Technical Skills for Enhancing Self-Employment in Brazing Among Mechanical Engineering Craft-Practice Students in Technical Colleges in Rivers State

The study ascertained the extent to which students were exposed to technical skills during training to enhance self-employment in brazing among mechanical engineering craft-practice students in technical colleges in Rivers State. Five research questions raised and corresponding five null hypotheses formulated guided the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population comprised seven trainers and three workshop attendants in four government approved Government Technical Colleges in Rivers State that offered Mechanical Engineering Craft Practice. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection; it was validated by two research experts. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and t-test statistics. From the findings of the study, it was revealed that students were, to a high extent, exposed to all the listed items on good fit and proper clearance. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among other things, that the government should encourage students of mechanical engineering craft-practice who have acquired brazing skills to go into small-scale businesses after graduation, as this will enhance self-employment in Rivers State.