.

The study evaluated the effect of Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES)
on the academic performance of students with a view to determining the desirability of the scheme.
Towards this end, the study adopted quantitative research techniques and pre and post-hoc study
design. Required data were obtained from primary and secondary sources. Primary data were obtained
through questionnaires administered on two hundred and fifty-five (255) students randomly chosen
from list of registered students across participating departments in selected public higher institutions
in southwestern Nigeria. Secondary data were extracted from the academic records of the students to
complement the information obtained from the primary source. Data obtained were subjected to
student’s t-test, correlation and regression analyses, using Statistical Package for Social Science
SPSS 21. The academic performance of the students prior to the exercise was compared with their
academic performance after the exercise. The result showed that the mean grade point average (GPA)
of 3.5846 for the students after the scheme is significantly greater than the mean grade point average
(GPA) of 2.9214 for the students before the scheme at 95% confidence level (ρ = .0000 < .05). Hence,
there is a significant improvement in the academic performance of the students after the exercise at
95% confidence level. The result further revealed that there is a high positive correlation (r = 0.770)
between the performances of the students in the exercise and their academic performances. The
paper concluded that the scheme is desirable.

Keywords: Training, academic performance, theoretical and practical skills