1.1 Introduction
Higher institution through entrepreneurial education should be able to produce job creating and self-reliant graduates and not job seeking graduate so as to give alternative to being employed by government or private firms (Eugene et al., 2013). Entrepreneurship education has been applied in various forms and scopes in different countries thereby bringing about variant of definitions. Entrepreneurship training is necessary in order to develop expertise as an entrepreneur, identify business opportunities and exploit. The impact of globalization on the education system is overwhelming as it has greatly affected not only the curriculum of but also the instructional process including the entire system. The youths of today must brace up for the challenges of adult life. The essence of entrepreneurial education has long been to equip the students with functional knowledge and skill to build up their character, attitude and vision towards starting and managing their businesses during and after graduation from tertiary institution.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitation of the study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Entrepreneurship is now widely accepted as a field of study as it now provides students with motivation, knowledge and skills, which are essential in launching a successful company. However the extent of entrepreneurship education and training in each country is different depending on its unique cultural context and it has been noted that the prevailing culture within an economy or country can impact the level or rate of acceptance of entrepreneurship. Therefore while other entrepreneurship programmes across different countries may have a common focus in terms of new business and creations and also the development of a business plan; there may be differences in emphasis depending upon the particular need of the participants, the country or the resources available.
Entrepreneurship has been emphasized in many countries as a way of boosting economic growth and job opportunities. As entrepreneurship is becoming popular around the world, its education should be customised according to each country’s cultural context. Entrepreneurship has long been considered a significant factor for socio-economic growth and development due to the fact that it provides job opportunities, offers varieties of consumer goods and services and generally increases national prosperity and competitiveness in the country. In recent years, a wave of interest in entrepreneurship has touched almost every country in the world because of increasing global competition based on agility, creativity and innovation. The increased interest in entrepreneurship can also be attributed to the changing structure of the western economy, the trend to downsize large companies, changing business patterns, and developing market economies in Eastern Europe and china.
However, at the core of entrepreneurship lies the creation of new business ventures by individuals. Entrepreneurship in Nigeria is the lifeblood of the economy. It is the cradle of job and wealth creation in the most innovative ways. A small business unit is thus an enterprise, its owner, an entrepreneur, and his activities, are the entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is a human activity development. It indicates to the spirit of enterprise such as spirit transforms the man from a nomad to cattle rarer, to a settled agriculturist, to a trader, and an industrialist.
An entrepreneur is a person, while entrepreneurship is the process of its actual working. It is also equated with establishment and management of small business firms. The role played by entrepreneurship in the development of western countries has made the people of developing countries very much conscious of its importance in the programme of rapid economic development. People have begun to realize that for achieving the goal of development it is necessary to increase both the quantitative and qualitative entrepreneurship in the country. The qualitative entrepreneurship implies the stress on innovating and the quantitative implies the stress on imitating entrepreneurship. Both of them contribute stimulus for development. It is also known that even though a country has resources − labour, technology, capital and raw material etc, but these remain under-explored in the absence of the active and enthusiastic entrepreneurs, who have the ability to organize the various factors of productions.
Akpomi, M, (2009) capturing the spirit and contextual demand of this paper, defines an entrepreneur as one who starts an enterprise; the one who puts new forms of industry on his feet; the one who shoulders the risks and uncertainty of using economic resources in a new way and the one with the right motivation, energy and ability to build something by his or her efforts.
Falkang and Alberti (2000) define entrepreneurship education as the process of developing entrepreneurial spirit through the development and application of relevant and entrepreneur-based educational curriculum. More importantly, it involves giving the recipient of education the understanding and capacity or the unique orientation, behaviour, skills and attribute to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.
The role of small scale industries has been emphasized from time to time, keeping in view the overall plan objectives of the economic growth coupled with social justice. The small sector has distinct advantage of low investment with high potential for employment generation. It is also brings out dispersal of industries in rural and semi-urban areas with definite advantage of equitable distribution of national income. This sector has been identified in all the National development plans of Nigeria.
The inclination for entrepreneurial behaviour is not the exclusive preserve of an individual. Different individuals have different capabilities for acquiring and applying entrepreneurial behaviours, skills and abilities. These behaviours and skills can be learned, developed and practiced through the instrumentality of education, hence entrepreneurship education.
Entrepreneurship education will develop and sharpen the potentials and skills of the individual necessary for him to operate as an independent mind and infuse into him the spirit of enterprise in this era in which the recipe for rapid economic development is found in creating the enabling environment for private sector-driven economy to thrive.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Role of Tertiary Institutions in Promoting Entrepreneurship Education in Nigeria.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that according to some studies, education is one of the critical factors that distinguish entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs. The school and the educational system play a vital role in predicting and developing entrepreneurial traits. The schools curricula should focus on the anatomy and independence, innovation and creativity as well as risk taking, the pedagogical approach should encourage students to make decisions and accept mistakes as part of the learning process.
The ability to predict entrepreneurial traits draws our attention to the significant role of entrepreneurship training and development including the mentorship and the grooming process in pre and early adulthood. Based on the point that home − education from parents has significant importance on the individuals life, entrepreneurial parents can be included in the educational category. Also, many organisations allocate a great deal of resources to educate their members through external as well as internal education opportunities. Therefore, previous work experience can be included in the category of education in broad sense.
A growing body of academic research has examined the effectiveness of entrepreneurship training and support initiatives, with recent studies focusing on the provision of training and other skills development opportunities. An important theme that has emerged from this work is the failure of many programmes and initiatives to take on board the cultural, social, and educational background of the entrepreneurs in developing training and support systems.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to examine the Role of Tertiary Institutions in Promoting Entrepreneurship Education in Nigeria. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To ascertain the rate of entrepreneurship Education in Nigeria institutions, student attitude to entrepreneurship and measures put in place to promote its teaching;
- To examine the influence of entrepreneurship education on student’s business interest in tertiary institutions in Nigeria;
- To determine the roles played by institutions in promoting entrepreneurship; and
- To find out the extent of institutional support on students entrepreneurial intention in tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- To what extent of institutional support on students entrepreneurial intention in tertiary institutions in Nigeria?
- What is the influence of entrepreneurship education on student’s business interest in tertiary institutions in Nigeria?
- What are the roles played by institutions in promoting entrepreneurship?
- What is the rate of entrepreneurship Education in Nigeria institutions, student attitude to entrepreneurship and measures put in place to promote its teaching?
1.6 Research Hypothesis
In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.
Hypothesis One
- H0: There is no significant influence between student entrepreneurial intention and business venturing in tertiary institution in Nigeria.
- H1: There is significant influence between student entrepreneurial intention and business venturing in tertiary institution in Nigeria.
Hypothesis Two
- H0: Institutions have a positive effect on the students’ attitude towards entrepreneurship in the economy
- H1: Institutions have a negative effect on the students’ attitude towards entrepreneurship in the economy
1.7 Significance of Study
This topic has been taken into consideration to know the role of tertiary institution in promoting entrepreneurship education in Nigeria. This is due to the fact that entrepreneurship has created job opportunities, contributed to the growth and development of the economy as a whole. The beauty is in the fact that the research work will be able to compensate earlier production on the topic and provide a background upon which further studies could be built in the future.
This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.8 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Role of Tertiary Institutions in Promoting Entrepreneurship Education in Nigeria.
1.9 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.10 Definition of Terms
Entrepreneurship: Is a human activity development. it can also be said as the activities of an entrepreneur.
Enterprise: A small business unit. An organized business activity aimed specifically at growth and profit.
