THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING CO-OPERATIVE ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT

By

Author

Presented To

Department of Economics

Co-operative Economics and Management in tertiary institutions help to improve the co-operative growth and development, quality manpower in co-operative.

The importance of studying co-operative in schools and tertiary institutions could as well known as co-operative education and is at the heart of co-operative for work motivation, growth, development, commitments in co-operative because is said that once a co-operative is always a co-operative.

Despite these, many co-operatives have failed in their respective institutions or organizations because their members indispensitions to the cooperative education or without organizing the importance of cooperative education to members.  Cooperative education is an indisputable part of cooperative function.

Therefore, I now wish to research for the importance of studying Co-operative Economics and Management in tertiary institutions, the strategics and to suggest few solutions out off the million solutions to the failure of cooperative practices in the institutions or organizations.

I have chosen institute of management and technology (IMT) Enugu as my case study.

Furthermore, why education is necessary co-operative.  Through the one hundred and 40 years of co-operative history, eminent cooperators have always insisted on the importance of education to the cooperative movement.  Robert Owen emphasized, education for citizenship to achievement of a just and moral society.

Rochdale Pioneer followed in his footships.  They studied and held discussion for one year before founding their society.  In 1884 they amended their statute to provide that 21/2%  of their profit should be aside for educational purposes because human resources is very essential to cooperative movement.

0.1         INTRODUCTION

Prior to the establishment of institute of management and technology Enugu, there existed till 1967 a college of technology up to the ordinary diploma level.  An institution of administration which provide short in services training courses for civil servants of various grades and a cooperative college which offered a certificate course in cooperative studies to co-operative aspects from the ministry of industry, trade and cooperative.

These institutions were separated and separately located.  The college of technology was parts of the ministry of education and was controlled, directed by the ministry.

Similarly, the institution of administration was controlled by the ministry of establishment, while the cooperative college was directly under the ministry of rural development.

These institutions were staff by civil servants who were posted and re-posted from one department to another according to the need of civil service.

And after 1970, there came the need for higher institution of learning to upgrade the training in the technological and managerial field in which there were several need for manpower development.

The future graduates in the technology and management and their allied field would be more effective by functional training than the programme they offered by the college of technology and to institute of administrations.  To the founding father, their main aim was the maximization of management efficiency and of professional and technical expertise and the acquisition of the additional tool for these.

The close coupling of management and technology in the new objectives was needless and not fruitful.  The management and technology of today needs training, education, for effective and efficiency satisfaction and fulfillment of itself and role in the world in which applied science entrails more and more problems of both moral and ecological significance.