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).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Many of the school authorities have very lukewarm attitudes over the provision of needed tools, equipment, and farm inputs required for effective agricultural science, especially practical in secondary schools. This non-challant attitude tend to retard genuine efforts of some teachers of agricultural science in the secondary schools. Inspite of the emphasis being placed on agricultural science as one of the subjects in secondary schools, there is usually not enough time provided in the time-table for a meaningful agricultural science work (Adeyemi, 2000). Agricultural science teachers are always interested to finish the syllabus before the external examination – Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by West African Examination Council (WAEC). Agricultural science is one of the core vocational courses being offered at the junior and senior secondary schools in Nigerian education system. Experience has shown that many agricultural science teachers in Gombe Education zone, teach agricultural science theoretically in the classroom without involving the students in field practical. Some of the teachers teach with pictures, drawing agricultural specimens instead of using the real life specimens to teach. Furthermore, many agricultural science teachers do not use the school farms in teaching the students; nor go on for excursions to well established agro-farms and industries.

The unavailability and inadequacy of the agricultural science teachers has manifested through the poor performance of the students in internal and external examinations. The poor performance of the students in agricultural science due to inadequacy of the teachers has also led to non-acquisition of the skills in agricultural production required from a secondary school graduates, and has jeopardized the laudable objectives of agricultural science programme at the secondary school level.

1.3 Objective of the study

The main objective of this research work is to  availability and adequacy of agricultural science teachers and influence  on student performance in Gombe state.

The study was guided by the following objectives to;

1. To determine the influence of agricultural teacher’s availability and adequacy in performance of secondary school students in Gombe state.

2. To ascertain the factors affecting the availability and adequacy of agricultural teachers on the performance secondary school students.

3. To determine the strategies for improving the adequacy of agricultural teachers on the performance of secondary school students.

1.4 Research Question

i). To what extent does agriculture teacher’s availability and adequacy influence the performance of secondary school students of Gombe state?

ii). what are the factors affecting the availability and adequacy of agriculture teachers on the performance secondary school students?

iii). what are the strategies for improving the adequacy of agricultural teachers on the performance of secondary school students?

​​​​​​​Research Hypotheses

The following research hypothesis were formulated;

H01. There is no significant relationship between teacher’s availability and adequacy and performance of secondary school students in Gombe state.

Ho2. There is no significant relationship between factors affecting the availability and adequacy of agriculture teachers and the performance of secondary school students.

Ho3. There is no significant relationship between the strategies for improving the adequacy of agricultural teachers and the performance of secondary school students.

​​​​​​​Significance of the study

Ministry of Education/School Administrator

The rationale for this study was that it would provide a better understanding of the influence of availability and adequacy of agricultural teachers on the performance of secondary school students. These results would help school administrators and Ministry of Education officials to identify effective teaching methods of improving teacher’s availability and adequacy.

Teachers

The study should also help beginning and experienced teachers to improve their skills in the selection, adequacy and availability in teaching. This study was conducted because of a discrepancy noted between the excellent performance desired by teachers and the actual performance.

Student/Researchers

This research work will serve as a guideline for any student who wish to make more research relating to this topic.

Scope of the Study

This research work assesses the influence of availability and adequacy of agricultural science teachers on the performance of secondary school student in Gombe state. Thus this work is limited to all secondary schools in Gombe state ministry of education.

​​​​​​​Operational definition of terms

Education: Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. Educational methods include teaching, training, storytelling, discussion and directed research.

Adequacy: The state or quality of been adequate.

Agriculture: Agriculture is the science and art of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities. The history of agriculture began thousands of years ago.

Agricultural Science: Agricultural science is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture.

Teacher: A teacher is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence or virtue. Informally the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone.