Entrepreneurship Training Programme in Universities and Graduates' Productivity in South-South Nigeria

Entrepreneurial training programme has to do with acquiring relevant skills in which an individual has to be sensitized, motivated and guided to achieve self-reliance and self employment. The paper examined the relevance of entrepreneurial training programme in the universities to graduates' productivity. Three null hypotheses were formulated. A sample size of 1200 graduates was randomly selected from the South-South Geo-Political Zone in Nigeria. The instrument used for the study was Entrepreneurial Training Programme in the Universities and Graduates Productivity Questionnaire (ETPUGPQ). The instrument was validated with the help of three experts in vocational education. The corrected version was subjected to the test of reliability using Cronbach Alpha, and the reliability co-efficient stood at 0.85 justifying the use of the instrument. The data obtained were analyzed using Multiple Linear Regression at 0.05 alpha levels. It was found that entrepreneurial training programme in the universities is significantly relevant to graduates' productivity. Therefore, it was concluded and recommended that the government and National University Commission (NUC) should make it compulsory for faculties offering professional courses to encourage students participation in practical works. Also it was recommended that Entrepreneurship Education curriculum should be developed to cater for the vast changing needs of the labour market.