HIGHER EDUCATION IN NIGERIA AS CORRELATES OF YOUTH PREPARATION FOR SMALL SCALE BUSINESS (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Higher institutions in Nigeria have been saddled with the main responsibility of training both youths and the nation?s professional personnel such as managers, scientists, engineers and technicians who participate in the development, adaptation and diffusion of innovations in the country. The development of higher education in the country is correlated with economic development. However, matching the quality of the products of institutions of higher learning in the country at present with the country?s higher educational laudable goals simply reveals that the Nigerian nation has not yet found her path on what was planned for it through higher education in terms of preparing the youths for small scale business. It is against this background that this study examines the extent to which higher education in Nigeria has really succeeded in preparing youths for small scale business and the world of work.
Higher education, as defined by National Policy on Education (2013) is the education given after secondary education in Universities, Colleges of education, Polytechnics, Monotechnics, including those institutions offering correspondence courses. The goals of tertiary education in Nigeria as spelt out by the policy are: to contribute to national development through high level relevant manpower training; to develop and inculcate proper values for the survival of the individual and society; to develop the intellectual capability of individuals to understand and appreciate their local and external environment; to acquire both physical and intellectual skills which will enable individuals to be self-reliant and useful members of the society; to promote and encourage scholarship and community service; to forge and cement national unity; and to promote national and international understanding and interaction.
On the other hand, Schumpeter (1994) defines small scale business as the ability to perceive and undertake business opportunities, taking advantage of scarce resource utilization. In simplest form, small scale business is the willingness and the ability to seek out investment opportunities and to run an enterprise for profit. In this later sense, small scale business takes premium over capital. It is equally more fundamental than capital because capital formation is the result of entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurs are therefore regarded as central figures in economic development. Their contributions run through labour actions, movement of capital goods and conversion of raw materials into finished products, and ultimately, effectual distribution of the products to final consumers.
