Research question
3: How available
and competent are the teachers compared to policy expectations?
The policy dictates that
three teachers be selected from each of the pilot schools to be trained
as the computer teaching personnel. These teachers should preferably
come from mathematics, physics or chemistry when specialists are not
readily available. One of each team of three teachers should be trained
as the lead teacher in each school. The government further directs that
qualified graduates in computer education should be employed in the
schools when possible. Table 3a indicates the teacher qualifications
that were observed.
Table
3a: Computer Teachers’ Qualifications
| Qualification |
Number |
Percentages |
Private
|
Public
|
Total |
Private
|
Public
|
Total |
| Computer Graduates |
3 |
9 |
12 |
11 |
33 |
22 |
Computer with
Education
Graduates |
3 |
6 |
9 |
11 |
22 |
17 |
| National Certificate
in Education (N.C.E.) |
3 |
2 |
5 |
11 |
8 |
9 |
| Degrees in
Allied Courses |
14 |
10 |
24 |
42 |
37 |
44 |
| Others (i.e.
OND/HND) |
4 |
0 |
4 |
15 |
0 |
7 |
| Total |
27 |
27 |
54 |
90 |
100 |
100 |
Twenty two percent (22%) of
the teachers have no teaching qualifications. The Computer with Education
Graduates are mainly those that have an education degree in other subject
areas but a postgraduate diploma in Computer Science. They constituted
17% of the computer teaching force. Holders of a National Certificate
in Education (N.C.E.) constituted the least while holders of degrees
in allied courses such as mathematics, physics, physics education, mathematics
education, economics and geography constituted the majority of the computer
teachers. Around 17% of teachers observed were truly qualified computer
education teachers.
Teachers of computer education
are expected to be proficient in LOGO and BASIC as these are the programming
languages stipulated by the policy. The number of teachers indicating
proficiency in these languages is stated in Table 3b.
Table 3b:
Computer Teachers’ Programming Language Proficiency
| Programming
Language |
Number |
Percentages |
Private
|
Public
|
Total |
Private
|
Public
|
Total |
| BASIC |
26 |
24 |
51 |
96 |
83 |
89 |
| LOGO |
0 |
5 |
5 |
0 |
17 |
9 |
| None |
1 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
| Total |
27 |
30 |
57 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
The majority of the teachers, whether private or public, are proficient
in BASIC programming. Very few teachers are proficient in LOGO programming.
Research Question
4: What type of
teacher development and training is available as compared to policy
provisions?
The policy views logistics
for training from two perspectives. First, the initial basic training
for teachers in pilot schools for the computer education take-off, which
was held between October 25th and December16th 1988, at the National
Teachers' Institute in Kaduna. The second is a refresher or improvement
course for computer teachers in schools. Less than 30% of the observed
teachers admitted having any in-service training. Around 75% of the
observed teachers in public schools and 66% of the observed teachers
in private schools expressed that they have had no in-service training
in computer education. Also, the in-service training promised by the
policy for all federal unity schools teachers on computer-aided instruction
was never held.
Research Question
5: To what extent are hardware maintenance, educational software,
and curriculum issues consistent with the policy?
The policy provides for routine
minor repairs and maintenance to be carried out by a limited number
of computer teachers on the computers. It further provides for maintenance
work to be carried out by technicians, giving unity schools regular
access to repair services. The policy directs that educational software
centers should be used to collect educational software for review and
evaluation and to develop educational software. No technical center
within the country has been established for service or equipment repair
and maintenance. Table 4 shows the regularity of computer maintenance
and repair in all the schools.
Table 4:
Computer Maintenance in Schools
| Computer
Maintenance |
Number |
Percentages |
Private
|
Public
|
Total |
Private
|
Public
|
Total |
Regularly maintained |
1 |
10 |
11 |
10 |
100 |
55 |
| Seldom maintained |
8 |
0 |
8 |
80 |
0 |
40 |
| Never maintained |
1 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
0 |
5 |
| Total |
10 |
10 |
20 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
Public school computers
were hardly ever maintained while the observed private schools reported
100% regular maintenance. Results further show that in the few cases
that maintenance was reported by public schools, that teachers were
the ones who carried out these repairs the majority of the time (60%),
however, sometimes computer firms were used (40%). Computer firms carried
out all of the maintenance reported by private schools.
With regard to educational
software, no software development or evaluation centre has been established.
Computer aided instruction does not happen in any of the public schools
but minimally exists in at least 10% of the private schools. Thus little
need (if any) is felt to procure any educational software. Even if the
need for educational software becomes apparent, inadequate funding becomes
a major inhibition.
Up until now, the
promised curriculum is yet to be made available to schoolteachers. What
is available in schools is the new computer education syllabus for JSS1
to SSS3, which is being limitedly implemented in public schools. The
content of the syllabus is however consistent with the policy aims and
objectives.
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