Determination of Curriculum Variables for effective Implementation of Post Basic Agricultural Science Programme in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study focused on the determination of curriculum variables for effective implementation of post basic agricultural science programme in Rivers State. Survey research design was used for the study. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. The research questions were answered using mean with standard deviation while hypotheses were tested using t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The population for the study consisted of 416 Agricultural Science teachers and 247 senior secondary school principals in the 23 Zonal Education Areas of Rivers State. Multistage sampling technique was used to sample 234 Agricultural Science teachers and 139 senior secondary school principals. A 15-item questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. The instrument was face validated by three experts from the Department of Agriculture, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rivers State. The reliability was established using Cronbach Alpha method of determining the internal consistency of an instrument. A reliability coefficient of 0.82 was obtained using 20 Agricultural science teachers and 10 Principals who were not part of the main study. The data were analyzed using mean for research questions and t-test for testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results of the study show that laboratories, vocationally skilled Agricultural science teachers and functional monitoring mechanism have high Influence on effective implementation. It was recommended among others that the quality assurance unit of the Rivers State Ministry of Education should enforce an effective monitoring mechanism in schools to enhance teaching and learning.