CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
In this era of globalization and technological revolution, education is considered as a first step for every human activity. It plays a vital role in the development of human capital and it is linked with an individual, well-being and opportunities for a better living. Thus, it ensures the acquisition of knowledge and skills that enable individuals to increase their productivity and improve their quality of life. Nigeria having realized the effectiveness of education as a powerful instrument for national progress and development is continuously adjusting her educational philosophy and methodology to match the ideals and challenges of changing economic and social structure of a modern society by adjusting her secondary school educational system to encompass diversified curriculum that integrates academic with technical and vocational subjects with a view to empowering the individual for self-employment. According to the National Policy on Education (2009), 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.
However, the educational system does not seem to achieve its purpose as majority of school leavers are not equipped with necessary skills to empower themselves. Consequently they cannot raise their socio-economic standards and therefore cannot contribute to nation building. A good number of students who have completed their secondary education but failed to secure admission into institutions of higher learning are in dilemma. This is because they are not equipped with the requisite skills for self or paid employment (Igwe, 2007). It is no longer news that the nation’s youth unemployment rate has skyrocketed.
Igwe (2007) stated that the identified gaps in the old curriculum could not provide needed support for poverty reduction and wealth creation. Levin (2007) also stated that the old curriculum is overloaded and does not respond to the students’ interest and teachers feel pressured to cover the curriculum that may be pitched at a level that is too high for students to achieve. Furthermore the old curriculum did not address communication skills, entrepreneurial skills, functional literacy and numeracy. Consequently there was a need to review, adjust and update the existing The most significant aspect of the National Policy on Education as noted by Dike (2009) is the new focus it gives to Nigerian educational system, the need for the Industrialization of the nation in which technical and vocational education play crucial roles and the realization to change from white collar job oriented educational system to science, vocational and technical oriented educational system which prepares individuals to be self-reliant and useful to the society. This is said to have informed the Federal Government to lay emphases on introduction of the trade subjects into the curriculum. Dike (2009) further noted that the five National goals cannot be realized without developing technical/vocational education and if well rooted will definitely transform the economic, social and political life-styles of our Nation from the third world to be the first world class.
Curriculum is a vehicle through which education is attained. The secondary school curriculum as presently implemented is far from achieving the goals of secondary school education system. Several authors have noted that the national policy on education is well structured and the contents are adequately defined but the implementation calls for questions. According to Obanya (2004) the secondary school curriculum as presently implemented is far from achieving the goals of secondary education systems. Offorma (2005) held that Nigeria’s curriculum lack effective implementation and does not adequately prepare students for the demands of a competitive talented workforce. Adeleke (2005) believed that one of the problems of Nigeria secondary school curriculum is effective finishing of a product (implementation). He opined that poor implementation of the secondary school curriculum in Nigeria has caused the missing link between the goals of Nigeria education and its achievements. The idea that secondary school graduates should be equipped with relevant skills in communication technology deserves national support. One objective of the new secondary school curriculum is to produce secondary school graduates who are sufficiently equipped for tertiary education. The students are expected to possess, at the end of their studies, practical knowledge and professional skills that could be usefully applied to the socio economic development of the nation.
The federal government has said that the introduction of the new senior secondary school curriculum is to include more subjects which in a sense should guarantee development, self-employment and professionalism among secondary school leavers in the nearest future. Buttressing the government’s announcement, the Public Relations Officer, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Kabio Mammud disclosed that the new curriculum is fashioned by the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) to ensure a gradual phasing out of the current curriculum. Mammud stressed that there is a need for a new curriculum and that Nigeria requires it to go far. According to him the standards of education in the country has gone down (Josephine, 2014).
Adekoye (1999) claimed that for the Nigerian youth to be empowered economically they should be taught the necessary skills and for this to be done, the curriculum should be effectively implemented. To ensure a positive future, 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. According to the Executive Secretary, National Education Research and Development Council, Prof Godswill Obioma, the curriculum is designed to produce graduates who are well prepared for higher education with relevant functional trade and entrepreneurial skills needed for poverty eradication, job creation and wealth generation; and in the process reinforce further the foundations for ethical, moral and civic values acquired at the basic education level (Ruby Rabiu, 9th November 2007, Nigeria muse newspaper on article on FG launches new school curriculum)
The new curriculum was planned to build on the gains of the nine year basic education curriculum and to connect logically to the learning experiences at the tertiary education level. The introduction of 34 vocational subjects marked a radical departure from the subsisting curriculum in which accent was not placed on professional skills acquisition. To achieve the lofty objectives set out in the new curriculum, it is important to make technologies widely accessible to secondary school students and teachers. The introduction of marketing as one of the trade subjects into the senior secondary education curriculum is equally a welcome innovation in the Nigerian education system. According to American Marketing Association (2013), Marketing consists of the performance of business activities that direct the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer. It is an organisational function and set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organisation and its stakeholders. According to Ogah (2008) Though one may oversimplify issues by assuming marketing activities are only concerned with the flow of goods and services, yet it is obvious that, to achieve maximum efficiency in marketing, there must also be a flow of information in the other direction i.e. from the market to the producer, these market functions which includes advertising, warehousing, transportation, sales promotion etc. must be performed by humans which brings us to the creation of employment. The restructuring of the curriculum is no doubt aimed at meeting emerging educational needs and global competitiveness, ensuring that entrepreneurial and technical subjects are properly embedded in the curriculum. This will go a long way to ensure national socioeconomic growth and sustainable development. The restructuring of the senior secondary (SS) education curriculum is therefore a giant step towards achieving a strong and self-reliant nation with great and dynamic economy and full of opportunities for her citizens (Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), 2004).
If marketing as a new trade subjects is planned, executed and encouraged, it could be used to develop the innate genius in the youth and enhance their capacity to stand by themselves. Thus, they could be used as investment that could yield rich productive dividends in a very near future which could have far reaching effects on national development. Marketing as a new trade subject would prepare an individual with courage and sound mind not to be easily deflected by emotion of the moment. Majority of Nigerians 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. Thus the ministry of education noted that the poor quality of graduates is worrisome.
The introduction of the marketing as one of the new trade subjects into the senior secondary education is entirely a new innovation. This innovation, no doubt, will enable the youth acquire concrete skills for survival, poverty alleviation, job creation and enablement to compete globally, as well as prepare them for higher education. Thus, the restructured curriculum will bring about the empowerment of youths for survival, today and in the future. This is in line with the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS), some of which include, achieving wealth creation, employment generation, poverty alleviation and value orientation. Offorma (2005) lamented the growing dependence of our youth on white-collar jobs which are difficult to come by these days. Job employers do not emphasize certificates but what one can do and urged youth to seek self-reliance through self-employment.
The implementation of the new senior secondary school curriculum commenced 3 years ago and the first batch of graduates were expected in 2014. It is now pertinent to ascertain the journey so far; hence the need for this study on the appraisal of the curriculum on marketing as a new trade subjects for senior secondary schools in Anambra Central Senatorial District, Nigeria.
Statement of the Problem
Marketing as a functional education involves training youths in such a way that they would be independent, and contribute their own quota to national development. To the utmost dismay of concerned citizens of Nigeria, schools in the country especially secondary schools, have been producing students who seem to be half baked and unqualified to perform any job without serious retraining and supervision, which in most cases are non-existent. Majority of Nigerian youth are idle and some are involved in various vices due to unemployment. Consequently they cannot raise their socioeconomic standard and therefore cannot contribute to nation building. Youth unemployment is a menace and constitutes a real danger and a threat to Nigeria’s socio-economic growth. As is often said “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop” the joblessness of the Nigerian youth today stems from their non-acquisition of entrepreneurial skills. This has further aggravated the youth negative behaviour in the society as most antisocial acts including thuggery, arm robbery, militancy, restiveness, ethnic-political clashes and other social vices in Nigeria could be traced to the high rate of unemployment (Okafor, 2011).
It has been observed that the methods of instructions in the old curriculum are not motivational, demonstrative and the approach is teacher centred. In many secondary schools in Nigeria, existing machines and tools are obsolete or not enough for the students use. The dearth of these machines decreases the teacher’s efficiency and the students learning experience. There remains an acute shortage of qualified teachers which are manifested in poor implementation of the curriculum. Ajibola (2008) also pointed out that most of the teachers are not qualified to teach the subjects introduced in the curriculum as this could be responsible for poor pedagogy in secondary schools in Nigeria.
It appears that the qualities of graduates produced from the secondary schools are very poor and this has affected them in translating the skills learned from school into work environment. This could be attributed to decay of infrastructures, obsolete technologies, lack of qualified teachers, non motivational instructional methods. Balogun (1995), Jega (2002), Awah and Agba (2007) Nwakoma (2009) and Morinho (2009), all observe that factors that limit the effective implementation of curriculum in Nigeria include inadequate planning, insufficient teachers, syllabus overloading, incessant strikes, lack of infrastructural facilities among others. The need to address this phenomenon and its attendant problems necessitated this study.
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the implementation of the marketing trade subject curriculum in senior secondary schools in Anambra state. Specifically, the study aims to:
- Evaluate the adequacy of the content of marketing trade subject in senior secondary schools in Anambra state.
- Evaluate the methods of instruction used in teaching marketing trade subject in senior secondary schools in Anambra State.
- Evaluate the adequacy of instructional facilities available in teaching and learning of marketing trade subjects in senior secondary schools in Anambra state.
- Evaluate the adequacy of staffing situation for teaching marketing trade subject in senior secondary schools in Anambra state.
Significance of the Study
The findings of this study will benefit the students, educational administrators, teachers involved in teaching marketing as a new trade subjects, guardians, and employers of labour, Nigeria as a nation.
The findings of the study will enable the teachers ascertain their areas of strength and weaknesses. It will expose to them the importance of marketing as a new trade subjects towards the growth and development of human capital.
The findings will also propel the educational administrators and schools management to assess available facilities and equipment, staff quality and quantity, teaching strategies towards the implementation of the new curriculum.
The findings will also sensitize policy makers and curriculum planners on the need and how best to plan toward effective curriculum implementation in Nigeria secondary schools. This will go a long way in minimizing the rate of unemployment among young secondary school leavers thereby making them well-adjusted individuals who will raise the economic productivity of the country.
The findings of this study will also provide a point of reference to Ministries of Education and the Nigeria Educational Research and Development Council [NERDC] who will find the result of the study valuable particularly in the current government effort toward the implementation of the new senior secondary school curriculum. It will also expose the loopholes, decays, problems and weakness as well as area of gains and strength.
The findings of this study will create awareness among Nigerian senior secondary students on the value of marketing as a new trade subjects in their development. This will go a long way in equipping them with the required vocational skills needed to engage effectively in jobs. It will expose them to new technologies thereby minimizing the rate of unemployment among young secondary school leavers, and make them well-adjusted individual who will raise the economic productivity of the country.
Guardians will also benefit if they are made aware of the financial benefits (the ease in financial burden) they stand to gain if they support their children and wards to embrace the trade subjects and acquire those skills, which will help the children/wards to be easily employed, and in turn less dependent financially on their help.
Scope of the Study
This study is limited to the evaluation of the implementation of marketing trade subject curriculum in senior secondary schools in Anambra state.
This study will cover the adequacy of the marketing curriculum contents, instructional methods used by marketing teachers, availability and adequacy of qualified marketing teachers, and adequacy of instructional facilities in teaching and learning of the marketing as a new trade subjects.
Research Questions
The study will be guided by the following research questions:
- How adequate is the content of marketing trade subject in senior secondary schools in Anambra state.
- How adequate are the methods of instruction used in teaching marketing trade subjects in senior secondary school curriculum in Anambra state?
- How adequate are the facilities available for the teaching and learning of marketing trade subjects in secondary schools in Anambra state?
- How adequate is the staffing situation for teaching marketing trade subjects in senior secondary schools in Anambra state?
Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses will be tested at 0.05 level of significance:
- There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female teachers regarding the adequacy of the content of marketing trade subject in senior secondary schools in Anambra state.
- There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female teachers regarding the adequacy of available teaching facilities for the marketing trade subject in senior secondary schools in Anambra State.
- There is no significant difference in mean ratings of male and female school administrators’ teachers on the adequacy of instructional methods used by teachers for the teaching of marketing trade subject senior secondary schools in Anambra state.
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