THE ASSESSMENT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PHYSICS SYLLABUS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In Nigeria, physics is taught as one of the science subject at the senior secondary school level, in order to familiarize them with the trend of modern developments which can be achieved if the physics syllabus is implemented effectively according to Ben Yunasa (2000) Therefore, objective of any level of education cannot be achieved if the planned programme for such level of education is not well implemented. Observing this, Onyeachu (2008) asserted that” no matter how well a curriculum of any subject is planned, designed and documented, implementation is important”. This is because the problem of most progamme arises at the implementation stage. Recognizing this, Babalola (2004) and Mkpa (2005) remarked that it is at the implementation stage that many excellent curriculum plans and other educational policies are marred without any trace.

According to Ohuhe (2001), if curriculum is not well implemented, all effort expended in the planning is waste.Also Shaaaba (2002) submitted that the success of any curriculum depends on how it is implemented. He also added that no matter how well a syllabus is designed if there is no proper implementation the question success will be a mirage. Having known that curriculum is the vehicles through which education is attained (Oorma 2005). Several authors has noted that national policy on education was well structure and the content were adequately defined but the implementation calls for question (Babafemi 2007;Dike 2009). Therefore, the judicious implementation of Physics syllabus contribute immensely to attaining technology advancement NPE (2004). Concept of curriculum implementation The term Curriculum implementation has been defined in different ways by different Scholars. Mkpa (1987) defines curriculum implementation as “the task of translating the curriculum document into the operating curriculum by the combine efforts of the students, teacher and others concerned. Garba (2004) viewed curriculum implementation as “putting the curriculum into work for the achievement of the goals for which the curriculum is designed. Okebukola (2004) described curriculum implementation as:” the translation of the objectives of the curriculum from paper to practice.” Ivowi (2004) defined curriculum implementation in a nut shell as “the translation of theory into practice or proposal into action. Onyeachu(2008) view curriculum implementation as the process of putting all that has been planned as curriculum document into practice in the class room through the combine effort of the teacher, leaner, school administrators, parent as well as interaction with physical facilities, instructional materials psychological and social environment.

Implementation issues in secondary education curriculum There are so many implementation issues affecting educational curriculum. All these include: 1. Provision of Facilities Facilities in the school system include; equipment, buildings furniture such as tables, chairs which enable the teacher to perform their work effectively. Etimatalor (2001) and Olokor (2006) noted that the issues of instructional facilities enhances learning experience and leads to interaction between the learning environments. The issues at stake are to what extent are these facilities provided for effective implementation of secondary education curriculum? Facilities are not provided adequately because what is found in most secondary schools in Nigeria are dilapidated buildings, leaking roofs, lack of chairs and tables for students and teacher use. Nwachuku (2005) remarked that the public sectors of education (secondary and primary levels has witnessed stagnation and decay.