AVAILABILITY AND ADEQUACY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE TEACHERS AND INFLUENCE ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN GOMBE STATE

AVAILABILITY AND ADEQUACY OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE TEACHERS AND INFLUENCE ON STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN GOMBE STATE

​​​​​​Background of the study

Education is a necessary component for the growth of any civilization and is viewed as a means of increasing political and social awareness as well as maintaining manpower levels. Education, according to Yara and Otieno (2010), is a fundamental human right. The provision of quality education to individuals is the key to long-term prosperity, peace, and stability within and between countries. According to Ajibade (2019), teaching agricultural science in secondary school necessitates a strong theoretical and practical foundation for agriculture instructors. Agriculture must be taught as a pre-the subject in elementary and junior secondary schools, and as a the subject in senior high school, according to the new 6-3-3-4 system. In Nigeria, the 6-3-3-4 educational system consists of six years of elementary school, three years of junior secondary (pre-the) education, three years of senior secondary education, and a four-year university education period. Although this educational system has stayed mostly consistent since it became official policy, there have been some minor changes in the government's commitment to providing basic education to Nigerians. The scope of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme, for example, has been expanded to nine years, including six years of elementary education and three years of junior secondary school. Agriculture should not be taught as a science at the senior secondary level, but rather as a topic for the learning of practical agricultural skills for meaningful life. According to Oladipo (2017), the primary purpose of our National Policy on Education is to make education both functional and utilitarian. According to Ikeoji (1999), education stems from the system's need to make its products valuable to itself. According to the Federal Ministry of Education (as cited by Obi, 2005), the objectives of agricultural education at the senior secondary level should include: stimulating and maintaining students' interest in agriculture; enabling students to acquire useful knowledge and practical skills in agriculture; preparing students for further studies in agriculture; and preparing students for agricultural occupations. Observation has revealed that, as admirable as the aims of agriculture and education in Nigeria are, they may be hard to attain owing to a bad programme delivery mechanism and an ineffective method of measuring the success of agriculture students in senior high school. According to Ajibade (2019), the major job of agriculture instructors has always been to assist students in learning agricultural knowledge and skills.

Several studies have revealed that many secondary school agricultural instructors quit the field early in their careers in order to assess the availability and adequacy of teachers in secondary schools. Myers et al., 2005; Camp, Broyles, and Skelton, 2002; Mundt and Connors, 1999; and Veenman, (1984) did research on the issues of starting agricultural instructors. Beginning teachers face challenges such as classroom management and student discipline, combining work and family life, managing stress, a lack of preparation time at the start of the school year, time management, and inspiring pupils. Others included dealing with individual differences, judging students' work, interactions with parents, class work organisation, insufficient teaching resources and supplies, and dealing with specific student concerns (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 African nations are focusing on investing in education at the basic, secondary, and postsecondary levels. The biggest problem, though, is kids' low academic achievement (Miller & Yodar, 2002). In Botswana, for example, the government provides free basic education to all school-age children. Furthermore, the government funds education from basic to secondary school. To do this, the Ministry of Education receives a sizable portion of the country's budget (Matambo, 2013). Despite the government's educational initiatives, pupils' academic achievement has been dropping since 2010. (Luke & Mavis, 2014).

 

Teacher availability and sufficiency can jeopardise educational quality (Boyd & Barbarin, 2008). The student-teacher ratio (STR) must be established in order to assess the availability and sufficiency of instructors in the learning environment. STR will determine whether or not a school has enough instructors. The benefit of having a low STR is that it reduces the number of kids who must be managed by a teacher in the classroom. This ensures the teacher's focus on the children and, as a result, superior academic success. High STR, on the other hand, means that a teacher must manage a big number of kids in the classroom at the same time. Students' academic performance is harmed when instructors are transferred from schools without replacements, resulting in a teacher-student ratio that is insufficient (Wanyama, 2013).

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