PERCEPTION AND AWARENESS OF HIV/AIDS AMONG WOMEN FARMERS IN EBONYI STATE NIGERIA: NEED FOR COUNSELLING AND VOLUNTARY TESTING (Published)
Perception and level of awareness of HIV/AIDs among women farmers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria was studied. The study employed purposive and multi-stage random sampling techniques in the selection of 120 rural women farmers. Primary data were collected using a well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. These were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The result of data analysis showed that majority 38.33 percent of the women farmers fall within age bracket of 26-35 years; their farming experience ranged 5-10 years with 36.67 percent; while their farm size ranged between 1.1-1.5 hectares. Majority 60.82 percent of the women were married and completed primary education with 38.33 percent. Majority 41.67 percent of the farmers live with between 4-6 persons in their household and earned between N80, 000-N100, 000 per annum. About 66.66 percent of the women belonged to 3-4 social organizations. Major sources of information on HIV/AIDs prevention to the rural women were: Ebonyi State Ministry of Health (2.90), religious institutions (3.12), social organizations (2.84), radio (3.67) and Ebonyi State Action Committee on Aids (EBOSACA) (3.66) among others Further analysis indicates that majority 100 percent of the respondents’ perceived that an HIV victim can live long on a special type of drug and hygienic condition (100 percent), HIV/AIDs is a viral disease (91.67 percent) while 85 percent perceived that HIV/AIDs exist and has no cure. All the women in the study area had knowledge of measures of HIV prevention such as total abstinence from sex, having one sex partner and screening of blood before transfusion. Majority 81.67 and 76.67 percent of the respondents were willing to be tested and would recommend it to their friends and family members. It was concluded that though the general level of awareness about HIV/AIDs was high, the perceptions of the respondents were faulty in some cases because of some misconception about causes and therapy to the disease. Necessary recommendations such as intensified awareness creation by the NGOs and concerned agencies, provision of infrastructures as well as education of farmers were made among others.
Keywords: Ebonyi State, HIV/AIDS, Nigeria, Perception, Voluntary Counseling and Testing, Women Farmers, awareness
SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTION ON SOME DETERMINANTS OF STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN SOCIAL STUDIES (Published)
The focus of this study was on secondary school teachers’ perception on some determinants of students’performance in Social studies. Three research questions and two null hypotheses were formulated by the researchers that guided the study. The design of this study was descriptive survey research design aimed at eliciting information from the respondents on factors that determine students performance in secondary schools and the population of the study comprised 115 secondary school teachers teach Social studies in Abakaliki education zone. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire and data were analzed using mean and standard deviation for all reseach questions and t-test statistical tool was used for testing the null hypotheses. The findings of the study revealed that government related factors, teachers’ related factors and students’ factors are some determinants of students’ performance in Social studies. The researchers reommended based on the findings that only competent and qualified Social studies teachers should be employ to teach the subject in secondary schools
Keywords: Perception, Secondary School Teachers’, Social Studies, Students performance
EFFECTS OF EDUCATIONAL SUPERVISION ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: PERCEPTION OF PUBLIC BASIC SCHOOL TEACHERS AT WINNEBA, GHANA (Published)
Educational supervision is very vital in the professional development of teachers. The study therefore aims at investigating the perception of public basic school teachers at Winneba, Ghana, on educational supervision in relation to their professional development. In all, 106 teachers of the public basic schools in Winneba who had spent at least a year at their respective schools were randomly selected and used for the study. The questionnaire was used to collect the data. One key finding from the study is that generally, majority of the teachers perceived educational supervision as having a positive impact on their professional development in terms of developing experience; curriculum, teaching methods and materials; classroom management; characteristics of pupils; and assessment. They also perceive educational supervision as helping to identify the needs of teachers and accordingly, plans professional development activities. Another finding is that educational supervisors highlight the strengths of teachers’ performance and encourage them to reflect on their challenges through which solutions are found to overcome them. More so, there is no significant difference in the views of male and female teachers of public basic schools at Winneba, in terms of developing their experiences, classroom management, characteristics of the pupils they teach, and assessment techniques. However, there is a significant difference in their responses in terms of curriculum, teaching methods and materials. The study, therefore, recommends that frequent and effective professional development activities should be organized by educational supervisors to enable teachers identify and develop their strengths, and address their weaknesses. Also, educational supervisors should not be interested in finding faults of teachers but more importantly, dialogue with teachers to identify their strengths and weaknesses in order to improve on their professional knowledge, skills and experiences.
Keywords: Perception, Professional Development, Teachers, basic schools, educational supervision, public