ENTREPRENEURIAL COMPETENCIES REQUIRED BY TECHNICAL COLLEGE REFRIGERATION AND AIR – CONDITIONING GRADUATES FOR ESTABLISHING SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES IN FEDERAL
ABSTRACT
This study was designed to identify the Entrepreneurial Competencies Required by Technical College Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Graduates in the area of Technical, General Personal Attributes, Financial, Marketing and Managerial Competencies for establishing small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Federal Capital Territory. The study sought answers to five research questions and tested five null hypotheses. The population of the study consisted of 97 comprising teachers/instructors of refrigeration and air – conditioning for one Technical College, one Vocational Centre in Federal Capital Territory and craftsmen/technicians of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. No sampling was carried out since the population was of manageable size. The instrument was validated by three experts and Cronbach Alpha Reliability Coefficient was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument. The instrument yielded a reliability Coefficient of 0.96. Mean statistic and Standard Deviation were used to answer the five research questions while the five null hypotheses were tested using t – test at 0.05 level of Significance. The major findings of the study were that: Technical College Refrigeration and Air – Conditioning Graduates Required twenty technical competencies, seventeen general personal attributes competencies, eleven financial competencies, twelve marketing competencies and twenty one managerial competencies for establishing Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Federal Capital Territory. It was recommended that the identified competencies should be in cooperated into the curriculum of Technical Colleges. It was also recommended r that Federal Ministry of Education, States, Government Agencies and administrators of Technical Colleges should supply instructional materials/equipment and organize Seminar, workshop and in-service training for teachers/instructors of refrigeration and air – conditioning so as to enable them effectively teach the required competencies to students.