MASSIFICATION OF STUDENTS’ INTAKE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF ADMINISTRATION IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA (Published)
This study investigated massification of students’ intake and effectiveness of administration in public secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State. An ex-post facto correlational design was used. Three research questions were formulated to guide the study and three Null hypotheses were tested. The population of the study consisted of all the 221 public secondary school principals in the state. The sample size of 57 principals (25 percent) with 171 teachers that is, 3 teachers rating one school principal was drawn for the study using cluster and the simple random sampling techniques on Local Education Committee bases. Data collection was done with the use of a researcher designed instrument tagged “Effectiveness of Secondary School Administration Questionnaire (EOSSAQ)” for teachers only. Cronbach Alpha statistics used to determine the reliability of the instrument gave a reliability coefficient of 0.76.The statistical technique used for both the research questions and Null hypotheses was simple linear regression at 0.05 alpha levels with 1 and 54 degree of freedom. Findings from the study, revealed no significant relationship between massification of students’ intake and effectiveness of school supervision, supply of school facilities and managing of school budgets. All the null hypotheses were retained. The study thus concluded that massification of students’ intake has no direct relationship on the effectiveness of secondary school administration. Based on this, it was recommended that administrators and all heads of schools should not panic whenever there is influx of students in their school enrolment. State Secondary Education Board should have some sort of incentives to use and encourage principals who manage their schools without much demand on the government for their ingenuity.
Keywords: Akwa Ibom State, Effectiveness Administration, Nigeria, Public Secondary Schools, Students’ Intake
PERCEIVED ADEQUACY OF BUSINESS STUDIES TEACHERS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF UPPER BASIC EDUCATION BUSINESS STUDIES CURRICULUM IN NIGERIA (Published)
The study surveys the adequacy of business studies teachers for the implementation of the upper basic education business studies curriculum in Ebonyi State. Two research questions and one null hypothesis tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. A four point structured questionnaire with a reliability coefficient of 0.81 was administered on the two hundred and forty-one(241) business studies teachers in Ebonyi State. Two hundred and twenty-eight (228) copies of the questionnaire were correctly filled and returned thereby stabilizing the sample at 228. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. It was found that the quantity and quality of business teachers is adequate. It was however recommended, among others, that in-service training and study leave opportunities should be given to business studies teachers since this will serve as a motivation that will increase the service delivery of teachers and also reduce their attrition
Keywords: Business Studies Curriculum, Business Studies Teachers, Nigeria, Upper Basic Education
ATTITUDE TOWARDS CARDIOPULMONARY RESUSCITATION AMONG SOME SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA (Published)
Just like any other aspect of health education and promotion, the attitude of the community to Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) will largely determine how they can benefit from it. This cross-sectional study aimed at assessing the attitude towards Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation among secondary school students in our community. The population for the study was the students in Senior Secondary School I and II in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria. Four hundred (400) students were purposively drawn from four secondary schools in the area and served copies of a validated questionnaire while 372 properly filled ones were returned, giving a response rate of 93%. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS17.0). The findings revealed that 98.8% exhibited positive attitude towards learning CPR among others. It was concluded that this can form a strong basis to introduce the teaching of CPR in their school curriculum so as to prepare them to be effective bystanders in situations of emergency needing CPR.
Keywords: CPR, Nigeria, attitude, secondary school students
EFFECTS OF PIAGETIAN FORMAL OPERATIONS ON MATHEMATICS PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR SECONDARY STUDENTS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA (Published)
Effect of formal operation abilities on mathematics performance of Senior Secondary Students (SSS) in Kaduna State, Nigeria was investigated. The population of the study was all the SSS III students in the state. Their number was 62,565. A sample of 400 students of equal numbers of males and females was drawn, from those offering arts and science subjects. Two paper and pencil tests were developed and used to generate data for analysis, namely, Formal Operations Test (FOT) and Mathematics Performance Test (MPT).The FOT was to assess students’ level of formal operations while the MPT was developed to test their performance in mathematics. The results of the study showed that mathematics performance was low. Second, the numbers of students who always use and those who never use formal operations abilities were about equal. Third, results in the FOT and MPT were significant and positively correlated. Fourth, there was significant difference between the MPT scores of those students who always use and those who never use the abilities in favour of the former. Implications deduced were that this study confirmed that not all SS students use the abilities always and some never use them. Results of the analysis also indicated that formal operations significantly affect students’ performance in mathematics. Those who always use the abilities performed better than those who never use them. This indicated that the widely experienced poor performance in mathematics, especially among senior secondary students, is partly as a result of students not always using formal operations abilities. Lastly, findings indicated that knowledge of students’ level of formal operations can be used to understand, predict and improve their performance in mathematics. It was recommended that teachers of mathematics should endeavour to diagnose and identify their students’ level of formal operations so that they help raise those students who sometimes use and those who never use the abilities to be using them always. It was also recommended that governments should be convening and sponsoring workshops that will evolve programs for accelerating students’ cognitive development for use by teachers in normal mathematics lessons
Keywords: Kaduna, Mathematics Performance, Nigeria, Piagetian, Senior Secondary Students
Teacher Education and Development in Nigeria: An Analysis of Reforms, Challenges and Prospects, 1859-1976 (Review Completed - Accepted)
Although teacher education, both pre-and in-service, programs are offered in Nigeria by different teacher education institutions (as provided in the National Policy on Education), and varying degrees of success recorded, various problems still confront the program with far reaching consequences in Nigeria’s educational system. This paper analyses the historical contexts of the teacher education reforms and development in Nigeria with emphasis on the roles of the Christian missions, the colonial administration and that of the Nigerian government after independence. It examines key recommendations of two commissions (Phelps Stokes and Ashby) and their implications to the reform and development of teacher education in Nigeria both during colonial era and after independence. The paper further discusses the influence of these and other reforms in shaping teacher education in Nigeria, the challenges still facing it, and finally suggests solutions to them
Keywords: Development, Education, Nigeria, Reforms, Teacher