AVAILABILITY OF QUALIFIED TEACHERS IN EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS STUDIES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background of the study

Christian Religious Studies (CRS) forms part of the basic national curriculum for Junior Secondary Schools this may be a surprising fact but it has come up to be the truth and nothing but the truth. Some individuals have linked religious with social habituation and they have also gone a long way to argue that it has no consign in either a working environment or a schools. At the same time, others believe CRS have to be about fostering students within a meticulous religious faith system. Over the years, CRS has actively been known to be a strong promoter of the values of genuineness fairness, honesty, deference for all and care of the environment CRS consign specific emphasis on children appreciating themselves and others, it teaches us the real responsibility of family and the community in religious principle and action, the contentment of diversity in society through of acknowledgment of their similarities and differences, and individual custodianship on earth. CRS is also acquainted with shilling environment of the general public, including transformations in religious practice and appearance and the authority of religion in the neighborhood, homes, state and in the universal society. The importance of teachers in teaching CRS cannot be overstressed. This is because teachers play a number of roles. Specifically, teachers have been referred to by Oyedeji (1998) as agents of innovation. For meaningful innovations, adequate availability of teachers' is very important. The complexity arises as a result of several factors which include determination of what effective teachers are: Teachers are expected to fulfill a variety of roles, some common to all teachers, others uniquely related to certain kinds of environment of students or subject matter. Added to this, is the fact that teacher education involves the training of professionals who will educate students in the future despite the complexity in the field of teacher education. One cannot overemphasize the importance of academic training of teachers of all categories. This is because the efficiency of any institution depends on the academic competence of the teaching staff since no educational system can- rise above the quality of its teacher (FGN, 1981 P.38). Teachers are important in any educational system. This is because the quality of teachers in any educational system determines to a great extent the quality of the system itself. Professional teachers in particular are crucial to the formulation and successful implementation to education policies in any country. This has explained why our National Policy on Education N.P.E. (2004) stressed the need to accord teacher education a prominent place in educational planning. The policy further maintained that among other things, the goal of teacher-education should be: To Peters (1977), quality is the basic and indispensable feature of a thing, which differentiates it from other things. The presence of that characteristic feature to a high degree marks it out as a "thing of high quality" on the other hand, the absence or the thing to a low quality status. For example, the characteristic of a high quality teacher relates to those attributes that enhance the fitness and efficiency of that teacher in performing the duties that are associated with teaching CRS. That is, a high quality CRS teacher is one who can competently achieve the objectives of teaching CRS in our schools. At this point it will be pertinent to state that a professional CRS teacher is a professionally prepared CRS teacher in contents and methods of teaching Christian Religious Studies, thereby acquiring a professional degree in education with special reference to any of the CRS subject. For example, a professional university degree teacher is expected to have B.Sc. (Rons) with a Post-Graduate Diploma in Religious Studies Any other teacher with qualifications outside the above one can be categorized as a non-professional CRS teacher. There is greater demand for highly creative and innovative teachers in Nigeria today who can lead students onto paths of meaningful learning. An effective and efficient teacher is also one of the necessary factors to effective instruction in all subjects including Christian religious studies. Adequate supply of effective and efficient teachers to teach on senior and junior secondary has been one of the major reoccurring problems in the Nigerian educational sector. Other problems include the outdated nature of the curriculum, controversial nature of the subjects and poor methods of instruction. Religious studies lay emphasis on factual examination oriented approach and religious dogmas. According to WesterHoff (1978), though the name Religious Studies has been used most frequently, there is no complete or consistent agreement on what the word mean or what it refers to. Today, there is less concurrence than ever before. Scott (1980) says that no consensus exists today on the nature, scope and role of Religious Studies. The above named scholar believe that current search to identify revolves around different usage of key terms like Religious Education, Religious Knowledge, Religious and Moral Instruction. Other problem is that since Religion deals with values, judgments and feelings, everyone in the society will agree with it. The implications of the above is that the controversial nature of the subject, lack of consistent linguistic discourse and the unstable pattern of conversation currently going on in the field have contributed to making the subject difficult and technical.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It has been observed that the effect of non-availability of qualified teachers in the teaching of Christian Religious Studies in Schools has been of positive or negative impact to the teaching and learning process. Some problems has been identified to be the possible cause. It was revealed that there had been a serious reduction in the enrolment of students in the subject at secondary schools level and tertiary institution of learning due to the fact that some teachers acquired their certificate through various means. In most educational institutions, teachers that are not trained to teach subjects such as CRS are made to do so thereby not giving the students the required training and knowledge about that particular subject. Sofowora (2002) also states that not all media materials that are available are technically suitable for use in teaching. He emphasized the need for training teachers in the art and craft of design selection production and use of appropriate needs. The required skills in the area mentioned above can only be acquired through Educational Technology. One of the major concerns of Educational Technology is the quest for effective instruction which is reflected in its definition. The achievement of effective and efficient teaching and learning in schools has been one of the perennial problems in education. However, the problems facing the quality and adequacy of the availability of manpower for the effective teaching of Christian Religious Studies has generated a lot of concern among scholars such as Alaba (2008); and Adeyemi and Aviomoh (2003). In Nigeria, the shortage of qualified teachers has been reported (Adeyemi and Aviomoh, 2003). These shortages have been attributed to the low salaries and social prestige given to teachers (Aghenta, 2001). Also, the free education policy of the Lagos State government tends to have compounded the problems in secondary schools perhaps as a result of insufficient funds to employ adequate teachers and to run the schools. This problem is believed to have effect on students' performance in the subject. For instance, in spite of the acknowledgement of the importance of Christian Religious Studies to the society and laying of solid foundation for students, the performance of students in subject shows that this has not been properly achieved. Based on the highlighted problems, this study will focus on the effect of non-availability of qualified teachers in the teaching anti learning of Christian religious studies in public schools

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are;

1.   To ascertain the impact of non availability of qualified teachers in teaching of CRS

2.   To ascertain the relationship between qualified teachers in CRS and academic performance of student

3.   To ascertain the role play by the CRS in the life of  a student

1.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher; 

H0: there is no relationship between qualified teachers in CRS and academic performance of student

.H1: there is a relationship between qualified teachers in CRS and academic performance of student

H02: there is no impact of non availability of qualified teachers in teaching of CRS.

H2: there is impact of non availability of qualified teachers in teaching of CRS.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study would be beneficial to students, teachers, religious instructors, curriculum planners, educational administrators, researchers and textbook authors. To students, the study would help to improve their understanding of CRS and thus adjust properly in the society through active participation in the classroom leaning which stimulate their interest and change the negative perceptions they already have in learning CRS and this invariably help them to develop the affective domain of knowledge in secondary schools. They would equally perform better in internal and external examinations without depending on examination malpractice which have been the problem in the educational sectors. This is because the student stands a chance of becoming masters on their own through involvement in different roles in the classroom. The findings of the study would help teachers to have an insight into the meaning, application and problems of using role play method of teaching and thus change their method when the need arises for proper students’ achievement and interest in CRS in secondary schools. The relevance of effective method in the implementation of Christian religious studies in secondary school would be made known to teachers as they are the chief implementer of planned curriculum of schools. This could be done by teachers observing the students performing their roles and equally identifies the individual’s problem in using the method in the teaching and learning of CRS in secondary schools

 1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers availability of qualified teachers in effective teaching and learning of Christian religious studies in public schools. The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;

 a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study     

b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

c) Organizational privacy: Limited Access to the selected auditing firm makes it difficult to get all the necessary and required information concerning the activities. 

 1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

NON-AVAILABILITY: The state of not being available, free, or able to be used.

QUALIFIED: Officially recognized as being trained to perform a particular job; certified.

TEACHER: A person who teaches, especially in a school.

TEACHING: The occupation, profession, or work of a teacher.

LEARNING:   The   acquisition   of knowledge   or   skills   through   study, experience, or being taught.

CHRISTIAN: Relating to or professing Christianity or its teachings.

 RELIGIOUS: Relating to or believing in a religion.

STUDIES: The devotion of time and attention to gaining knowledge of an academic subject, especially by means of books.

1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study