A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE MODE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF NIGERIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM: TOWARDS SOCIO-ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF YOUTH

TABEL OF CONTENT

1.0. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

 

Background of the Study

Statement of Problem

Purpose of Study

Significance of Study

Research Questions

Scope of Study

Operational Definition of Terms and Variable

2.0. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

Theoretical Framework –Functional Curriculum Theory

The Concept and Meaning of Curriculum

Nigerian Secondary Education Goals and Objectives

Curriculum for Wealth Creation /self-employmen

Concept of Vocational and Technical Education

Secondary Education Curriculum Implementation in Nigeria

3.0. CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

Research Design

Population

Sample and Sampling Technique

Instruments

Pilot Study /Validation of Instruments

Procedure for Data Collection

Data Analysis

4.0. RESULTS

Testing of Research Question one: Appropriateness of the Nigerian secondary education in terms of goals, content, method, in meeting the philosophy of Nigerian educational system

Testing of Research Question two: Teaching method used in implementing the curriculum in Nigeria secondary schools

Testing of Research Question three: Number of skill-based subjects taught in Nigerian

secondary schools

Testing of Research Question four: Infrastructural facilities available in Nigerian secondary

schools

Testing of Research Question five: Proportion of specialist teachers available in Nigerian

secondary schools

Testing of Research Question six: Practical (entrepreneurial) skills students have learnt in

school with which they can create self-employment

Testing of Research Question seven: Students entrepreneurial capability i.e. Products and

services students have produced on their own

Testing of Research Question eight: Effect of school location on the mode of curriculum

implementation

Testing of Research Question nine: Effect of school type on the mode of curriculum

implementation

5.0. DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND CONCLUSION

Summary of findings

Discussion

Recommendon

Limitation of the study

Conclusion and policy implication of the findings

Suggestions for further research

BIBLIOGRAPY

APPENDIX

CHAPTER 1

 

INTRODUCTION

 

1.1 Background of the Study

 

The universal declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General

 

Assembly in December 1948 guaranteed for the individual a whole range of basic freedom with

 

education serving as a basic right necessary for the achievement of all other freedoms.

 

The achievement of the right to education requires that young people be given the

 

opportunity necessary for the acquisition of the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values which will

 

enable them lead happy and productive lives as individuals and discharge their social duties for

 

the betterment of life in the society.

 

Nigeria, having realized the effectiveness of education as a powerful instrument for

 

national progress and development, adjusted her educational philosophy and methodology to

 

march the ideals and challenges of changing economic and social structure of modern society

 

(National Policy on Education 1981, revised 2004). Consequently, in 1982, Nigeria adjusted her

 

secondary educational system to encompass diversified curriculum that integrates academic with

 

technical and vocational subject intended to empower the individual for self-employment (Igwe

 

2000). According to the National Policy on Education 1981; 2004, the broad aims and objectives

 

of secondary education in Nigerian educational system are preparation for useful living within the

 

society (self-employment) and preparation for higher education. (The area that concerns this

 

study is the first objective - preparation for self-employment).

 

However, more than two and half decades after adoption of the laudable initiative, majority

 

of Nigerian youth are idle and some are involved in various vices due to unemployment. They do

 

not have the required skills to either fit into many types of jobs that are available or create jobs

 

(Igwe 2007). It is no longer news that the nation’s youth unemployment rate has been shooting

 

up the sky. The federal government recently acknowledged that about 80 per cent of Nigeria’s

 

youth are unemployed and 10 per cent underemployed. And the Minister of Education, Sam

 

Egwu, recently noted that the poor quality of graduates is worrisome. The major policy speeches

 

of President Yar’Ardua these days revolve around his aspiration of transforming Nigeria into one

 

of the first 20 largest global economies by the year 2020. This vision cannot be achieved without

 

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youth empowerment for job creation and wealth generation. Adekoya (1999) claimed that for the

 

Nigerian youth to be empowered economically they should be given the necessary skill

 

acquisition and for this to be done the curriculum should be effectively implemented. Oli (2000)

 

believed that to ensure a positive future for Nigeria, the youth who are believed to be the future

 

leaders of the country ought to be well equipped with basic skills to drive the economy.

 

Curriculum is a vehicle through which education is attained (Offorma 2005). The

 

secondary school curriculum as presently implemented is far from achieving the goals of

 

secondary educational system (Obanya 2004a). Several authors have noted that the National

 

Policy on Education was well structured and the contents were adequately defined but the

 

implementation calls for question (Babafemi 2007; Dike 2009). Investigation gathered shows that

 

students’ potentials are not properly channeled as schools lack basic infrastructural facilities

 

necessary for effective curriculum implementation, there are inadequate specialist teachers, and

 

where available, focus more on theoretical aspect leaving out the practical component.

 

This situation calls for a critical appraisal of the mode of implementation of Nigerian

 

secondary school curriculum in order to identify the root cause of the problem as well as gaps

 

needed for reformation. This study is timely and useful in providing the much needed empirical

 

data that will assist the Federal Government of Nigeria through its curriculum development

 

agency, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), to gauge the level of

 

success of current implementation and be better able to plan towards an implementation that will

 

instill basic skills in Nigerian youth to ensure their socio-economic empowerment.

 

1.2 Statement of Problem

 

A good number of students who have completed their secondary education but do not wish to

 

continue with higher education are in dilemma. This is because they are not well equipped with

 

necessary skills to empower themselves. The training acquired at the end of secondary education

 

seems inadequate to make the school leavers competent and self-reliant, hence cannot contribute

 

to nation building. If the Nigerian society is not to be plagued by a breed of unemployable youth

 

who cannot raise the economic productivity of the country, it is desirable that a lasting solution be

 

provided. Thus, this study was designed to fill this gap.

 

1.3 Purpose of Study

 

The overall aim of the investigation was to assess how the curriculum was implemented in

 

Nigerian secondary schools with a view to identifying the root cause of the problem as well as the

 

underlying factors that might account for disparity, if any, on curriculum implementation.

 

Specifically, the objectives were to:

 

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1. determine the appropriateness of the Nigeria secondary education curriculum in terms of

 

the goals, content, method, in meeting the philosophy of Nigeria secondary educational

 

system.

 

2. find out type of teaching method used in implementing the curriculum in Nigerian

 

secondary schools.

 

3. determine number of skill-based subjects taught in Nigerian secondary schools.

 

4. assess infrastructural facilities available in Nigerian secondary schools.

 

5. assess availability of specialist teachers in Nigerian secondary schools.

 

6. identify practical (entrepreneurial) skills students have learnt in school with which they can

 

create self-employment

 

7. identify students’ entrepreneurial capability i.e. products and services students have

 

successfully produced/ marketed

 

8. determine the effect of school location on the mode of curriculum implementation.

 

9. find out if school type has effect on the mode of curriculum implementation.

 

1.4 Significance of Study

This study is significant in many ways. Most importantly, it will sensitize policy makers,

 

educational administrators, and curriculum planners on the need to plan towards effective

 

curriculum implementation in Nigerian secondary schools. This will go a long way in minimizing

 

the rate of unemployment among secondary school leavers thereby making them well adjusted

 

individuals who will raise the economic productivity of the country. Also, the result of the study will

 

contribute to policy formulation and practices, as inspectors from Federal and State Ministries of

 

Education will be sensitized on what to look out for during inspection. On a wider scale, African

 

countries will benefit from the study because its findings and recommendations will provide point

 

of reference. Above all, the Federal and state Ministries of Education as well as the Nigerian

 

Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) will find the result of this study

 

valuable particularly in the current government effort towards implementation of the new 9-year

 

Basic Education Curriculum.

 

1.5 Research Questions

 

1. How appropriate is the present Nigeria secondary education curriculum in terms of the

 

goals, content, method, in meeting the philosophy of Nigerian secondary education

 

system?

 

2. What type of teaching method is used in implementing the curriculum in Nigerian

 

secondary schools?

 

3. How many skill-based subjects are taught in Nigerian secondary schools?

 

4. What are the infrastructural facilities available in Nigerian secondary schools?

 

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5. What is the proportion of specialist teachers available in Nigerian secondary schools?

 

6. What practical (entrepreneurial) skills have students learnt in school with which they can

 

create self-employment?

 

7. What products and services have students produced /marketed on their own?

 

8. What is the effect of school location on the mode of curriculum implementation?

 

9. What is the effect of school type on the mode of curriculum implementation?

 

1.6 Scope of Study

 

Nigeria is a large country with a lot of geographical differences. There are six geopolitical zones in

 

Nigeria each constituting several states. To ensure national coverage, three out of the six

 

geopolitical zones were purposely selected for the study, namely; North Central, South East and

 

South West. One state was randomly selected from each zone. A total of twelve secondary

 

schools comprising both public and private were drawn across the three states /zones. This was

 

considered adequate and sufficiently representative to make tentative generalization.

 

1.7 Operational Definition of Terms and Variables

 

Critical – In this study, it means to point out fault constructively.

 

Appraisal – Hornby (2000) refers to it as assessment of the value or quality of something. In this

 

study, it refers to assessment of how the Nigerian secondary school curriculum is implemented.

 

Mode – Hornby (2000) refers to it as ‘way and manner in which something is done’. In this study,

 

Hornby’s definition is adopted. i.e. way and manner Nigerian secondary school curriculum is

 

implemented.

 

Implementation – Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary refers to it as putting into effect a plan

 

already mapped out. Obanya (2004) defined implementation of curriculum as day-to-day activities

 

which school management and classroom teachers undertake in the pursuit of the objective of

 

any given curriculum. In this study, it means processes involved in translating educational plan

 

into action to bring about change in the learner as they acquire the planned experiences, skills,

 

and knowledge that are aimed at enabling the learner function effectively in the society. In this

 

regard, implementation is seen as both the means and the means to an end.

 

Curriculum - According to Obanya (2004a), curriculum is the total package of what is to be

 

taught or learnt.