Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (siwes) as a quality assurance tool: perceptions of the students in department of library and information science, Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria

• Author Details:   
• Elijah Ojowu ODE

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The main aim of this study was to investigate the general perceptions of the students of Library and Information Science Department, Benue State University, Makurdi about the Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES). SIWES is a very crucial aspect in the professional development of would be Librarians. It provides an opportunity for would be Librarians to demonstrate practically the theoretical knowledge acquired during lectures. SIWES as quality assurance in librarianship is significant to the overall attainment of quality Librarians .It is a requirement for graduation and therefore, much attention is given to its implementation and execution. But despite the time and financial commitment invested into the programme, quality assurance appears to be an elusive dream. Against this background, the paper examined SIWES programme in the context of the students’ perception about the programme in relation to its relevance, duration, compulsory nature, problems encountered and possible suggestions for its improvement. One hundred and eighty five (185) students were sampled from the population for the study. Five research questions were stated to guide the study and the instrument for data collection was questionnaire. The outcome of findings showed that SIWES progromme helps the students to develop basic professional skills and it is beneficial to their overall educational development and should be sustained.

Keywords: Perception, Quality assurance tool, SIWES, Professional Skills, Librarianship