Emerging Technology Competencies Needed by Motor Vehicle Mechanics in Braking and Suspension Systems Maintenance for Establishing Automobile Enterprises

Abstract

The study was designed to determine the emerging technology competencies needed by motor vehicle mechanics in braking and suspension systems for establishing automobile enterprises Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. A descriptive research design was used for the study. The study was carried out in FCT, Abuja Nigeria. A total of 854 respondents comprising of 810 motor vehicle mechanic master craft men drawn through the use of a proportional stratified random sampling technique and 44 automobile industrial technicians was used as a total population for the study. Braking and Suspension Systems Emerging Technology Competencies Questionnaire (BSETCQ) developed by the researcher and validated by three experts was used for the data collected for the study. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was 0.85 through Cronbach Alpha statistics. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS Version 23) was used for the data analysis. Mean and standard deviation were the statistical instrument for answering research questions while z-test statistics was used to analyzed the null hypotheses formulated for the study at .05 level of significant. The findings of the study revealed among others that all the identified emerging technology competencies in the study were highly needed by motor vehicle mechanics in braking and suspension systems for establishing automobile enterprises. Based on the findings it was recommended that: The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) charged with the responsibility of organizing training and refresher programmes for motor vehicle mechanics should in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity incorporate the identified emerging technology competencies needed by motor vehicle mechanics in their training programmes as this will expose them to new innovations in modern automobiles and thus boost their performances in the area of undertaking the repairs and maintenance of modern vehicle in their enterprises. Since most motor vehicle mechanics are products or graduates technical collages in Nigeria, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) should integrate the all emerging technology competencies needed by motor vehicle mechanics identified in the study into curriculum of motor vehicle mechanics work programme as this measure will go a long way to encourage and strengthened the students’ interest towards establishing automobile enterprises upon graduation.