University of Nigeria Virtual Library

Serial No.

Author 1

OGBAZI, N.J

Author 2

Author 3

Title

Issues In The Implementation of Secondary School

Agriculture, Programme Under the 6-3-3-4 Educational System.

Keywords

Description Issues In The Implementation of Secondary School

Agriculture, Programme Under the 6-3-3-4 Educational System.

Category

Education

Publisher Journal of the Curriculum Organisation of Nigeria (CON)

Publication Date

1988

Signature

Abstract

Introduction

;S a g r t a t l t ~ rc rrat~rhra State westlgare t l lc .?granl:nc. Tlw !rca of' agricul- the implenrrn-

Origin of 6-5-34 Educational System

The 6-3 .34 systems ol educalion was orm of the 65 rt an~lnendat iory made in the Curriculum Confc rence of 19119.

T l ~ e Conf'crence was charged with l l l e responsibility of r ,\icwing the old and identifying new nat iond gods tior Nigeian ducatio ion coilsi,:,:ring the needs of the youths and adults in the task of Nat ionJ building a i d ... )nstruction for social and econoniic emanciparjon of the individual and socie ty.

The rccorrln~endations of dlc confrronce later published Or. .a book titled: "Philosophy of Nigerian Education" wert further reviewed at Yational Semi- nar Orgmiscd by thc Fcdcral Ministry of !;ducation in June, 19','3. A communi- quc was issued a t the end of the scniinar Luring wluch five Na*'<,nd Objcctives cnuncntcd under the Nationd , D c v , c ~ o ~ I ; : x I ~ Plan were adopttc~l. The seminar w n t fili-ther to amplify, and adopt rhe r e ~ o m m e n d a t i : ~ ~ ~ of the

' )OO ( '~ i r r i cu l~r~n I:unfcrcncc (Fat'unwa, ;{)71). The scmirlar t:19s adopted tlte 1 ' ) 1 1 1 I < c c o r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ o ~ l d u t i o n which proposcd il f'ree 6-3-34 system of .ducation. That

;I fill1 six-ycar primary cducaticm, folliwed by a three-year ;~:nior secondary cl ;I LI~rcc-ycar scnior secondary educatrm, culminating in a !cur-year Unlvcr-

. y coursc. I lowcvcr, it has 10 be notcd f h t rtot all first d ~ g r . : ~ . courses arc of

. u r - y c ~ r Juration. T l ~ c 'four' rcfers t o !!;me courscs which c! *.,ently last Four .,LL;IIS. l3ctwtcn 1973 and 1'175, rhc Niyeri;in Educational b.L.search CounciI I V E R C ) in conjuction with rlw Compar:l:!ve Education Stud) .,nd Adaptation ('cnlrc (CESAC) orgniscd a series o f W..,rkshops on Curriculi; n and m a t e r ~ d

r ~ J r r c t i t ~ ~ airticd ~ ' t p r ~ p i i r i ~ ~ g sy11abu~c~. and textbooks in ar . cipation of thc . I I L W cduclrtiori policy - tllc 6 - 3 - 3 4 system.

I l r 1977, thc 1-cdcral M~litary Govemnent issued the fir, ' , white paper on :Ire Natit~nal Policy on Educa t~on and w r ~ ~ t ahead to set u p a st.. :n-man "lmplc- .ncntation Committee". Thc Committee'; terms of rcf'crcnce.~ncluded among ( l l ~ c r rckrcnccs, t o "transl;,lc tllc pol:.., into a workiiblc t 'K-print and to I~~cc lop progr;mlmcs I'or t l ~ c ~~nplcmcnta l ion of the policy (Fi ' lnwa, 1984). A ,; w x u u c n t white paper on t l ~ c ouninlit lee's findrngs was iss i ' d in 1979 with , l t gcncrnlllct~t a c ~ c p t i n g iillt~ost 1111 111c r.:. omrl~cndat ior~s of ti- . commitlee.

liy 108 I , thu National 1'c)licy un '.ducation was reviscr 'ind government I L - ~ ur~rlcr ~ l l c civilian rulc, rml'Ltrr~icd among o h e r hirig., I!: tand as follows:

'l'l>r~t t3~ i~cSr t j r~ t i will ~ . o t l t i ~ r i e t o bv highly ruted in Nat i t~ G I Development IJ1drl ~ C L . I ~ N Y I J t .(I~i~,r~iorl is ~ I J P n i ~ t m p o r t m t instrumen ' 3 f change as urz?~ j l r l l c r i o ~ : L ~ l chrt,rgu iir t/.,c* i,/tcllrctual mu social outlook ;:.--any society has [ O 1 1 ~ ~ p r L o ~ - L b L I ~ L i by U,I c!ductrtioiral rpvnlun'on (National ' oticy on Educo- [iO#t. 19'Slj . -.

Tho Na tnre of t h s New System

Factors Militating Agsinst Effecthc Iniplcmrnar ion of thc Swond;ir~ School A~riculture I'rogmmtnes Untlcr the Ncw Educatic~!~:rl S v \ l t m

A random srun~le of one hundred and forty agI iculture t t x h e r s drawn from a popula'ion of '34U a~iculture tcachers from secondary sc11.zols in E n u v ~ and Nsukkn edustional zoncs of Anarnbra State w:a uied fnr thi? :'tidy.

The stuav wa.. dcsignrci to invrsti~atc the F a c l m mi\itariv.;; against r11c effective implr:icntation of thc s c c o n d q school r t ~ r i t 111 lure prc,r:v.lmlllcs ur~dcr the new a-3-4 cducaticmal system.

A list o' lums in a questionnai~ W:LF prescnt~:d to the rr.y)nndents who were wquirei to indicate the extenl t o which they are problcrq in !he inple- rncnlatlon of !tic secondary whwl agricultrue prc,eramnlcs. T~hl? I shows thc rtllponxs of the two aoups of teachcrs in the two ed 1cation:d zcrvcs.

Tmbk I: R e s p a s c s of the Croup of Alpicultun- Teachers in Enup and Nwk'ra FAuatiorurl Zonm on the Factom Maitating ApinHt the

2. 1 Ayicalhlral rienee is not doted sufficient ti me ' in th* school time table

Remark6 - Minor Problems

7 .

-_LC-

!*I*KM "-

' 'I 3. Funds f o r nrrlnlng I& p rog;trrme is insui 'Jcieni !

4. f %Id trips to ag~icultural estabhhments ::? I not given a priority \

5 " - ' $ h o l does not sponsor workshops, seni~!lus ' :,:tnd conferences In Agriculture

t r l

' Agnculrure 1% not encouraged as other hcience subjects

1 I L J

Thc school has no; zot equipped Iabotaiuries 2nd ad~quaw equipment .. 3 ,

, . ' I

Other teachers and pri&iprrls do not ,

co-operate with agricul hlre teachers 1 '

T h e e is no guidance and counselling ser:.ices and career educatjon vrorzr.lmmc in the .chool

I stration and supewision of Agriculture Fro- gramme in the Mi r~ i s t r y of Education

I . There is lac15 of matrucuon J materials ; j r ' the teaching of agriculture 12'

Farm jrnplernentr far agriculture practicals p arenot sufficient

13. 1, Students ere required to supply farm inputs I and irngdements for ~ r ~ c t i c , +

I 14, ' Students absent Ulemselveh Iron1 p:xtlcal / classes

15. The agnc. teachers do not insist on students I acquiring one skill before learning an<: ;er I 16. The students fear'the agriculture kacF t-rs

because of Pam1 labour '

2.95i2.m 168 ,, I ; ' I

2 . 5 5 ' 1 1.X 2.03 I *'

I

17.

18.

There is no youth organisation, eg. yo:^^ farmers club in your school

The school farm is used as a punishment

Supervision and grading of students'

ground

I

20.

work IS not done regularly

Lack of qualified teachers to teach agrc.

XI = mean fur agriculture teachers in 'hugu Zone XI = me" for agriculturu teachers in S s u k h Zone . -.

220 .

A slrnilar s i tu~t ion :dso prevailed in k l n v ; ! ) r ~ Statc Jurir~g the 984 m- rlemic year. All junior secondary shoo1 gradua . --r wore promoted to , le senior secolrdary. In Bauclli State the in~plernentadei~ of rhe prognmnw is w ~ p r c d by the people's traditiond dislike of vcxationd trades. Most studel i in that state showed little interest in learning trddcs an:- other vocabonal sub, :ts either due to,their up 'o~gmg or poor pert~ornianccs in 'hose subjects.

I t is important to note that only six states have indicated their *! illingness to e n k r candidates for the Senior Secondary t.'.:rtificate examinatic. in 1988. These states include Ananbra, Cross River. kad:ma, Kano, Sokoto an . Borno. I t

-is therefore evident that those statc:; which are ~ ; o t able to implement l'le system ;ire experiencing some pr ablems prr lbably a t di1:'cring degrees.

Dcspite the problems encountered by stzks in the implement> :on of the new system, it is bclieved that a silccc~sful im$mmtation of the F - qyammes I

will result in the production of cht. Nigerian ci!aens employment i t . 'he world of work including a;yiculiurc.

The Role Expectations of the Junior Se;:ondary School A!:dculture

It is important to note thar ;?. a result i?f political, socio-eo,,:omic and ~icrnographic pressures and influu~ices, N i g r i a is today experiencin., a bemen- rlous and far reachinc expansion i r ~ Commerce. k~ icu l tu re , Industry, <ducation and other sectors of the ccontmq. There is thcrcfore a need to evolv~ an educa- tional system that will 1e fi:rlctic*nal opportunities, increase stand;. 3 of living and produce. sell-reliant citizenrj;. It is in rec:lgnirion of these rol . that edu- cation can play in National I)eveIopmcmt needs t3at the 6-3-34 ..{stem was launched.

Thc Natiol~al Policy or1 I.i~lucarrcrn stirllllatcs that the junior secondary school 1s both prc-vocational and acadcmic at.tl will teach all the b-.ic subjects which will cnablc pupil:, to ACtjllirc iurthcr A:lowledgc and develoi; skills. Stu- dents who leave school :it the junior ~ c o n d a r ; level may then go t %$'an appren- riccship sysiern or some other prl)Era!nlne I'or ~ut-of-school vocatic . .d traming.

To ensure thc rcdisntion of the ohjecti~-~,-s of the llew system :he govern- ment wcnt furthcr LO fwrnula~r. and deve::.jp the curricula fur :gncultural educauon among orhcr pre-vocational cuursesi:::J tn provide defi i i t i~ . objectives. 111 h a t respcct, the govern~nent atated inter isia that "the overall ,;~jectives of h e Agricultural I?duution syl1;ibus for d.lc J.S.S. are to provi: ,: adequate orientation for thc intcqation 01 Agricul~urai .%iencc. with produt - ve work at school, allJ to preparc siudents f o r futurc ac tj::lties i l l agriculture.

For tltosc that may not study Agricu!:!we beyond Ihc juni. , secondary level, it is cxpectcd dlat sufticicut interest I I I J Y have orientation irovidcd to cnahle hen1 practise or undcrgi, fur tlicr t r;:ining in Agriculture For others, enough background knowledge, skills and uirerests are to be acql ed lo serve

as adequatc preparation for l'urtl~er studies i:: Agriculture in the i . 2ior Secon- dary Schoot or otlier appropriate institutions (F'ESAC, 1982).

In tile lighi of above, thr junior sccwidary school is expe,- ted to play certain roles. Before disgqssing tllcse rolcs, ir may be important to :.ate that the

wdl web c~~~p luyment in Apiculture upon 3.10 ,2.77 2.94 Apccd gradudllan t I om $nlor &cim& I y ,

call protlui e frmd for mywlf 311d for die a r p r co~r~nlunlry

' can site a Ihrm uslng thc prim ~ples i~volved

I car1 idcnrit'y and classify tariuus crups and ~ninnlds

I can coliserve and manage soil and a i d wa!*:r for food production

I cru~ identify md classify different types of so i l

I can propagate crops veglauvcly

I can practise drop rotation tcl maintain scil I'ertrliiy and rnaxmiw crop ycild

1 can preserve Farni produz i s using Jif h c n t storage nnlzthods

I can control w e d s and diw~ses in the fxm

1 cun apply krtiliser in the filrnl using &ffercn t ~ne~hods

I ,:an prevenl and control soil erosion in

111 table It, tllc Incans f$,r the two groups of students wcrc coniputed based on thc rating of tltc rcspondcrits on u four-point s a l t of "strongly agcc". Disa- grcc". 1 1 c cul-off pomt of' 2.55 was arbitrary choscr~ as il bails I.or ~ l c t c r ~ ~ ~ i ~ ~ i n g whelher or not t l~e rcspondcnls agreed on the i t em. In other w o i h any item earned a grand mean of less tllan 2.55 and above were reprdcd as 'dgreed.'

Based on d ~ c above, the study revcalcd that the rcspontlcnts a p e d on all the items in table 11. I t can hereibrc bc cor~cludecl that [he graduatcb of JSS studied were interested in ngricultr~re a ~ d also agree t l u t they can perfor111 agri- cultural activities identified in the study.

Stmtegies for the Implementation of Agriculture Programmes.

The prospects and problems of implcnlenting thc J.S.S. agric.ulture pro- gramme IUVC been discussed in this paper. It is impc~rtant to scek for str;~(cgicc for. the effective imple~nen!ation of the progranulw. In this rcsljcct. Oghrvi ( I P q 0 ) cnnductcd 3 study in E n u p and Nsukk;~ etlucation zoncs 111 wl~icll 11c found out Illat certain stratcgcs should bc en~ploycd by our school syslcm 1-or the erfective in~plcn~entation or' agriculture progrdmlnes iuider the ~tcw systcnr. He idenlificd the following slrateges.

the development of co-operative attitude among school principds ru-tr! agr i cu l~ re teaching stat-f; orienting the agriculture programmes towards practical training rather than chssrooni activities. recruitment of professonally ovnlpctcnt instructors with adcquatc aca- demic exposure arid pri13:tical orientation to teach agicul ture. basing the evaluation cf student learning outcomes on continuous assess- ment. creating a separate department for organising and supervision uf vocations! agriculture within the Vinistry of Education. orgnising periodic ? ~ d releva~~l in-service programme Tor agricul turc teachers. Provision of ideal standard tools and well equipped laboratories for all secondary schools. provision of guidance and counselling service and career education pro- grammes in schools. In punuit of the above, it should be realiwd that a sound organisation of

v o u t i o n d cdr~cation programmes ill our educar!l.mal institutions is 3: )od stra- tegy )rf~w;uds ;~chlevi~tg ;L well buIatl~cd cducatio,: I'or N i g ~ i ; ~ n yautlts . ; wcll as rcdising the Ictidablc ohjcctives of v~)cational education In Nigeria.

Summary and C o n c l u s i o n s

The in~roductic,n of'the ( 7 - 3 - 1 - 4 s y s ! m ofctlu::ltion in Nigeri; nark the beginning of a new clrlncnsion in cilucation. Af thc j m i u r secondary cvel, stu- dents arc exposed to the rundamcr~tals of somc vkilys :equJring cirurs~ rncluding ;~griculturc. In fact ttw new cducvtimal systcnl ..urns a t integrating tht: ndividual 111to a snnnd .jtablc mil seIf-suhsti~ir ling citircn - : . Nigcrian cultural su ety.

To ensure Ihc. r c a l h t i o n of ~ h c objectivx of the new s y s k m , IC govcrn- ~ u c n l wunt 1'111 t l ~ c r l o for~uula tc a11d cicvclop i!lu curricula for qyic.r'tural edu- cation an1on.R olllcl prcvucal~on;d wb jec t s .

SUIIIC ~ I O ~ ~ C I I I Z II ;LVC' ~ C C [ I d e ~ i t i l i ~ i l :i'. 111i1i l : i f i l l~ i i ~ ~ i n s 1 ! : effucti've i m p k m e ~ i t a ~ l o n of JSS ~Igricultur c. 1'1 onlmcn: :1111011t: ~ I I L ' I I I ;KC lack . I' q11ddl~ t l tcacllcrs, lack of guidanx and c~ .~u~rse l I i r~g sc :.!ices ant1 career cdur tiond pro- grdmliic, 2nd lack ,if instruction;tl ~~tatcr iuls f ( - ~ !tic caching of ag1ic18: 'ure.

Ucspt[l: the :lbine problem>. i t is bcliever; that a succcsst'ul imrl mentat ion of the prograninrc will result i l l the produl !ion of thc Nigcriarl , : ~ t i ~ e t ~ s I'or elnploy~ncnt in r l ~ c world of work including :.,~riculture. Thcrc is a1 ,Irgent nccd to dcvclop our vocutiorul ecluc;tticrn to nlc,:! tltr manpower dcr .nds uf the country and a t the same time q u i p our you!i~s with the ~~ecrssr i r~! psycho-pro- dui t ivt skills and technical knou,lcdgc nccdct~ to cntcr a r d p r o g c s , in the world of wurk. 1'he rcalnation of' I t~is prrd very n~uclt dcpc:ttls o ~ i sound 2 ninistration and imple~nerrta~ion of the vwiitiund edu4.:ition programnles I competent adrninistnllors nrtd inctructors wid1 appropriate skills arid prore- iond know- ledge.

While govcnunerlt cons~tlmi incrwsi!;.:. its budgetary dloc.riions t o prc- vocational p r o p m i n e s , it n l q equally cr,r:sictcr a s c p u a t c adrx.nis t ra t ion of

v w a t i o n d programmes dilTerrn~ irorn gcner--: education.

Alaezi , 0. Nigcrian ~ c m a l o p e n t Needs and the Scc mdmy School Develop- mnt . Nigerian Journal of Curriculum Studies. Vo1.3, No. 2 , 1985.

Fafmda, A.B. Tho Kntionnl policy; on Education: S o w Factors W l i t n t i n e Ag.1 in st Implommt,z t ion . Jou rnn l of' Nipprian E r l u c ~ ~ t i o n %scarc h Association, Vol. 5 , PJo. 1, 1904.

Fafunwa, A.B. History of Education i n Nigeria. A l . f e n and ITnwin, London, 1974.

Bida, I. The 6-3-3-4 Educ.i t ionnl System. Wcst African F-ublishcrs %gnzino, Lxgns. V d . 2, No. 11, 1985.

Fe&ral ~cp i rb l i c of ?,!igerirl: Nztional PgI-icy on Education. Federal Mhistry of Educskion "rintinv Divi-sion, Lagos, 1981.

Hemp, P.E. Prcparinl! t h o Teacher of Tomorrow. fi,qric. Education Yagazine Vol. 49, IJo. 14, 1976.

Qnoregie, 0. A Simulat ion Model for 'leasuring thc Fitness of the 6-3-3. L

@stem t s :fid-Secondwy Wtput in Nigeria. Journal of Wiseri-ul Educa t iona l Rcseerch Aso.ocia tion. Vol. h, ido. 1, Januar-y 1984.