ASSESSMENT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPETENCY REQUIRED BY BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS IN MANAGING SMALL SCALE ENTERPRISES IN PORT HARCOURT METROPOLIS

ASSESSMENT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPETENCY REQUIRED BY BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENTS IN MANAGING SMALL SCALE ENTERPRISES IN PORT HARCOURT METROPOLIS

​​​​​​​BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Entrepreneurship is currently recognized as a crucial component of a country's modern economic growth. Its crucial function in national economies is now well recognised in the literature. Entrepreneurship is viewed as a driver for economic growth, employment, and wealth creation, according to experts in the industry (Ezeh, & Cecilia, 2015). Furthermore, Ekwue, Udemba, and Ojuro (2019) agreed and added that entrepreneurship is a significant driver of a contemporary nation's innovation, competitiveness, and economic power. They also underline the importance of business education in the development of entrepreneurial mindsets and abilities, particularly in the enhancement of entrepreneur competencies.

Many governments place a high value on business education on their agendas. Such governments rely on entrepreneurship development through business education as the primary source of economic wealth, growth, and development. It is a novel approach that emphasizes not only quality education but also the development of students' individual practical abilities and competencies. It is also defined as a revolutionary teaching style that fosters students' inventive spirit, talents, and attitudes, allowing them to choose a suitable vocation and become professional business creators after graduation. Ekwue, Udemba, and Ojuro (2019) came to a conclusion.

This expansion in business education is mirrored globally in the enhancement of entrepreneur capability. According to the European Commission (2008a), over half of Europe's postsecondary students have full access to business education to strengthen their creative capabilities in creating small businesses after graduation. In a similar trend, Abdulkadir (2016) highlights the course's quick growth in Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. According to the European Commission (2004a), as mentioned in Abdulkadir (2016), entrepreneurship is one of the main components that should be incorporated in existing educational systems to educate individuals for effective involvement in society. Indeed, the importance of business education in fostering entrepreneurship in the global economy is well acknowledged.

Certainly, business education is regarded as a challenging subject to study in the context of teaching and learning since it is dependent on the self-regulated activities and traits of individuals, which may be difficult to affect. Against this backdrop, there is still disagreement over whether we can teach students to be effective entrepreneurs (Abbo 2021). However, there is now widespread agreement, at least in the literature, that business education can be taught, and the argument has switched to what should be taught and how it should be taught (Ismail, 2011), as stated in (Abdulkadir 2016).

It is now widely accepted that the majority of business education research has concentrated on course content, pedagogical approaches, and audience characteristics. The success of business education may also be judged in terms of instructors' entrepreneurial abilities. However, the growth of business education is not as institutionalized as the development of education for conventional management courses. Educators with master's and doctoral degrees in entrepreneurship are extremely rare around the world. Furthermore, the uniqueness of the students' demands and the course objectives necessitates the use of distinct and specialized teaching abilities to match the two. One of the anticipated strategies for addressing and matching these fundamental education demands is to first undertake an assessment of entrepreneurial capabilities (African Pulse 2017).

According to a Malaysian study, teaching methods appear to be inadequate, and educators do not appear to have necessary skills, expertise, or training. There are several flaws and obstacles that entrepreneurship educators face (Ismail, 2010). In Nigeria, authors such as Salisu, (2021) and Ukairo, (2017) have criticized higher schools, specifically business education programs, for failing to adequately educate students and graduates for real-world situations and managing small size firms. According to Nwaokolo (2019), the increased unemployment rate among Business Education students in Nigeria, particularly in the Port Harcourt metropolis, is due to a lack of functional education that will train Nigeria's abundant human resources to be creative, innovative, entrepreneurial, and business opportunity seekers capable of transforming opportunities and material resources into long-term goods and services.

​​​​​​​STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Business education entails the formation of correct habits, attitudes, and abilities, as well as the acquisition of instruments for surviving unemployment. According to Agyapong (2016), despite the fact that Business Education programs prepare individuals for self-employment, Business Education students have yet to put these abilities to use in the formation and administration of small scale firms while still in school. In general, a lack of awareness of the basic entrepreneurial competence skills required to establish small scale firms has prevented most Business Education students from creating jobs for themselves, leading to a heavy reliance on their sponsors and, in some cases, involvement in vices.

Furthermore, several institutions, particularly the majority of universities in the Port Harcourt city, do not appear to have appropriate teachings and training to make their students entrepreneurially competent in operating small size firms. Emeasoba and Igwe (2016) observed that the majority of business educators employ teaching approaches that are more focused on theory than on practice and inquiry, making them inapplicable non today's information technology era. Inadequately educated staff to teach the skills, the admission of too many students to a single class, a bad maintenance culture, an electrical deficiency, and dishonest students and leaders are all inhibiting the maximum acquisition of skills at our institutions. As a result, students lack the comfort and environment required for optimal skill learning.

Finally, the researcher discovered that the curriculum structure does not appear to allow enough time for practical work, so business education students learn more theory than practical skill acquisition, resulting in the majority of Business Education Students in Port Harcourt metropolis lacking the entrepreneurial competency to manage small scale enterprises. The researcher also noticed that if business education students are effectively taught with suitable methodologies in schools, they should undoubtedly learn the requisite entrepreneurial competence abilities required for self-employment while still in school, indicating the need for this study.

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