LEARNING FACILITIES AND THE TEACHING OF SCIENCE TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN EKITI STATE

Abstract

Education plays a crucial role in the development of a nation. The socio-political and economic development of a nation is in many ways determined by the quality and level of educational attainment of the citizens. It is upon this background that this study investigated learning facilities and the teaching of science in Ekiti State. The study adopted descriptive design of the survey type. The population consisted of Biology, Chemistry and Physics teachers in Ekiti State. 300 teachers teaching these three core science subjects were selected using multistage sampling procedure .The instrument used was a questionnaire tagged ‘The leaning facilities for the teaching of science questionnaire’. It was used to seek information whether the teaching facilities are enough for effective teaching and are well utilized by the teachers. The instrument was validated by experienced science teachers and their corrections were implemented. A reliability coefficient of 0.81 was obtained using test retest method. Two research questions were raised. The data generated were analyzed using descriptive analysis of frequency counts and percentages.The result of the finding showed that the facilities are not adequate enough to support teaching of science subjects. Also, it was revealed that the few facilities available were not utilized regularly by the science teachers due to paucity of power supply. It was recommended that the government should provide enough teaching facilities to the school. Also, teachers should be encouraged by organizing workshop on how to utilize the available facilities for effective teaching.