Considering the number of youths that are prone to the perils of vices and illicit related indecencies, the federal government of Nigeria set up the NDE so as to outfit adolescents with legitimate skills and offices to live without anyone else. This, the NDE does by structuring the NOAS. In a perfect circumstance, NOAS program ought to give the jobless adolescents who couldn’t travel into auxiliary and higher schools with fundamental skills that are required in the economy. The program is accomplished by appending them as students to proficient specialists or ladies and furthermore gives them hardware to begin their own organizations to keep the alumni from returning to joblessness (Adam, S., 2013).

Apprenticeship training and orientation give off an impression of being an ideal instructive arrangement giving an unmistakable breathing space into the work advertise. Its substantial accentuation on hands-on training makes it a possibly appealing choice for people who have not slanted toward the classroom and address hall based guidance of higher organizations of learning. It is worried about learning a particular skill under the tutelage of an ace that gives no money related reward to the student inside the period the training endures. It is a wellspring of work, methods for being utilized and an approach to effectively take part in economically advantageous endeavors particularly in the informal segment of the economy (AAT, 2014)). The informal part of the economy is altogether described with small scale organizations in spite of the way that miniaturized scale organizations are without preview definitions. In particular, the National Policy on smaller scale, little and medium enterprises (MSMEs) (2012) characterizes a miniaturized scale enterprise as a business association utilizing under 10 people and having absolute resources not surpassing N5 million, barring area and structures. Real players in the miniaturized scale enterprises part, as per the National Policy on MSMEs, include: discount and retail exchange, producing, vehicle fix/overhauling, transport, lodgings and eateries and building and development; and are likewise for the most part informal, family possessed organizations with low yield esteem and low dimensions of skills and innovation and also might not approach conventional business credits (Federal Employment Agency, 2012).