INVESTIGATION INTO THE CONSEQUENCES OF OFFICE TECHNOLOGIES IN SECRETARIAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM IN NIGERIA POLYTECHNICS

Abstract

This study was on investigation into the consequences of office technologies in secretarial education curriculum in Nigeria Polytechnics. Five objectives were raised. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and four null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff from different polytechnics in Enugu state was selected randomly. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up heads of department, secretaries, senior lecturers and junior lectures were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

As life is becoming more dynamic, more complex in educational, socio-cultural, industrial and commercial developments due to the increasing technological advancements, the secretarial profession is not left in the loaves and the jobs of secretaries appear at first sight among those threatened.  This is because new machines, are threatening to take over the jobs performed by secretaries thereby making them face job hazard of redundancy, retirement and retrenchments and mass unemployment.

Presently, Nigeria is undergoing technological revolutions just like any other developing country of the world.  This technological advancement has actually revolutionized most office activities and procedures.  Until recently, the study of secretarial educations program in our polytechnics especially in Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu was based mainly on shorthand, typewriting and office practice.  But the activities had greatly changed since supervision of the polytechnics by the NBTE. The task and activities these categories of workers in most offices and business circles have also increased tremendously because of the high office responsibilities expected of the secretary to now handle with little or no supervisions,  the scope of the course they now cover before qualification, has also greatly increased. They now have to be trained and educated in too many courses and have to acquire more technical skills to be able to handle and manipulate the very modern office automated machines now inherent in most business offices. This will make them to be marketable and employable. Secretarial profession now has to battle with the skills of handling the electric typewriters, scanners, word processors, the facsimile (Fax) machines, the computer etc.  Will enable her meet up with the increasing demand of collecting, processing, storing and disseminating information as and when urgently required unlike the era of manual typewriters and filing cabinets that waste time. It should be noted that these automatic high-technological machines cannot do everything or operate themselves without human aid, thus making the needs and quests for the professionals in the secretarial field necessary. The most current and implicating question in the minds of the present day secretarial studies educators and curriculum planners is what to do in order to keep pace with the new technological changes in secretarial office automated equipment. This is because the more knowledgeable the secretaries are in the use of this office automated equipment, the better prepared our country will be to develop technologically. Hence in the opinion of Kanu (1987), there must be positive attitude towards continuous up-dating of knowledge for everyone, especially the secretaries, if this age of technological advancement is to be acquired and improved advancement and inter-personnel skills developed.

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The incessant changes and advancements in office automation have given rise to an urgent and constant training of the employees who handle and operated these new machines.  It should be realized that most of these new high technological equipment like the computers, which stole into the business offices throughout the world unnoticed are very expensive to acquire and maintain and no organization would like these all cost effective equipment to lie idle, waste or become obsolete within a short period simply because there is no capable hands or professional to handle them.  Therefore, these technological changes therefore represent a very demanding implication on the secretarial education curriculum. Since a lot of office work is based on the basic knowledge of keyboarding and clerical skills, it becomes apparent that if secretarial education curriculum in out polytechnics is not reviewed, revisited and updated from time to time, to adequately take care of these technological changes, the products turned out with this curriculum might not be able to face challenges they are bound to meet when they are finally employed.