EXPLORING LEADERSHIP ORIENTATION TOWARDS INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS, INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIPS, AND ACQUISITIONS OF EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS OF POLYTECHNIC GRADUATES IN OROMIA REGIONAL STATE, ETHIOPIA

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore leadership orientation to towards institutional factors, TVET-industry partnership, and acquisitions of employability skills of TVET graduates. Case study design of qualitative research method was used to achieve this objective. For the study, 4 polytechnic colleges of Oromia region were purposively selected. From the sample polytechnic colleges and industries, a total of 24 sample respondents were selected. Out of 24 respondents 11 respondents were selected using snowball sampling method and the rest 13 respondents were selected using purposive sampling technique from the four polytechnic colleges and industries in Oromia. The qualitative data were collected through an in-depth interview and document analysis. The data were analyzed using thematic approaches. The findings revealed that the leadership orientations of TVET leaders towards institutional factors, TVET-industry partnership, and acquisitions of employability skills of the TVET graduates and practice to secure the advantages of employing the four-frame leadership model simultaneously were found weak. Shortage of improved training equipment’s and machines in polytechnic colleges, absence of trainee health insurance policy, lack of incentive's mechanisms for private industries, lack of employer industries involvement in designing and developing occupational standards, and preparation of curriculum were some of the impediments of TVET-industry partnership. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the leadership orientation towards institutional factors of their colleges, the TVET-industry partnership relation, and acquisitions of employability skills of TVET graduates needs improvement. Hence, the forwarded research implications of the study include Oromia regional TVET bureau needs to intensively work on the consistent leadership capacity development of the TVET College leaders included in this study and others in similar contexts. Lack of awareness among the stakeholders implies that, the Oromia TVET bureau in collaboration with other relevant concerned regional authority and TVET colleges need to set the new strategies of creating strong awareness for industries, companies and other relevant stakeholders on the purpose and advantages of implementing successful TVET-industry partnership. Finally, Oromia regional government in collaboration with the TVET bureau needs to create a policy supported incentive's strategies such as giving occasional privileges of duty-free import, tax reduction, and regional government recognition awards based on the level of partnership contribution to TVET institutions with respect to promoting TVET industry partnership