Abstract:
This study was carried out to identify job entry level competencies in pig production needed by secondary school students in Ebonyi state. Five research questions were developed and answered in line with the purpose of the study. Five null hypotheses were formulated and tested at the probability of 0.05 level of significance. A structural questionnaire was developed from the related literature reviewed for the study. The questionnaire was faced-validated by five experts. The questionnaire was tested for reliability using Cronbach Alpha method and the result showed a coefficient of 0.89. Copies of the questionnaire were administered on 372 respondents to obtain data and 365 were returned. The data were analysed using the weighted mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and t-test statistics to test the null hypotheses. The findings of the study showed that five areas of pig production listed below with their corresponding entry-level competencies were needed by secondary school students of agricultural science for entering into pig production occupation after graduation. They are: Section 1: pig breeding management with 32 competencies Section 2: pig housing management with 35 competencies Section 3: pig health management with 12 competencies. Section 4: feeding of pigs with 34 competencies Section 5: marketing of pigs with 9 competencies The result of the null hypotheses tested revealed that there were no significant difference in the mean ratings of the groups of respondents on the five pig production sections with their 122 corresponding entry level competencies needed by secondary school students of Agricultural science in Ebonyi state for entry into pig production occupation after graduation. It was recommended that 122 corresponding entry level competencies identified by the study should be integrated into the curriculum of secondary school agricultural science by the National Curriculum for Senior Secondary Schools and ensure its implementation by WAEC and NECO.
