HIGHER INSTITUTION COLLABORATION WITH COMPANIES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MIDDLE LEVEL MANPOWER SKILLS IN SOUTH-SOUTH, NIGERIA

In today's global economy, the development of human capacity is very crucial for national building. Skills acquisition in higher education institutions involves the development of new knowledge and practice through training and experiences. This study therefore, looked at higher institution collaboration with companies for the development of middle level manpower skills in South-South, Nigeria. This involves the participation of higher institutions in collaboration with companies using institutional research findings and knowledge for the improvement of human capital development. Three research questions and two hypotheses were posed to guide the study. This study adopted a descriptive survey design with a population 34 administrative heads (Deans of faculties) in the four federal universities in South-South, Nigeria. The federal universities include university of Port Harcourt, university of Benin, university of Calabar and university of Uyo. A sample size of 34 administrative heads (Deans of faculties) in the four federal universities in South-South, Nigeria were randomly drawn using purposive sampling technique which represents 100% of the population. This included 24 male and 10 female administrative heads. The instrument used was questionnaire tagged "University Participation in the Development of Middle Level Manpower Skills' Questionnaire (UPDMLMSQ)", developed by the researchers. The instrument was validated and the reliability index determined at 0.86 using test re-test method. Mean and rank order statistics were used to answer the research questions and t-test was used in testing the hypotheses of no significant difference at 0.05 significant level. The findings revealed among others that the skills needed by middle level manpower are not there due to poor collaboration with companies and higher institutions. The training given to the graduates by higher education institutions is not adequate to support their active involvement in the development of the companies. There is need for adequate training/development to improve the skills, innovation, creativity, resourcefulness, initiative and versatility/knowledge ability among graduates. Based on the findings, it was recommended that higher education institutions should adopt appropriate training modules that would improve the educational skills of graduates to become creative and resourceful workers.