AWARENESS OF QUANTITY SURVEYING PROFESSION AMONG UTME AND WASSCE ENROLEES IN BENIN CITY

ABSTRACT

The enrolment rate of UTME and WASSCE candidates by several coaching centres have continued to increase in order to prepare the candidates for major requirement for admission into their preferred disciplines. This therefore has raised concerns on the awareness of these candidates on the several professions in the tertiary institutions among which is the quantity surveying discipline. Hence, the study set out to determine the awareness level of UTME and WASSCE enrolees on the quantity surveying profession in the built environment by examining the level of awareness and identifying strategies for increasing awareness. A wellstructured questionnaire was used to elicit information from 135 respondents from three different coaching centres. Findings from 103 usable questionnaires shows low level of awareness from the respondents (2.11%) for quantity surveying profession. Based on the roles of quantity surveyors in the building industry, the candidates further showed little knowledge of quantity surveying profession. While “checking if a project makes financial sense” ranked first with MS=2.39, it was below 2.50 mid-point on the scale, hence, depicting low level of awareness. Utilization of social media forums to disseminate information about the profession ranked first with MS=4.76 while internships for prospective enrolees and partnering with the NIQS to conduct workshops ranked 6th with MS=3.67 on the list of strategies for increasing awareness. In conclusion, there is a lack of knowledge about the duties and responsibilities of quantity surveyors. The study recommends the adoption of identified strategies to improve awareness in order to increase the enrolment of candidates