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Influence Of Availability And Adequacy Of Agricultural Science Teachers On The Performance Of Secondary School Student In Gombe State
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Education is
an essential ingredient for the development of any society and is seen
as a pathway to raising political, social awareness as well as upholding
the level of manpower (Onyara, 2013). According to Yara and Otieno
(2010), education is a fundamental human right. The pivot to sustainable
development, peace, and stability within and among countries is the
provision of quality education to their citizens (Oguntuase, Awe, &
Ajayi, 2013).
Teaching of agricultural science at the secondary
school requires a sound background in theory and practical aspects by
the teachers of agriculture. The new 6-3-3-4 system requires that
agriculture be taught as pre-the subject at the primary and junior
secondary schools and as a the subject in senior secondary school level
(National Policy on Education, 2004). The 6-3-3-4 educational system in
Nigeria includes six years of primary education, three years of junior
secondary (pre-the) education, three years of senior secondary education
and varying tertiary education period of not less than four years.
Although this system of education has remained fairly constant since it
became government policy, there have been some slight modifications in
government commitment towards the provision of basic education to
Nigerians. For instance, the scope of the Universal Basic Education
(UBE) programme has been extended to nine years, which includes six
years of primary education and three years in junior secondary school.
The delivery of the agriculture at the senior secondary level should not
be handled as a science per se but rather as a the subject for
acquisition of practical agricultural skills for meaningful living (Obi,
2005). Olaitan (1997) maintained that the basic goal of our National
Policy on Education is to make education both functional and
utilitarian. Ikeoji (1999) reported that the education is borne out of
the need for the system to make its products useful to themselves. The
Federal Ministry of Education (as cited by Obi, 2005) stated that the
objectives of agricultural education at the senior secondary should
include; To stimulate and sustain students interest in agriculture; To
enable students acquire useful knowledge and practical skills in
agriculture; To prepare students for further studies in agriculture; and
To prepare students for occupations in agriculture. Observation has
shown that as laudable as the objectives of agricultural and the
education in Nigeria are it may be impossible to achieve them due to
poor delivery process of the programme and inappropriate method of
evaluating the performance of students in the agriculture at the senior
secondary school (Ikeoji, 1997a, 1998). Martin and Odubiya (1991)
reported that the primary role of the agriculture teachers has always
been to help students to learn knowledge and skills in agriculture.
In
quest to determine the availability and adequacy of teachers in
secondary schools, Several researches have shown that many teachers of
agriculture at the secondary school leave the profession early in their
life (Myers, Dyer and Washburn, 2005;HeatCamp and Camp, 1990,1994).
Myers et al 2005; Camp, Broyles and Skelton, 2002; Mundt and Connors,
1999; and Veenman, (1984) have conducted studies on the problems of
beginning teachers of agriculture. These problems of beginning teachers
include classroom management and student discipline, balancing work and
personal life, managing stress, lack of preparation time at beginning of
school year, time management, and motivating students. Others were
dealing with individual differences, assessing students work,
relationships with parents, organization of class work, inadequate
teaching materials and supplies, and dealing with problems of individual
students (Myers, et al 2005; Mundt and Connors, 1999; Nicholas and
Mundt, 1996; Mundt, 1991; Heath-Camp and Camp, 1990; Barrick and
Doerfert, 1989; Veenman, 1984)
Many countries in Africa are paying
attention to invest in education from primary, secondary and tertiary
levels. However, the main challenge is poor academic performance of
students (Miller & Yodar, 2002). In Botswana, for example, the
government is offering free basic education to all the children
attending school.
In addition, the government supports education from
primary to secondary level. To achieve this, the Ministry of Education
receives a heavy share of the country’s budget (Matambo, 2013). Despite
all the efforts by the government on education, the students’ academic
performance has been declining lately from 2010 (Luke & Mavis,
2014).
Teacher availability and adequacy can compromise the quality
of education (Boyd & Barbarin, 2008).To identify the availability
and adequacy of teachers in the learning environment, the
student-teacher ratio (STR) need to be determined. STR will tell whether
an institution is having adequate teachers or not. The advantage of
having low STR is reducing the number of students to be handled by a
teacher in the classroom. This ensures the teacher’s attention to the
students and thus good academic performance. On the other hand, high STR
will mean that a teacher will have to handle a large number of the
students in the classroom at the same time. Students’ academic
performance is affected by the transfer of teachers from schools without
replacements leading to lack of enough teachers’ thus affecting
teacher-student ratio (Wanyama, 2013).
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]The study was carried out to determine the influence of availability and adequacy of agricultural science teachers on the performance of secondary school student in Gombe state, Nigeria. In order to achieve this objective, three specific objectives were raised which included: to identify the types of instructional materials available to be used to influence student’s academic performance in Agricultural science. In line with these objectives, three research questions were formulated and t ... Continue reading---
