Main Article Content
Abstract
Purpose. Youth unemployment and an ageing farming population remain persistent challenges in Nigeria. This study examined the impact of agricultural education on entrepreneurship skills among secondary school students in Eha-Amufu, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area, Enugu State.
Methodology. A descriptive survey was used. A multi-stage sample of 312 SS2 and SS3 Agricultural Science students from eight schools completed the 42-item Agricultural Education Entrepreneurship Skills Questionnaire (Cronbach’s alpha = .86). Means, t-tests and Pearson correlation were applied at the .05 level.
Findings. Agricultural education had a high impact on technical and production skills (grand mean = 3.21), a high impact on managerial and opportunity-recognition skills (3.08), and a moderately high impact on marketing, record-keeping and financial literacy (2.87). There was no significant gender difference, t(310) = 1.42, p = .156. Private-school students scored slightly higher than public-school students, t(310) = 2.87, p = .004. Practical and school-farm exposure correlated strongly with skill scores, r(310) = .64, p < .001.
Originality. The paper provides the first located local evidence on secondary Agricultural Science and agripreneurial skills in Eha-Amufu, a farming town that also hosts a federal college of education.
Research implications. Functional school farms, an explicit agribusiness module, teacher retraining in experiential pedagogy, and school–community enterprise linkages are required if the subject is to produce agripreneurs rather than examination content only.