EFFECTIVENESS OF TIE-AND-DYE TRAINING IN ENHANCING TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES AND ENTREPRENEURIAL READINESS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN MAKURDI, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a structured tie-and-dye entrepreneurship training programme in enhancing the technical competencies and entrepreneurial readiness of undergraduate students. The study was motivated by the need to equip university students with practical textile production and enterprise development competencies required for self-employment and sustainable participation in the creative economy. A one-group pretest–posttest quasi-experimental design was adopted. The study was conducted at Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi, Nigeria, involving 30 purposively selected undergraduate students drawn from a population of 340 students. Data were collected using the researcher-developed Tie-and-Dye Knowledge Assessment Questionnaire (TDKAQ), which had a Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient of 0.82. Descriptive statistics comprising mean and mean gain were used to answer the research questions. The findings revealed substantial improvements in participants' competencies in basic tie-and-dye production procedures, fabric preparation and folding techniques, dye preparation and colour application, tie-and-dye product construction, and product quality evaluation and creative design. The post-training assessment also showed that participants demonstrated a high level of entrepreneurial readiness, particularly in costing, pricing, branding, marketing, customer identification, and business planning. The study concludes that structured, competency-based tie-and-dye entrepreneurship training is an effective approach for developing technical competencies and entrepreneurial readiness among undergraduate students. It is recommended that universities integrate structured textile entrepreneurship training into undergraduate entrepreneurship programmes to promote graduate employability, enterprise creation, and sustainable development within the textile and creative industries.