This study appraised the perception of apprenticeship as a form of manpower development among youths in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Three research objectives, three research questions and three research hypotheses were formulated. The study made use of the descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted of youths in the 31 local governments of Akwa Ibom State. Sample of 400 respondents were selected. Apprenticeship Perception Questionnaire (APQ) was used for data collection. Four hundred copies of the questionnaire were administered while only 389 copies were retrieved and found useable. Data obtained were analysed descriptively using means and standard deviation and inferentially, using independent t-test and ANOVA. The results of the analysis revealed majority of the youth have negative perception of apprenticeship as a form of manpower development among youths in Akwa Ibom State. Also, the result reveals that there is no significant difference in the perception of apprenticeship between male and female. However, their perception was significantly different based on their academic qualifications. Therefore, to tackle the challenges of mass unemployment among youths in Nigeria, the youth mustbe re-orientated on the relevance of apprenticeship as a veritable tool for manpower development. Also, governments at all level should provide incentives that will encourage youths to be actively involved in apprenticeship
Apprenticeship, Youth development, Youths ’orientation
