AREAS OF MODIFICATION IN THE TRAINING OF STUDENT-TEACHERS OF AGRICULTURE IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION FOR JOB CREATION IN SOUTHEAST NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was carried out to identify the areas of modification in the training of student-teachers of agriculture in colleges of education for job creation in South-East Nigeria. The study was guided by two purposes and two research questions. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the study was 500 made up of 88 lecturers and 412 final year students of agriculture in Colleges of Education in South- East Nigeria. The sample for the study was 294 made up of 88 lecturers and 206 students. All the lecturers were studied while stratified sampling technique was used to select 50% of the students from each of the colleges of education. The instrument for collecting data was a structured questionnaire developed by the researchers from literature reviewed. The instrument was validated by three experts. The reliability was tested using Kuder-Richardson (K-20) formula and a reliability index was 0.68. The instrument was administered through the help of five research assistants. Data collected were analyzed using Mean, and Standard Deviation and t-test. The result shows that agricultural education requires modification in institutional factors like the method of employing lecturers of agriculture and some aspect of the curriculum like the number of specialized courses among others. It was recommended that National Commission for Colleges of Education should modify the needed areas and integrate them into the programmes of agriculture at the colleges of education level among others.