Author/Authors :
Zafarullah Khan, M. NWFP Agricultural University - Department of Agricultural Extension Education Communication, Pakistan , Nawab, Khalid NWFP Agricultural University - Department of Agricultural Extension Education Communication, Pakistan , Javid Ullah NWFP Agricultural University - Department of Food Science Technology, Pakistan , Ahmad, Sajjad NWFP Agricultural University - Department of Entomology, Pakistan , Habib, Mubashir NWFP Agricultural University - Department of Agricultural Extension Education Communication, Pakistan , Pervaiz, Urooba NWFP Agricultural University - Department of Agricultural Extension Education Communication, Pakistan , Ayesha Khan NWFP Agricultural University - Department of Agricultural Extension Education Communication, Pakistan , Saleem Khan, M. Islamia College University - Department of Botany, Pakistan , Ahmad, Iftikhar NWFP Agricultural University - Department of Agricultural Extension Education Communication, Pakistan , Mahfooz, Saeed University of Peshawar - Department of Computer Science, Pakistan , Manan, Abdul University of Peshawar - Faculty of Law, Pakistan
Abstract :
Agriculture officers (AOs) who are competent in computer skills can play an important role in the development of agriculture. This study was conducted in NWFP (Pakistan) on the assessment of professional competencies of AOs in the area of computer skill in January 2007. Data were collected from all (111) AOs of NWFP through a mailed questionnaire. The study was carried out to examine existing levels of professional competencies of AOs and to assess the required level of professional competencies needed by AOs in computer skills. Both the possessed and required level of competencies were scaled from one to five on Likert scale, as 1 was very low and 5 was very high. It was found that younger AOs (25-36 years old) had higher computer skills than older AOs, on the average AOs with farming background had higher professional competencies than AOs with non-farming background except in computer skills in which case AOs with non-farming background had slightly higher self-perceived computer skills; AOs from urban areas had higher competencies in computer skills. It was found that AOs with personal experience in farming had higher professional competencies than AOs with no experience in farming except in computer skills in which case AOs without farming experience had higher competency than AOs with farming experience. Average professional competency was lowest in case of AOs with no experience in farming. AOs with the farming experience of 1-5 years had the higher professional competency, while those having the experience of 36-40 years had the lowest competency in the area of computer skills. The study revealed that there is a numerical difference between the level possesed and the level required regarding the professional competencies of computer skills. Further studies should be carried out for the confirmation of the results and strategies should be formulated to bridge the gap between the required and possessed level of professional competencies in computer skills
Keywords :
Professional competency , Agriculture Officers , Assessment , computer skills
