A STUDY OF SERVICES AND PROBLEMS OF THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION.

A STUDY OF SERVICES AND PROBLEMS OF THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

The success of an educational enterprise particularly in terms of quality depends to a large extent, on the regular supply of teachers in adequate quantity and quality. In the National Policy on Education, the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1981) also asserts that no nation can achieve economic, social and technological progress and self-sufficiency without a good system of education to sustain its achievement. The training and production of the manpower required for the attainment of national objectives should be framed on the quality and quantity of teachers.

Fafunwa (1974) stressed the dependency of manpower training and development on teachers. He argues that teacher education should be basically related to every phase of development in Nigeria, for wherever one turns, be it economic, political or social spheres

of activities, one is faced with the over-reoccurring problem of trained manpower needs but no adequate training can take place without competent teachers to handle the programme.

The school system in Nigeria is often influenced by the constant changes that are occurring within the political institutions. The ability of the stakeholders and actors within the educational system to adapt to the organizational changes has attracted attention in the last decade. Currently, there is controversy as to the nature, pattern and methods of training teachers in the country. At the centre of the controversy is the confusion over the role of the educational administrators in secondary schools.

Teaching involves the use of wide body of knowledge about the subject being taught. Teachers at all levels of the educational system are very important in the overall development of any nation. Teachers’ education is the process which nurtures prospective teachers and updates qualified teachers’ knowledge and skills in the form of continuous professional development. It is on this basis that the educational administrators play several roles in teacher education in Nigeria. The terms, teachers training in this study is used interchangeably with teachers education. Teachers’ education revolves around the policies and procedures designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitude, behaviour and skills required in the performance of effective duties in the classrooms and in other social gatherings including churches. Teachers’ education is often divided into three stages namely:

The previous processes and stages of professional development of teachers constitute the concept of teacher training and/or teacher education. In fact, there has been a long standing and ongoing debate about the most appropriate term to describe teacher education and educational administrators. This is due to the fact that teaching involves the use of wide body of knowledge about the subject being thought and another set of knowledge about the most effective ways to teach that subject to students at any level of the education system in the country.

The teacher stands out as one the most important factors determining the quality of education and its contributions to national development. At every level people who go to school look on the teacher for the acquisition of the necessary skills to enable them become what they want to be. Thus, students often look on the personal qualities, their educational qualities and professional competence which are rewarding to the learners. It is on this note that the role of educational administrators in assisting teachers to help students achieve the objective of instructions in their various fields of endeavor stands paramount and a challenge in the 21st century. How should the teacher present himself in order to get his message across? How can he communicate effectively in the class? Under what kind of environment can the message get across? What pedagogical approaches are effective? These among other question are of interest not only to students and teachers but also to school administrators (Onuoha, 1975).

Accordingly, the principal is regarded as the chief executive of the school who is responsible for all that happens in the school (Nakpodia, 2006). As the chief executive, the principal assigns duties to those who could perform the duties though all responsibilities still resides in him as the accounting officer. It is in this regard that Babayemi noted that the position of the principal as involving the control of human and material resources of the school. The position of the principal in the school is so important to the extent that the school cannot exist without that position. Babayemi further noted that the principal is the supervisory manager; school climate developer and change facilitator. Akpa opined that the principal is a human resources manager and a liaison and public relations officer as well as an instructional leader. Obemeata describes the principal as a manger, administrator, an exemplary leader, a counsellor, a public officer, a building contractor, a nurse and even a messenger.

1.2 Statement of Problem

When the issue of Nigeria educational system today is raised, the first sets of thoughts that comes to mind are: decline in standard, deterioration of facilities, examination malpractices, mass promotion syndrome and the like before any other thing else. This calls for an in-depth study and analysis aimed at tutoring each and every stakeholders in the education system on how their actions and inactions have individually and collectively contributed to the collapsing state of education in Nigeria. In any case, knowledge and skill acquisition which education is all about cannot be over emphasized. According to the World Bank (1999: 25), "successful development entails more than investing in physical capital, or closing the gap in capital. It also entails acquiring and using knowledge as well as closing the gaps in knowledge". Thus, to successfully confront the challenges of development, a developing country must undertake three major tasks:

*     Acquired and adapt global knowledge and create knowledge locally.

*     Invest in human capital to increase the ability to absorb and use knowledge; and

*     Invest in technologies to facilitate both acquisition and the absorption of knowledge. Similarly, Fafunwa (1979:26) defines

education as "the aggregate of all the processes

by which a child or adult develops the abilities, attitudes and other forms of behaviour which are of positive value to the society in which he lives, that is to say, it is a process of dissemina­ting knowledge either to ensure social control or to guarantee rational direction of the society or both."

Going by these explanation as to what education is, in relation to the state of education and its process in the country today as well as the attitude of its providers-Government at all levels and private investors; one with interest will be compelled to ask such questions as what has actually gone wrong considering the enormity of its effect on the output from the system in the area of productivity and the degree of acceptance in the labour market and educational institutions, especially outside the country. Response however, will be its militating factors stemming from the incidence of examination malpractice - poor facilities - indiscriminate mass promotion syndrome in schools. The causes of these could be traced to

(i)  Government insensitivity to education needs

(ii)   Government and private institutions open encouragement of low productivity and (iii) the lack of the spirit of hard-work among growing number of students. Attempts will be made in this paper to examine the aforementioned problems and mitigations suggested.

1.3 Objective of the study

The aim of this research work is to evaluate services and problems of the college of education in Nigeria with particular reference to Technical Enugu state Library. The specific objectives of this research work include the following;

1.   To evaluate the services of college of education in Nigeria.

2.   To examine the impact of college of education in the development of Nigerian Educational system.

3.   To examine the contribution of college of education in the economic growth of Nigeria.

4.   To identify the challenges of college of education in Nigeria. And also proffer possible solutions to the problems identified.

1.4 Research Questions

Based on the above objectives, the researcher asked the following questions;

1.   What are the services of college of education in Nigeria?

2.   To what extent does college of education impact on the development of Nigerian Educational system?

3.   Does college of education contribute to the economic growth of Nigeria?

4.   What are the challenges of college of education in Nigeria?

1.5 Significance Of The Study

This research work will be of immense help to:

The Researcher: it will help the researcher to know more on theservices and problems of the college of education in Nigeria.

Students: It will also be of great importance to students as it will enrich their knowledge on the services and problems of the college of education.

Nigeria: This study will be of great importance to the country Nigeria as it will help the policy makers to prorogate laws that will guide and enhance Nigerian educational system. 

1.6   Scope of the Study

The study shall focus on the services and problems of the college of education in Nigeria with particular reference to Technical Enugu state Library.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

The researcher in carrying out this study encountered numerous problems, which includes:

FUND – This included lack of enough fund to move around and visit the institution, the researcher has to visit the institution more than two times, the researcher equally needed enough money to source material which constitutes an impediment. High cost of transportation in the city due to long distance also imposed its own limitation on the researcher.

LACK OF RESEARCH MATERIALS: lack of research materials was also one of the problems faced by the researcher in the cause of this research work.

RESPONDS OF THE RESPONDENTS: Another constraint to the researcher is that some of the respondents found it difficult to express their view with regards to the subject matter. 

From the above points the researcher tried her best to bring out in detailed study on the services and problems of the college of education in Nigeria but the above constraints have limited the researcher to only Technical Enugu state Library.