Competency Capacity Building Needs of Agricultural Science Teachers in Utilization of School Farm for Skill Acquisition among Secondary School Students

Abstract

This study sought to identify the competency capacity building needs of teachers of agricultural science in the utilization of school farm for skill acquisition among secondary school students in Ondo State, Nigeria). Four research questions guided the study. The study adopted the survey research design. The population used was 422, made up of teachers of agricultural science in senior secondary schools in Ondo State and 46 lecturers of agricultural education in tertiary institutions in Ondo and Ekiti States. The entire population was used for the study, hence there was no sampling. A - 33 competency items questionnaire was developed and used for data collection. The questionnaire was validated by three experts from the Department of Vocational Teachers Education (Agricultural Education Unit), University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Cronbach alpha reliability method was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument. A reliability coefficient of 0.81 was obtained. 422 copies of the questionnaire were administered on the respondents and 406 copies were retrieved and analyzed using weighted mean and improvement need index (INI) to answer the research questions. It was found out that teachers of agricultural science in Ondo State needed capacity building in all the 33 competency items identified in the following areas, planning and organizing school farm, implementing school farm practical, coordinating and evaluating school farm practical. It was recommended, among others, that the competencies identified in this study should be utilized in organizing retraining programmes inform of seminars, workshop or long vacation courses for teachers of agricultural science in secondary schools in all states of the federation.