Determination of School Public Relations Activities for Improving Students’ Enrolment in Technical Education Programmes in Colleges of Education in Delta State

Sylvester Osazee Omorodion; Ogochukwu Tabugbo Ibeneme; Oluwalowo Idowu Ayodele

Sylvester Osazee Omorodion Metalwork technology department, Federal College of Education (Technical) Asaba Delta State, Nigeria
Ogochukwu Tabugbo Ibeneme Technology and Vocational Education Department, Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria
Oluwalowo Idowu Ayodele Department of Woodwork Technology, School of Secondary Education (Technical), Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, Delta State, Nigeria

Keywords: technical education, public relations, colleges of education

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine public relations activities for improving students’ enrolment in technical education programmes in Colleges of Education in Delta State. One research question and a null hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. A descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. An 18-item questionnaire structured on a five-point rating scale was used to collect data for the study. The instrument was face validated by three experts and a reliability coefficient of 0.80 was obtained with Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient method. The population of this study was all 41 technical education educators made up of Dean, Head of departments (HODs), technical education lecturers/instructors, technologists, and technicians in the School of Secondary Education (Technical), Federal College of Education (Technical) Asaba, Delta State. The population for this study was manageable; hence, there were no sampling and sampling techniques in this study. The entire population was used as a sample in the study. Mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research question, while t-test statistics was used to test the hypothesis at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings of this study revealed among others the public relation activities practised by the School of Secondary Education (Technical), Federal College of Education (Technical) Asaba, Delta State technical such as; having open talk-show with basic school pupils, creating awareness of technical education to the community organizations and visiting religious and social gathering to create public awareness on the need for technical education. Consequently, it was recommended among others that Considering that schools of secondary education(technical) in colleges of education are at the forefront of areas where public relations are most intense and the responsibility of public relations is in all stakeholders, pieces of training and seminars should be given to technical education educators (dean, heads of departments, lecturers/instructors and lab technicians).