DOI: 10.31038/PSYJ.2022445

Abstract

The general objective of this study were to assess factors which impact Student’s attitude towards Technical and Vocational Education and Training of Bedesa Town, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia. To this end, Descriptive survey research design was employed in carrying out this study. The target population for this study consisted of 175 students, 25 teachers and 1 Dean of TVET College and in total 201 in the selected TVET college of Bedesa town. 134 samples were taken from 201 targeted populations. 71 male and 63 female respondents were selected through using stratified random sampling technique. The required data were collected through questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data that have been collected through close ended questionnaires. The findings of the study revealed that 48.6% of the variation in the attitude of students towards TVET education can be explained by changes in Socioeconomic factors, parental influence, quality of technical and vocational education and training education and peer influence whereas 51.4% were unexplained variables that affect the attitude of students towards TVET education. The study therefore concludes that that ‘Socioeconomic factors, Parental influence, Quality of TVET education and Peer influence’ were the stronger predictor of attitude of students towards TVET education sequentially. It is recommended that government, head of TVET and TVET board members should arrange and provide a serious campaign on the importance of TVET in the development of the country, financial, material and human resources should be provided to strengthen and enhance the quality of education imparted at TVET institutions, guidance and counselling services should be strengthen in larger community to influence their children towards TVET education.

Keywords

Attitude, Factor, TVET, Vocational education

Introduction

One of the most important responsibilities in any education system is to train skilled and specialized staff of various sections of society. It can be done through learning areas such as technical education and employment and training. Technical education and vocational training play a vital role in the development of society. Technical and vocational skills are essential tools for economic development. Well educated and well trained people are essential to the acquisition, use, construction and dissemination of knowledge and skills that enhance productivity and economic growth. TVET are now increasingly important on the global and national policy agenda. UNESCO, for example, promotes TVET, claiming that technology education driven by market demand is very effective in improving employment and income for the disadvantaged. Therefore, all developing and developed countries place a high priority on this problem and strive to equip its producers with complementary science and technology in various fields such as agriculture, industry and services [1,2].

According to Ozioma (2011) believes, technical training and job training is to prepare students for specific skills, occupation, industry, agriculture, business to gain self-confidence and is generally linked to practical and manual skills and often excludes scientific skills. Billet (2011), Azeem and Omar (2019) also define TVET as a formal, informal and non formal study that provides young people with the necessary knowledge and skills in the world of work. As one of the developing countries in the world, with 33% of its population living on less than $ 1.25 a day, the Ethiopian Government (GoE) also needs the TVET program to participate in its active participation, in a global competitive market economy that requires technical and technical citizens who are trained in learning ability and get into a particular profession. Ethiopia’s TVET strategy proves that TVET programs seek to create capable and confident citizens to contribute to global economic development, thereby improving the quality of life of all Ethiopians and further reducing poverty [3-8].

The National TVET Qualification Framework (NTQF) also emphasizes the TVET program to be self-sufficient and self-sufficient, driven by demand and results-based, and appropriate to address the needs of Ethiopia’s sustainable economic development [9]. The level of skills and jobs of the country is critical to the transformation and productivity of its workforce. Skilled workers and professionals improve the quality and efficiency of production and maintenance and direct and train employees with minimal skills. This can be achieved by making crafts into education.

On the other hand, Ali (2013) in his study of determining the reluctance of female students to continue studying in vocational schools cited individual, family, economic, social, and cultural factors. Ozioma (2011) investigated whether the socioeconomic status of parents, gender and the lack of career counselors at school influenced students’ choice in terms of Technical and Vocational Education. Ohiwerei and Nwosu (2009) found that the country’s political and economic situation, high paying work and peer pressure were factors that influenced students’ attitudes towards Technical Education and Vocational Education. The result of equality in Technical and Vocational Education with general education, social status and content use are key factors in attracting students. This study will be fully utilized to understand the factors that influence students’ attitudes towards Technical Education and Vocational Education and to further develop policies to address this issue [10,11].

Statement of the Problem

Technical and vocational skills are essential tools for economic development. Well educated and well trained people are essential to the acquisition, use, construction and dissemination of knowledge and skills that enhance productivity and economic growth. Globally, governments and other stakeholders expect TVET to address a number of development and economic priorities, from poverty reduction, food security and social cohesion to economic growth and competitiveness. It also plays an important role in education programs around the world. In developed countries such as Australia, Germany, Great Britain, and South Korea, TVET is the key to economic prosperity and in developing countries TVET is seen as the key to economic independence [12,13].

Unemployment remains a very important issue that needs to be addressed, in many countries around the world including Ethiopia. In addition, it poses a significant challenge to economic development. TVET plays a key role in reducing unemployment, as its aim is to provide trained staff in the various fields covered, to provide technical knowledge and technical skills and competencies. However, the enrollment rate and graduation rate in technical and technical institutions will be lower day by day leading to a decline in well trained staff (ICBEM, 2015) According to the report many young people currently graduating from the official TVET programs are unemployed. Young people are interested in white collar work and feel embarrassed at work, related to working or working in factories. In Ethiopia, as in many African countries, TVET suffers from a negative public image. TVET is often associated with low employment, low wages and a lack of self-development opportunities, in part due to the low level of previous TVET programs that did not permit TVET graduates to successfully struggle in the labor market. TVET is seen as a place of counseling for those students who have failed to enter higher education [14].

To assess the attitudes of students and parents towards TVET education, various studies were conducted in Ethiopia and abroad. For example, a study by Tsehay (2014) shows that student’s attitude toward technical and skills education is not good. As the study states students were more interested in attending the preparatory program than in technical and vocational education. Nursiah et al. (2020) claimed that enrolment in Malaysia’s technical and vocational education and training programme has remained low since the implementation of TVET education. Similarly, in Nigeria, Akanbi (2017) announced that there was less than three per cent of overall enrolment in technical and vocational education programs as of 2016. In contrast to the above study, according to the (Esrael 2018) study, students perceive that TVET provides quality education; TVET training provides access to current resources and teacher skills. However, it was not clear to students whether TVET was enable technical and vocational students to pursue university studies over time. Choosing TVET is perceived as limiting one’s educational attainment, which in turn reduces lifetime upward mobility [15-18].

Even though efforts have been made by those researchers to identify the attitudes of students towards TVET education, as well as the enrolment rate in TVET education; it was limited to assessing student’s attitude towards TVET education. Therefore, the gap in both studies was that they did not take into account the factors that contributed to the negative attitudes of the students. Those studies focus on investigating the student’s status only in relation to TVET. Besides there is no any research conducted in the study area with the same topic. Therefore, in order to fill those research gaps, this study was assess and found out those factors that affect the student’s attitude towards TVET education in the town of Bedesa, Western Harerge Zone, Ethiopia.

Objectives of the Study

The general objective of this study were to assess factors which impact Student’s attitude towards Technical and Vocational Education and Training of Bedesa town. The specific objectives of the study were intended to:

1. Determine the impacts of quality of TVET education on the attitude of students towards TVET education.
2. Determine the impacts of parents influence on the attitude of students on the study of TVET education.
3. Determine the impacts of socioeconomic influence on the attitude of students towards TVET education.
4. Determine the impacts of peer influence on the attitude of students towards TVET education.

Literature Review

Factors that Affect Students Attitudes towards TVET

Various scholars such as Igbinedion and Ojeaga (2011) identified some of the major causes of low student participation in technical and vocational education including, among other things, the low social ratio of technical and vocational education such as basic education, basic education, to people of; low intelligent quotient, low achievement and sedation and lack of job awareness. Igbinedion and Ojeaga (2011) [19], explained that, some of the factors affecting student participation in TVE in Nigeria include; a negative public opinion; poor entry level; a negative attitude towards society; lack of recognition; discrimination against TVET graduates and elitism.

In addition, academics and various international organizations have reported similar issues affecting student participation in general education and technical education in particular. However, in Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia factors affecting student participation in TVET programs include: parental views on the costs / benefits of educating girls (this mainly affects low-income families in particular); ancestry (practices of separation of women and premature marriage); discriminatory practices in labor markets; TVET masculinity portrayed in textbooks, media and popular thinking; substandard facilities, including teacher provision, teacher quality and equipment; the nature of TVET activities that are not easily linked to child rearing and child care; lack of role models and career counseling aspects of community functioning within and outside the classroom; shortage of TVET female teachers and lack of role models; TVET gender bias curriculum; misconceptions made about male TVET teachers; peer pressure; first marriage; girls’ privacy; as well as location, physical properties and hours of instruction; direct costs; the need for women to care for their siblings, houses and farms. Factors affecting woman’s participation in vocational education programs according to Ayonmike (2010); Igbinedion and Ojeaga (2011) are negative perceptions in society, poor entry rates, invisibility and discrimination against graduates of technology education (TVE). Several researchers (see Azeem and Omar, 2019; Cheong and Lee, 2016; Dania et al., 2014) also contributed to the investigation of factors contributing to student participation in TVET and provided outstanding findings with critical views. Investigators have established issues related to student enrollment under TVET including job losses, discrimination against TVET graduates, dislike of the government for TVET, student dissatisfaction, lack of resources / infrastructure, and adequate job counseling [20-22].

Quality of TVET Educations

Quality can be described as standards of something as compared to other things that is the degree of Excellence. Good quality education is very necessary in the total development of the student, which ensures proper development, job prospects and the realization of academic goals and objectives. Quality technical and vocational education training refers to input and output of the program, the expressions of standard by which certain goals can be achieved. There are varied factors contributes for realization of quality of technical and vocational education in colleges. Some of them are qualified TVET teachers or trainers, and TVET infra structures.

Qualified TVET Trainers

One of the important principles used to define the quality of a TVET program is related to the preparation of adequately trained teachers and other professionals who shoulder the responsibility of preparing students with quality marketable skills for the dynamically changing world of work. According to this principle, quality TVET programs are distinguished by having a highly trained, experienced, technically competent, and enthusiastic staff including the coordinators, teachers, counselors, and all others who assist them in the instructional process [23]. TVET’s strategic documents acknowledge that the shortage of teachers / educators is one of the barriers to the expansion of TVET in Ethiopia. Due to the low profile of this work, the quality of TVET’s teaching dam is poor. The obstacle to the provision of TVET educators is particularly severe at the higher levels of TVET. Currently identifying and training TVET instructors is done through the following program. Students who complete TVET Level 4 and are tested have the opportunity to receive additional teaching training. After receiving this training, they are ready to teach TVET level 1 and 2. Such instructors are called C level instructors. After graduating as a Level C coach, a person can move on to specialized teacher training institutions for 3 to 4 years to become a B level trainer. The highest level of Teacher is A, and these teachers are ready to teach at any level. Clearly, exploring the issues here should be part of a comprehensive strategy to improve TVET education in Ethiopia [24].

The TVET program in Ethiopia is currently expanding rapidly. The government believes that low productivity is currently due to a skills gap, and that if left unchecked, the industry will provide less training than is fair to the public. Therefore, public vocational training is seen by the government as a means of closing the skills gap. Ethiopian government views community TVET as key to improving business productivity and increasing their competitiveness in the global market. Government involvement is more than just the provision of TVET. The Department of Education conducts moderate examinations at the end of primary school, and the scores on this test determine whether a student is continuing with preparatory school or being placed on a TVET track. This is a national test and determines what level of TVET a person can join. In this regard, the TVET program in Ethiopia is actually driven by mandate, even though the government recognizes the importance of ensuring that the program is flexible and responsive to the needs of the industry. In general highly competent, qualified, motivated, flexible and creative TVET teachers and instructors are the backbone of any TVET system, capable of adjusting to changing technological environments and creating conducive learning environments for different target groups.

TVET Infrastructure

Physical facilities are important for the proper functioning of training institutions. A functional as well as pleasant working environment may contribute a great deal to training. Thus, considerable thought should go into the planning and construction of physical facilities in order to create the appropriate environment. Among the important elements of these facilities are lecture rooms with good lighting and acoustics; classrooms designed for the particular function they will serve; small rooms for study groups and seminar work; space for individual work, e.g. study cubicle, best placed in library; well-organized library facilities conducive to individual research work and study; conference room; staff rooms; and of course, well-planned and equipped workshop facilities. The creation of appropriate physical facilities is not just a matter of providing the necessary funds and materials. They should be planned and designed by experienced specialized architects in conjunction with teacher educators in order to best serve the education process.

The goal of TVET is to improve practical skills for students, and acquiring the right building, design and maintenance skills requires efficient infrastructure and equipment to ensure effective, efficient and sustainable skills that can be employed by students. Conversely, the lack of such institutions can affect the enrollment of students in employment institutions. For example, the lack of infrastructure continued to affect the full potential of TVET in South Africa (Powell and Mcgrath, 2013), Nigeria (Ogbuanya, 2014), Bangladesh (Alam and Forhad, 2020), Chile (Rojas et al., 2019) and Kenya (Reuben et al., 2020). In addition, inadequate educational institutions, teaching and learning services, inconsistencies in curriculum compliance to meet business needs and a lack of industrial integration lead to lower enrollment. Therefore as we can understand from the above literature infrastructure of the technical and vocational education and training have impacts on students towards choosing TVET educations [25-29].

Socioeconomic Factors

As mentioned in another study in Papua New Guinea (PNG), integrated educational or TVET courses are required to be used or considered at the high school level. The students’ approach will improve further learning and training, as well as in the workplace and in improving their social life in Papua New Guinea. Communities and cultures can influence people’s choices and circumstances. In Nigeria, their people mostly choose a job because of their social status and status in their community and want to satisfy their friends and colleagues under the mines for their academic qualifications. People often view vocational and technical education as disabilities, school dropouts and undergraduate students. The issue of apprenticeships can be even worse in a country if there is a community that affects the community. The lower social groups have less confidence in TVET programs. This is because they themselves have always seen themselves at the lower level of social management, and therefore do not believe that TVET programs can help improve their job prospects than at a higher social level [30,31].

Parental Factor

The findings of the Ayub (2017) study indicate that parental influence is statistically significant and influences students’ decision regarding TVET choice. Bukantaite et al. (2006) investigated in their study that 77.9 percent of fourth-grade students responded that their desire to “learn anywhere” contributed to special choices. This figure can be explained by the fact that these students have failed to enter universities or colleges and have chosen vocational schools so that they do not spend a year. TVET students excel in their own decisions in education and especially strongly follow the decisions of their peers; this is because parents and their families have to fight for the resources needed to make the right educational decisions for their children. Most previous research has also found that parents’ attitudes toward technical and vocational education are strongly influenced by student choice. Most of the research findings have shown that student approach to TVET is influenced by their guardians. The majority of responding parents have a low level of economic, educational and social background [32-34].

A Peer Factor

In addition to parents, peers also influence student behavior in daily life as they are second only to parents in close association with students. In Ghana; another study found that generally no negative perception was attached to skills training as a separate occupation of student education. The results showed that concern for student program staff has a significant effect on enrollment, better communication with teaching high school colleagues and encouraging colleagues to interact with students in the area, could help increase enrollment. The study has stated, “Local institutions should emerge as friendly places with many opportunities to meet young people, and should also attend certain social events to help deal with change. To end the divisions of the elders, they may be tempted to make new friends.

Research Methods

Design

Descriptive survey research design was employed in carrying out this study to assess and understand the factors that affect the attitudes of students towards TVET education in Bedesa town because this method helps to describe the characteristics of objects, people, group or environment.

Population, Sample Size and Sampling Technique

The target population for this study consisted of 175 students, 25 teachers and 1 Dean of TVET College and in total 201 in the selected TVET college of Bedesa town. 134 samples were taken from 201 targeted populations. 71 male and 63 female respondents were selected through using stratified random sampling technique because firstly, there were different subdivisions in the targeted population which are important to be considered. Secondly, there were also variations in population sizes of different strata in this case (occupation, and sex). Moreover, the researcher used systematic random sampling to take the sample that has already been identified through stratification.

Instruments of Data Collection

A three-section questionnaire was used to collect relevant data. Section-I consisted of information about demographic data; section-II consisted of Factors affecting the attitude of students towards TVET education; section-III consisted of items focusing on attitude of students towards TVET education.

The tool was developed on five-point Likert scales ranging between strongly agree (5) to strongly disagree (1). It contains 20 items. Those items are divided into each construct of factors affecting the attitude of students towards TVET education in which for Quality of TVET education 5 items, for Parental influence 5 items, for Socioeconomic influence 6 items and 4 of them for Peer influence. The last instrument was the attitude of students towards TVET education, which consists of 10 items and it has five point likert scales from strongly agree to strongly disagree. A pilot study was conducted on 32 individuals (18 males and 14 females) who represented the population character but not the sample to check the reliability and validity of the items by using Cronbach Alpha and experts respectively. Accordingly, the researcher was able to decide the characteristics of the questionnaire that needed to be adjusted or remained or to be changed in some technical words or phrases that seemed to be technical for these respondents. The reliability of the questionnaire was, therefore calculated as 0.80, and 0.83 for the 2nd, and 3rd sections of the questionnaire which were highly reliable respectively. Therefore, it was safe to use them with a little modification. The validity was tested by expert and well-experienced teachers over the area. The questionnaire was administered on face to face basis so that the distributed questionnaires were collected from these respondents after they were completed filling them.

Data Analysis

For proper understanding and evaluating of the purpose of the research questions raised and to ultimately achieve the research objectives, different techniques of data analysis were employed. The researcher used descriptive statistics (percentages and frequency) to describe the characteristics of the respondents. Furthermore, inferential statistics (Multiple Regression) were used to show and determine the effects of influencing factors on the attitude of students towards TVET education. This result was statistically significant at α = 0.05 level.

Results

This chapter has two parts: the first part deals with the characteristics of the respondents; and the second part presents the analysis and interpretation of the main idea in the body. To this end, quantitative data were gathered through questionnaire. The data gathered through. Questionnaire was distributed to 134 respondents out of which 130 (97%) copies were returned back. The respective quantitative data were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Respondents Characteristics

Under these sub-topics, respondents’ characteristics by sex, age and level of education were critically described (Tables 1-4).

Table 1: Respondents’ Demographic Characteristics by Sex

Sex		Frequency	Percent
Valid	Male	68	52.3
	Female	62	47.7
	Total	130	100

As the Table 1 shows, the majorities (68, 52.3%) of the total sampled respondents were males whereas the rest (62, 47.7%) of them were females. From this, one can imply that there was no a big gap of sex disparities among respondents in these selected samples under the study.

Table 2: Respondents’ Demographic Characteristics by Age

Age in years		Frequency	Percent
Valid	15-20	34	26.1
	20-25	61	47
	25-30	35	26.9
	Above 30	–	–
	Total	130	100.0

As it can be seen from table 2, the majorities, 61 (47%) of the respondents were between 20-25 years old; 35 (26.9 %) of them were between 25-30 years old; 34 (26.1%) of them were found between 15-20 years old. This indicates that almost the sampled respondents were young peoples who can be the resources for any educational systems.

Table 3: Respondents’ Demographic Characteristics by Level of Education

Age in years		Frequency	Percent
Valid	TVET education	114	87.7
	First Degree	15	11.5
	Master’s Degree	1	0.8
	Total	130	100.0

As it can be seen from Table 3, the majorities (114, 87.7%) of the respondents were holder of TVET education; (11.5%) of them were first degree holders; (0.8%) of them were Master’s Degree holders.

Table 4: Respondents’ Demographic Characteristics by Occupation

Age in years		Frequency	Percent
Valid	Student	81	62.3
	Teacher	16	12.3
	Employee	18	13.9
	Unemployed	15	11.5
	Total	130	100.0

As it can be seen from Table 4, the majorities, 81 (62.3%) of the respondents were student; 18 (13.9 %) of them were employee; 16 (12.3%) of them were teachers and the rest 15 (11.5%) of them were unemployed.

Factors Affecting the Attitude of Students toward TVET Education

These parts of the data analyses were mainly dealing with those independent variables (quality of TVET education, parental influence, socioeconomic factors and peer influence) that have been contributing to affect the attitude of students on the study of TVET education under the study area. Therefore, the researcher tried to organize, present, analyze and interpret quantitative data that he collected through questionnaire as follows.

Impacts of Quality of TVET Education, Parental Influence, Socioeconomic Factors and Peer Influence on the Attitude of Students on the Study of TVET Education

To determine the impact, regression analysis were conducted. A multiple-linear regression model of the form Y= β0+β1X1+β2X2+β3X3 + β4X4 was used to determine the effect of the independent variables on dependent variable. In this model β0 was a constant, while β1, β2, β3 and β4 are regression coefficients and X1, X2, X3 and X4 are quality of TVET education, parental influence, socioeconomic factors and peer influence respectively. The results of the model are shown in Table 5.

Table 5: Multiple Regression Model Summary (ni = 130, p <0.05)

Model Summaryb
Model	R	R Square	Adjusted R Square	Std. Error of the Estimate
1	697a	.486	.525	4.289
aPredictors: (Constant), Socioeconomic factors, Parental influence, Quality of TVET education and Peer influence
bDependent Variable: Attitude of student towards TVET education

The R square value of .486 shown in the above Table 5 indicates that 48.6% (R²*100%) of the variation in the attitude of students towards TVET education can be explained by changes in Socioeconomic factors, Parental influence, Quality of TVET education and Peer influence whereas 51.4% (1- R²)*100% were unexplained variables that affect the attitude of students towards TVET education.

As it is indicated in Table 6, the independent variable ‘socio economic factors’ has the strong impact (β=.137) on the dependent variable ‘Attitude of students towards TVET education’, and this is statistically significant (the column ‘Sig.’ indicates that the level of significance, at 0.002); the independent variable ‘parental influence’ has strong impact (β=.135) on the dependent variable ‘Attitude of students towards TVET education’ and this is statistically significant (the column ‘Sig.’ indicates that the level of significance, at 0.003); the independent variable ‘Quality of TVET education’ has a positive predictive power (β=.063) on the dependent variable ‘Attitude of students towards TVET education’, and this is statistically significant (the column ‘Sig.’ indicates that the level of significance, at 0.007); the independent variable ‘peer influence’ has positive impact (β=.050) on the dependent variable ‘Attitude of students towards TVET education’, and this is statistically significant (the column ‘Sig.’ indicates that the level of significance, at 0.000).

Table 6: Multiple Regression Coefficients

Model 1	USC		SC	t	Sig.
	B	SE	Beta
(Constant)	22.006	2.618		8.405	.000
Socioeconomic factor	.144	.056	.137	2.533	.002
Parental influence	.143	.057	.135	2.509	.003
Quality of TVET education	.069	.059	.063	2.175	.007
Peer influence	.067	.072	.050	4.928	.000
a. Dependent Variable: Attitude of student towards TVET education

Even-though all independent variables have a statistically significant impact on the dependent variable, the beta weighting of the independent variable ‘socio economic factors’ (β=.137) is much higher than that of the independent variable ‘parental influence’ (β=.135) on the dependent variable ‘Attitude of students towards TVET education’; the beta weighting of the independent variable ‘parental influence’ (β=.135) is much higher than that of the independent variable ‘Quality of TVET education’ (β=.063) on the dependent variable ‘Attitude of students towards TVET education’; and the beta weighting of the independent variable ‘Quality of TVET education’ (β=.063) is much higher than that of the independent variable ‘peer influence’ (β=.050) on the dependent variable ‘Attitude of students towards TVET education’, this means that ‘Socioeconomic factors, Parental influence, Quality of TVET education and Peer influence’ are a stronger predictor of ‘Attitude of students towards TVET education sequentially.

Discussion of Findings

This section of the study presents the discussions of findings regarding Factors Affecting the Attitude of Students towards TVET Education in Bedesa Town, Western Harerge Zone, Oromia Regional State. The findings were discussed as follows:

Impacts of Socioeconomic Factor

The findings of this study reveal that socioeconomic factors have strong impact on the attitude of students towards TVET education. Socioeconomic status of their parents in their community was highly affecting the attitude of students in choosing technical and vocational education as a field for their future career. In line with this findings Chris (2016), noted that students with rich families have certain physical and sociological needs which then contribute positively to their education choice. Gemechu [35] identified that family’s socioeconomic status in one way or another affects students’ academic choice at any level of education. Moreover, the findings of Ayub (2017) confirmed that socioeconomic status of family have significant impact on student’s attitude towards Technical and Vocational Education and training. Furthermore, Awang et al. (2011) and Ozioma (2011) asserted that students have perception that Technical and Vocational education is for students from poor socioeconomic background. Mills and Lavender (2011) find out that parents place of living impact on their children for selection of TVET as a career. Therefore, it was identified that people mostly choose a course because of their socioeconomic status and their status in their community.

Impacts of Parental Influence

Parental influence was found to have statistically significant positive effect on the attitude of students towards technical and vocational education and training. This implies that if the attitude of parents towards TVET education is positive and good, the better the students can be enrolled in the TVET education and vice versa. Student’s decisions in education are highly influenced by their parents and especially strongly follow the decisions of their family while choosing where to join and what to learn. This indicates that most students have no or less chance to make the right educational decisions for themselves. This findings are supported by what Bukantaite et al. (2006) investigated in their study that 77.9 percent of students responded that their desire to “learn anywhere” is made by the family of students. Mills and Lavender asserted that most of the research findings have shown that student approach to TVET is influenced by their guardians. Otula [36] also supported by stating that families involvement determines the emotional and material input that further determined the motivation level in students towards education choice.

Impacts of Quality of TVET Education

Quality of TVET education was found to have a statistically significant positive impact on the attitude of students towards TVET education. This imply that poor quality TVET education lower the choice of students. Lack of adequately trained vocational teachers, technically incompetent staff, lack of infrastructure, poor Instructional materials and hours of instruction, at technical and vocational education and training colleges highly affects the attitudes of students towards choosing TVET courses.

In line with these finding, many researchers supported the results. For example, the lack of infrastructure continued to affect the full enrollment of TVET students in South Africa (Powell and Mcgrath, 2013), Nigeria (Ogbuanya, 2014), Bangladesh (Alam and Forhad, 2020), Chile (Rojas et al., 2019) and Kenya (Reuben et al., 2020). Moreover, inadequate teaching and learning services, inconsistencies in curriculum compliance to meet market needs and a lack of industrial integration lead to lower enrollment to technical and vocational education (Nursiah et al., 2020). Therefore, it was identified that quality of TVET education have impacts on student’s attitude towards choosing TVET educations.

Impacts of Peer Influence

Peer influence was found to have a statistically significant impact on the attitude of students towards TVET education. The data analyses showed us that In addition to parents, peers also influence student attitudes in the choice of TVET education. In support of this finding, Indoshi et al. [37] investigated that peers influence has most impact for selection of subjects. Some students select that subjects which their friends chose. Some peer group belongs to any social class who share same values so peers group influence to their peer in the choice of vocational education. In Ghana, another study found that generally no negative perception was attached to Technical and vocational training as a separate occupation of student education, but the results showed that concern for student program choice has a significant effect on technical and vocational school enrollment. Therefore, better communication with teaching high school colleagues and encouraging colleagues to interact with students in the area could help to increase the enrollment rate of students in to TVET education.

Conclusion

Based on the results of the current study, the following conclusions were drawn. First, it was indicated that there were no high sex disparities among respondents in the study area. The majority of the respondents were below 25 years, which suggests that most of the respondents were young adults who have great opportunities for further technical and vocational educational attainment for the future generations of the country. On the other hand, the results of the study revealed that 48.6% of the variation in the attitude of students towards TVET education can be explained by changes in Socioeconomic factors, parental influence, quality of technical and vocational education and training education and peer influence whereas 51.4% were unexplained variables that affect the attitude of students towards TVET education.

Even-though all independent variables (Socioeconomic factors, Parental influence, Quality of TVET education and Peer influence) have a statistically significant impact on the dependent variable, the impact of socioeconomic factors is much higher than that of parental influence on the attitude of students towards TVET education’; the independent variable ‘parental influence’ is much higher than that of the ‘Quality of TVET education on the attitude of students towards TVET education’; and the independent variable ‘Quality of TVET education’ is much higher than that of the independent variable ‘peer influence’ on the attitude of students towards TVET education’, The study therefore concludes that that ‘Socioeconomic factors, Parental influence, Quality of TVET education and Peer influence’ were the stronger predictor of Attitude of students towards TVET education sequentially.

Recommendations

Based on the major findings of the study and conclusions drawn, the following recommendations are forwarded:

1. The government, Head of TVET and TVET board members should arrange and provide a serious and consistence campaign on the importance of TVET in the development of the country.
2. Governments, communities and NGOs at local levels should provide financial, material and human resources to strengthen and enhance the quality of education imparted at TVET institutions.
3. Guidance and counselling services should be strengthen in larger community in general and for parents in particular on the importance of TVET to influence their children towards Technical and vocational education and training.

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