Higher Institution Students' Access to Information and Communications Technology in Nigeria: Management Imperatives for Labour Market Preparations

Abstract

This study explored higher institution students' access to information and communications technology (ICT) and their labour market preparations in Cross River State of Nigeria. This survey designed study had three hypotheses which guided the investigation. With the use of stratified random sampling technique, 450 students were drawn from students' population in the three higher institutions studied. Data collection was carried out using Students' Access to ICT Inventory (SAII) and Students' Labour Market Preparation Questionnaire (SLMPQ). Population t-test (test of one sample mean), Independent t-test, One way Analysis of Variance and its associated Fisher's LSD Multiple Comparison Test were used to statistically analyze data collected for this study. Results obtained revealed that higher institution students' access to ICT tools is significantly low; higher institution students who have access to ICT tools had better preparations for labour market than their counterparts who have not and there is significant influence of higher institution students' level of access to ICT on their labour market preparation. It was therefore recommended that higher institutions in Cross River State should diversify their curriculum to reflect labour market expectations.

Key words: Higher institution, students' access, information and communications technology, labour market, preparations, management.