Industry-Related Mathematics Skills Acquisition for Job Performance by Senior Secondary School Students in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

The industry-related mathematics skills acquisition for job performance by senior secondary school students in Anambra State, Nigeria was determined. Descriptive survey design was adopted. Three research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study was carried out in in the State. Sample comprised 2,495 senior secondary schools three (SS3) mathematics students drawn from a population of 42,002 in the state through stratified random sampling technique. The Industrial Mathematics Skills Acquisition Test (IMSAT) was used as instrument for data collection. The IMSAT was validated by three experts and Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 was used to establish its reliability which yielded a reliability index of 0.89. The IMSAT was administered to students from the sampled schools. The research questions were answered using aggregate score, mean and standard deviation while hypotheses were tested using t-test. Findings of the study indicated that: majority of the students irrespective of gender and school location had good acquisition of industry-related mathematics skills for job performance; there was no significant difference between male and female, urban and rural students on industry-related mathematics skills acquisition. It was concluded that in Anambra State senior secondary schools, students were sufficiently exposed to industry-related mathematics skills for gainful employment in industries. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that; mathematics teachers should continue to teach mathematics in such a way that the students’ good acquisition of industry-related mathematics skills will be sustained.