EXTENT OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CARPENTRY AND JOINERY TRADE CURRICULUM IN SOUTH EASTHERN TECHNICAL COLLEGES

Abstract

This study examined the extent of   community participation in the implementation of 
carpentry and joinery trade curriculum in South   Eastern technical colleges. The study 
was guided by five research questions and five null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of 
significance. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population 
comprised 105 respondents, made up of 19 principals and 86 carpentry and joinery 
trade teachers in public technical colleges in Anambra and Enugu States, and the 
entire population was studied without sampling due to its manageable size. Data were 
collected using a structured questionnaire titled "Community Participation in the 
Implementation of Carpentry and Joinery Curriculum Questionnaire (CPICJC)," 
which was validated by three experts from the Department of Educational 
Foundations, Faculty of Education, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The 
reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach's. Alpha method, which 
yielded reliability coefficients ranging from 0.73 to 0.86 across the five clusters of the 
instrument. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, 
while t-test was used to test the corresponding hypotheses at 0.05 level of 
significance. Findings revealed that communities participated to a moderate extent in 
funding, procuring instructional materials, and providing security measures, to a 
moderate extent but building infrastructural facilities and employing instructional 
personnel for the implementation of carpentry and joinery trade curriculum to a low 
extent. The results also indicated that principals and teachers did not differ 
significantly in their mean ratings across all five areas of community participation 
examined. The study concluded that communities participate in the implementation 
of carpentry and joinery trade curriculum to a moderate extent, with notable gaps in 
infrastructural development and personnel employment. It was recommended 
amongst others that State Government and Technical College administrators should 
establish structured community engagement frameworks that clearly define specific 
roles and responsibilities for communities in infrastructural development and 
employment of instructional personnel.