The Review of the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) in Four Selected Countries

Abstract

Recently, SIWES has attracted studies from scholars in higher educational systems in Nigeria due to the deficiency or lack of proficiency of many graduates, mostly in the natural sciences. This shows that the scheme has not been effective in ensuring impartation of practical knowledge on students. Consequently, many employers of labour view this challenge as one of the causes of unemployment, an obstacle to achieving corporate goals and a serious obstacle to national development. Although SIWES stakeholders have been primarily indicted for its dysfunction, most especially, the Government, and the management of tertiary institutions, but none of such studies have compared SIWES in developed countries with a developing society like Nigeria with the aim of identifying the missing gap that needs to be filled to ensure students proficiency at work after graduation. Being a descriptive article, the present study used data from secondary sources to analyze and synthesize SIWES in four purposefully selected countries. By synthesizing SIWES activities in these countries, the study identifies factors responsible for the dysfunction of SIWES in Nigeria. These include poor quality of education from the elementary school to higher educational systems; short duration apportioned to SIWES in the curriculum of tertiary institutions; insufficient industries and closure of some of the few existing ones due to unfavourable environmental factors; inadequate equipment / facilities in existing few industries for effective practical training and poor leadership of SIWES stakeholders. The study concluded that SIWES in Nigeria could improve if these flaws could be effectively addressed.