Teachers’ Awareness of the Value Component of the National Policy on Education in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigerians as a people are in dire need of value re-orientation in order to stem the tide of negative social values that are bedevilling the country. Education has crucial role to play in the efforts towards value regeneration and reorientation because the youth of the nation spend their formative years in the school system. This study investigated the level of secondary school teachers’ awareness of the National Policy on Education (NPE) with regard to the value components of the Policy. A descriptive survey design was employed to collect data for the study, using a sample of 301 secondary school teachers in Kano state, Nigeria. The data collection instrument was a self-developed and validated 16 items questionnaire. Data collected through the instruments were analysed using SPSS 20; descriptive statistics (Frequency, Percentage, Mean, and Standard Deviation) and inferential statistics (i.e., Independent sampled t-test and One-Way ANOVA) were used to analyse the data. Findings reveal that, the secondary schools teachers have no access to the NPE document and possess moderate level of awareness of the value component of NPE. Similarly, there is no significant difference in the teachers’ level of awareness with respect to gender, qualifications and teaching experiences. Based on the findings of this study it can be concluded that, the secondary school teachers have limited access to the NPE documents and irrespective of their gender, qualifications and years of teaching experience possess moderate level of awareness of the value component of NPEs in Kano state. It is therefore recommended among others that, relevant authorities should provide more copies of the latest edition of the NPE in school libraries; In-service training of teachers should include sensitization on the contents and relevance of the policy document to their work as teachers. Moreover, in-service training of teachers should include inculcation of skills of identifying the value components of school subjects and the retraining should be all-inclusive to accommodate teachers of all cadres.