Influence Of Inadequate Funding On The Teaching Of Social Studies In Primary Schools In Onitsha South Local Government Area Of Anambra State

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the influence of inadequate funding on the teaching of social studies in primary schools in Onitsha South Local Government Area of Anambra State. The population of the study was one hundred (100) primary school teachers while the sample of the study was sixty (60) primary school teachers drawn through simple random sampling technique. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The instrument used for collecting data was a structured questionnaire which was constructed by the researcher and validated by two experts (one from primary education department and one from measurement and evaluation). Three research questions were raised to guide the study and 60 questionnaires with 15 items each were administered on the selected teachers. The data collected were analyzed using mean statistics.  Based on the analysis the study discovered that inadequate funding has a negative influence on the supply of instructional materials for teaching social studies in primary schools, inadequate funding has a huge influence on the creation of conducive classroom environment for teaching social studies in primary schools and inadequate funding greatly influence the effective delivery of social studies lessons by the teachers in primary schools. On the basis of the findings, the study recommended among others that government should as the matter of necessity improve the funding of primary schools for effective teaching of social studies, government should make funds available for building more classrooms in primary schools to reduce overpopulation in classrooms and schools should encourage the teachers by making instructional materials for teaching social studies in primary schools.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 Background to the Study

Social studies as a subject is concerned with man’s way of life. It examines the way man lives and interacts with his social and physical environment”. The use of the available knowledge, skills, tools and technology may aid his interaction. It is important to note that man lives in the society of other human beings. As a rational being, man according to Akpabio (2015) needs the company, affection, protection, approval and attention of other human being for his comfort. At the same time, society demands the loyalty, cooperation and knowledge of its members in order to ensure development and continued survival of the society.        Furthermore, man lives in a physical environment or territory. He interacts with the resources of the physical environment to meet his need for water, food, clothing, shelter, exercise, sleep and rest. In order to interact successfully for the purpose of meeting his social and physical needs. Man, as a general rule uses the knowledge, the ideas, the material objects that his society possesses. Social Studies is not only a way of life, it studies how man influenced by his physical, social, political, economic, psychological and cultural environment.

Uzoagulu (2016) observes that social studies is one of the social sciences disciplines which studies man as he interacts with his fellow men and with his environment. The content of social studies, therefore, is man and his actions. Social Studies has come to be accepted as “a school subject that should assist students to acquire the basic knowledge, skills and positive attitudes needed to be responsible citizens and contributing members of society”. National development remains a challenge that preoccupies all nations of the world that aspire for greatness. Social Studies Education touches on all aspects of societal development; be it political, economic, social, cultural, technological or educational. In Nigerian context, the goals of Social Studies curriculum design is aimed at building a sound and balanced mind as a foundation for functional social education directed towards the development of intelligent, responsible and self-directing citizen. Integrating and dispensing social knowledge through the instrumentality of Social Studies curriculum design in Nigerian schools is directed towards the following objectives:  Self-confidence and initiatives; Power of imagination and resourcefulness; desire for knowledge and continued learning; sense of compassion for the less fortunate; Sense of respect for and tolerance of the opinion of others; Social values and attitudes such as: cooperation; participation; interdependence; open-mindedness; honesty; integrity; trustworthiness; diligence and obedience. A spirit of national consciousness and patriotism (Adesina, 2017) These are considered necessary for sound Social Studies education and functional citizenship education. Towards achieving these basic goals, the subject is design to:

1) provides insights into the use of various knowledge structure and procedure from the social sciences that has relevance in modern civilizations; 2) be concerned with fostering students better understanding of the movements, events and personalities that have influence the history of their immediate environment and the wider world as a global community; 3) foster and improve human relations through a better understanding of others within the immediate environment and beyond.

The provisions and objectives set for the accomplishment of social goals are worthwhile enough to achieve the set goals. The objectives are laudable enough to bring about a worthwhile end. The values emphasized in the current curriculum of social studies are those ones which are important to get across the school children. With the values and attitudes for survival, aimed at in this national guide, it is hopeful that students at the end of the courses should be able to develop the right type of attitude and learn more about their society and others of the right type of value that needs to be imbibed.

Physical facilities play important role in teaching and learning especially at the primary school age when the sense of imagination is still premature. The availability of adequate school building, classrooms, chairs and other facilities are necessary to the attainment of objectives of an educational system. However, the increase in primary school enrolment does not have corresponding increase in infrastructural development in the primary schools. A common scene at the primary school environment is that of half completed or dilapidated and overcrowded classrooms lacking basic equipment and facilities with unsightly and unhygienic toilet which can be traced to lack of funding (Asiabaka & Mbakwem, 2015).

According to Egwu (2018), some challenges facing primary education in Nigeria include the huge disparity between expected school enrolment and the actual enrolment figure. This leads to difficulties in accurately planning and allocating human, material and financial resources adequately to the various primary schools in the country. Poor management of information in terms of gathering accurate data, recording and retrieval of data leads to conflicting statistics about the number of enrolled pupils and new applicants in the system.          Similarly, Obiadi (2014), also indicated that poor implementation strategy, management and lack of assurance as responsible factors that contributed to the failure of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) to attain its goals since its inception more than 10 years ago. Other predicaments include financial problems in terms of misappropriation and embezzlement of funds, and financial crimes of all sorts being perpetuated by those in authority. As a result, there is an absence of adequate financial resources to implement programmes and policies that will promote this level of education. Also incompetence on the part of some teachers and head-teachers leads to poor quality assurance, delivery, supervision in the system. Other challenges include educational wastage inform of truancy, high dropout rate, attrition, and repetition.

It is evident that these problems persist in most States of the Federation despite efforts of the government at ameliorate some of these difficulties. However, Alaba (2016) makes the following observations from a research conducted thus – primary schools in the Western part of Nigeria have good conditions for teaching and learning, and there are spacious and conducive classrooms for both teachers and students. Also, the teaching standard was of good quality, after the assessment of the lesson notes of teachers in selected primary schools. But unfortunately, the results obtained from classroom test administered to the students revealed that they were of poor quality and students performed badly. This was because of inappropriate and inadequate test administered and high absenteeism. All these problems prevent the primary education level from attaining the heights that it is required to attain which in turn affect the teaching of social studies at the primary school level.

There is therefore an urgent need to look into the impact of inadequate funding in the teaching of social studies in primary schools.

 Statement of the Problem

Funding plays a vital role in teaching and learning at any level of education particularly in primary school and teaching of social studies in particular.

Social studies is one of the key subjects in primary schools which require resources to effectively teach it. According to Olatunde (2017), funding plays significant role in teaching and learning because basically all the resources needed for effective teaching and learning requires funds to purchase them.

Unfortunately, there has been a problem of inappropriate funding of primary education which has affected the entire teaching and learning particularly the teaching of social studies. Many factors affect the teaching of social studies which includes but not limited to poor classroom environment, lack of qualified teachers, method of teaching and poor funding. Adesina (2015) explained that students have been found to perform poorly in Social Studies over the years using the yearly results of students of Social Studies to support his assertion. There have been complaints on this poor performance both from Social Studies teachers, the Social Studies Associations of Nigeria. And the National Teachers Institute. Adesina further explained that from his personal interaction with many students, it is the general feeling that most students feel inadequate in this subject area and often complain that it is complex and difficult to understand. This feeling seems to have justification in poor academic performance of these students as evidenced by the increased in failure rate recorded in annual promotion examinations. The situation calls for concern because the implication is that the students cannot retain relevant knowledge in the subject area necessary for successful academic performance and participation as members of the society.  Other problems that face the teaching of Social Studies in schools include the problem of getting current textbooks and teaching resources, inability of students to have financial backing to provide for themselves for the materials needed for effective learning, the problem of getting qualified teachers to teach Social Studies and the inability of practicing teachers to refresh their memories using seminars, conferences, symposia, Workshop and other relevant academic gatherings. On the basis of the above, this study was carried to find out how inadequate funding influence the teaching of social studies in primary schools in Onitsha South Local Government of Anambra state Local Government Area of Anambra state.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to ascertain the influence of inadequate funding on the teaching of social studies in primary schools in Onitsha South Local Government of Anambra state Local Government Area of Anambra state. Specifically, the study is aimed at finding out:

1. The influence of inadequate funding on the supply of instructional materials for teaching social studies in Onitsha South Local Government of Anambra state.
2. The influence of inadequate funding on the creation of conducive environment for teaching social studies in primary schools in Onitsha South Local Government of Anambra state.
3. The influence of inadequate funding on effective delivery of social studies lessons by the teachers in primary schools in Onitsha South Local Government of Anambra state.

 Research Questions                                                 

The following questions were formulated to guide the study:

1. What are the influence of inadequate funding on the supply of instructional materials for teaching social studies in primary schools in Onitsha South Local Government of Anambra state local government?
2. What are the influence of inadequate funding on the creation of conducive classroom environment for teaching social studies in primary schools in Onitsha South Local Government of Anambra state local government?

• What are the influence of inadequate funding on the effective delivery of social studies lessons by the teachers in primary schools in Onitsha South Local Government of Anambra state?

Significance of the Study

The research will be useful to teachers, government, pupils, society and professional body like Social Studies Association of Nigeria.

The findings of the study will go a long way in helping teachers to understand how lack of inadequate funding affect the provision of teaching aids and work closely with government to resolve the issue.

The study would also be of help to the government in that it will help to point out how lack of appropriate funding affects the teaching of social studies in primary schools and help them through the recommendations come up with strategies to improve on the funding of primary education and educational sector as a whole. Finally, the findings of the study will be a wakeup call to Social Studies Association of Nigeria to stand up and work with the government by giving the necessary advice on how to improve the funding of primary schools for effective teaching of social studies and other subjects.

Scope of the Study

This study is limited to the influence of inadequate funding on the teaching of social studies in primary schools in Onitsha South Local Government of Anambra state Local Government Area of Anambra state. The study covered 10 primary schools in the Local.

Pages:  55

Category: Project

Format:  Word & PDF               

Chapters: 1-5                                          

Source: Imsuinfo

Material contains Table of Content, Abstract and References.