"The Role of Education in Professional Skills Development in Quantity Surveying: Students’ Perspective on the Curriculum of Nigerian Tertiary Institutions"
Abstract
A synergistic relationship between education and professional skills is a necessary and fundamental requirement in quantity surveying. The curriculum content of higher institutions offering quantity surveying must therefore align with the skill set required by quantity surveyors. This research evaluates the effectiveness of the curriculum of quantity surveying in Nigerian tertiary institutions, the apathy of students towards the course, and their challenges. Using the survey research strategy, this study was carried out within institutions of higher learning offering quantity surveying in Rivers State, Imo, and Lagos. Archival data sets were collected, and questionnaires were distributed to quantitative surveying students within the study areas. The study outcome reveals that the current curriculum is insufficient for training students at the undergraduate level and does not impart the necessary skill set needed to embark on their professional careers as quantity surveyors. The study findings also reveal the reasons for the apathy and challenges faced by students offering quantity surveying in Nigerian tertiary institutions. These include poor orientation, methods of lecturing, a lack of student-lecturer relationships, the unwillingness of students to learn, and a lack of practical classes or regular site visits. The study findings also emphasized the students’ perspective on the need for or options in quantity surveying, incorporating information technology (IT), a specialty and a restructuring of the curriculum. A systematic review of the quantity surveying curriculum in institutions of higher learning is thus necessary to achieve educational and professional synergy in Nigeria. The Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standard (CCMAS) mandated by the National University Commission (NUC) is thus a Just-in-time response to the educational gaps existing in the current curriculum of quantity surveying programmes offered in Nigerian universities.
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