EFFECTS OF APPRENTICE’S COMMITMENT IN THE PRODUCTIVITY OF SELECTED SMES IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIA

Abstract

Apprenticeship training is the process of transmitting the skills of a trade to a young person in small and medium scale enterprises and which has operated for generations in many African countries. This study centers on the effects of apprentice’s commitment in the productivity of selected SMEs in South East Nigeria. The aim of the study was to examine the effect of apprentice’s commitment in the productivity of selected SMEs in South East Nigeria. The specific objectives were to ascertain the extent at which apprentices’ competency influence growth in the selected SMEs in South-east, Nigeria. Secondly to know how apprentices’ commitment affect productivity in the selected SMEs in South-east, Nigeria. Reliance was placed on primary and secondary sources of data. The primary sources relied on include: predictors of the independent variable as well as indicators of the dependent variable. The study adopted the correlational survey design. The population consisted of 7,061 SMEs comprising 93,206 apprentices in South-east Nigeria. A sample of 502 respondents was drawn from the population using Cochran sample size determination and Bowley's proportional allocation formula. Also, a structured questionnaire and interview guide which was determined through a 5- point Likert scale was used to design the instrument for data collection according to the study’s objectives. Content validity was used while the reliability of the instrument was determined using test-retest with an index of 0.91. The secondary data comprised published and unpublished data. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics for biographical data distribution, items of the dependent and independent variables and research questions while the inferential test of Simple regression was used for research questions 2, 4 and 5 and for assessing the goodness of fit of the study, squared regression coefficient (R2) and Beta weights (β) were adopted. P-value was used to determine the significance of the relationship, at a 5% level of significance. The study found that apprentice competency had a positive (r. (482) = .287. P <0.05) influence on growth. Apprentices’ commitment had positive(R) is .273; R2 is .075; F-ratio is 38.77; effect on productivity. P-value = .000; P-value ≤ 0.05). The study concluded that the effects of competence, commitment and experience were more important in the realization of the performance of SMEs in South- East. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that there should be more acquisition centers coupled with proper supervision strategy that would guarantee more autonomy to apprentices after some years of training