STUDY OF NIGERIA CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION (NCE) TEACHERS FULFILLMENT GOALS IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NORTHWEST GEOPOLITICAL DISTRICT OF NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study assessed the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) teachers‟ attainment goals for Junior Secondary Schools Northwest Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. The study was conducted to find out NCE teachers‟ attainment goals in junior secondary schools (JSS). Five (5) research objectives were designed which aimed to assess: the NCE teachers attainment goals in production of highly motivated quality teachers; the NCE teachers attainment goals in enhancing spirit of enquiry and creativity to teachers; the NCE teachers‟ attainment goals of helping teachers to fit into social life of the immediate community; the NCE teachers attainment goal of enhancing intellectual and skills acquisition by teachers; and NCE teachers attainment goals of inculcating commitment to national objectives; in junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria. The study postulated five (5) research questions and five (5) research hypotheses which are both in line with the research objectives. Appropriate literatures were reviewed and theoretical framework for the study was built on the theory of teacher training model. The research adopted descriptive survey research design. Two instruments were used; a questionnaire and structured interview. The target population was twenty-six thousand four hundred and forty (26,440) while the sample size is three hundred and eighty (380) which comprises of one hundred and seventy-six (176) JSS teachers, sixty-four (64) junior secondary school principals, sixty-eighty (68) SUBEBS officials and seventy-two (72) lecturers of NCE programme. These groups formed the respondents of questionnaire and the structured interviewed. The research questions were analyzed using percentages, frequency, means and standard deviation while non parametric statistic of Wilcoxon sign rank test was used to test the five (5) hypotheses. The structured interview was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The outcome of the hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance revealed that null hypotheses one (1), two (2) and four (4) were rejected while three (3) and five (5) null hypotheses were accepted and retained. The study discovered that the pedagogical relevance of NCE goals of (JSS) in producing highly quality teachers‟ in teaching job was dissatisfactory, the level of spirit of inquiry and creativity is low, and in terms of intellectual and skills acquisition is also discouraging based on respondents opinions. The study concluded that the training received during NCE programme did not adequately produce high quality classroom teachers, with high spirit of enquiry and creativity and enhanced knowledge and skills to instruct the students at junior secondary schools in the geopolitical zone. It recommended that the teacher training institutions should review their curricula and the pedagogical contents of the NCE curriculum programme be improved in order to address the issue of ineffectiveness of teachers, particularly, in the aspect of intellectual and skills exhibition during lesson delivery.

             

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Content                                                                                                                  Page

Cover Page                                                                                                                  i

Title page           ii Declaration           iii

Certification                                                                                                             iv

Dedication                                                                                                                 v

Aknowledgements                                                                                                    vi

Abstract                                                                                                                 viii

Table of contents                                                                                                      ix

List of Tables                                                                                                          xii

List of Abreviations                                                                                                 xv

List of Appendices                                                                                                  xvi

Operational Definition of Terms                                                                             xvii

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION                                                                             1

1.1        Background to the study                                                                                                            1

1.2        Statement of the Problem                                                                                                          6

1.3        Objectives of the Study                                                                                                              8

1.4        Research Questions                                                                                                                     8

1.5         Hypotheses                                                                                                                                     9

1. 6    Basic Assumptions          10
   • Significance of the Study 11
   • Scope of the Study 13

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE                                         15

• Introduction 15
• Theoretical Framework 16
• Historical Perspective of Teacher Education and .

Pedagogical Preparation of (NCE) Goals                                                                         17

• Concept of Pedagogy in Teacher Education 28 5        Concept of Attainment Goals            52
• Pedagogical Components in NCE Teachers‟ .

Preparation and Teacher Attainment Goals                                                                      55

• Evolution of the NCE Programme and its Goals and Objectives 60
  • Current State of the NCE Programmes 65
  • Position of NCCE on NCE Teachers‟ Attainment Goals 76

2. 3 Prospects of the NCE Curriculum           77
3. 4 The Pedagogical Content of NCE Programmes and               .

Teacher attainment Goals                                                                                                       78

2.8        Quality Teachers and Pedagogical Relevance                                                                 86

2. 8.1 NCE Teachers‟ Methodological Competencies                                                               95
3. 8. 2 Evaluative Competences of NCE Teachers                                                                    101
4. 3 NCE Teachers‟ Information and Communication          .

Technology (ICT) Competence                                                                                          104

2.9                                                Teacher‟ Pedagogical Relevance and Adaptability                .

to fit into Social Life of Immediate Community                                                          108

2. 9. 1 Teachers‟ Communication Skills 111 2.9.2          Assessment of teachers by the study groups          113
3. 10 Assessment of Nigeria Junior Secondary School .

Teachers on Pedagogical Relevance                                                                                130

• 1 Principals‟ Assessment of secondary school teachers 131

2.10. 2 Teachers‟ Self-Assessment                                                                                                  134

2.10. 3  Supervisors, Principals and Teachers‟ Self                  .

Assessment on Pedagogical Relevance                                                                           140

• Techniques of Assessing Educational Pedagogical .

Relevance in Teacher Education                                                                                       143

• The Concept of Relevance in Teacher Education 143
• Needs Assessment Models 146
• Groupings of Needs Assessment Models 149

• Overview of Junior Secondary Education in the Northwest .

Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria                                                                                              151

• Curriculum of the Junior Secondary Schools 151

2. 2 Standard of Junior Secondary Education in the Geopolitical Zone               154
   • Supply of Quality Teachers for Junior Secondary School in Nigeria 173
   • Empirical Studies 175
   • Summary 201

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY                                                204

• Introduction 204
• Research Design 204
• Population 205
• Sample and Sampling Techniques 206
• Instrumentation 208
  • Validity of the Instruments 209
  • Pilot Study 209
  • Reliability of the Instrument 209
• Procedure for Data Collection 210
• Procedures for Data Analysis 210

CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION                                                   211

• Introduction 211
• Descriptive analysis 211
• Research Questions 217
• Inferential Analysis (Hypotheses Testing) 222
• Summary of Findings 230
• Discussion of Findings 232

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, COONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS      246

• Summary 246
• Conclusion 249
• Recommendations 250
• Implication of Findings 251
• Contribution to Knowledge 252
• Suggestions for further Research 252

REFERENCES                                                                                                         254

Appendices                256

 

 

 

 

	LIST OF TABLES
Table 1	Breakdown of Study Population	195
Table 2:	Study sample using Krejcie and Morgan table	197
Table 3:	Distribution of respondents by: status	204
Table 4:	Distribution of respondents by sex	201
Table 5:	Distribution of respondents by: Marital status	201
Table 6:	Distribution of respondents by: Location	202
Table 7:	Distribution of respondents by: teaching qualification	203
Table 8:	Distribution of respondents by: institution the NCE
	certificate were obtained	203
Table 9:	Distribution of respondents by: years of teaching
	experience	204
Table 10:	Distribution of respondents by: highest educational
	qualification	204
Table 11:	Stakeholders Opinions on the of NCE teachers attainment
	goal to produce highly motivated quality classroom
	teachers for junior secondary schools	205
Table 12:	Stakeholders Opinions on of NCE teachers attainment goal to enhance the spirit of enquiry and creativity in
	teachers of junior secondary school	20
Table 13:	Stakeholders Opinions on the of NCE teachers attainment

Goal to help teachers of junior secondary schools                         teachers to fit into the immediate community

in Northwest Geopolitical zone, Nigeria                                      207 Table 14: Stakeholders Opinions on the NCE teachers attainment goal                        to enhance intellectual and skills acquisition to teachers of

junior secondary schools                                                                207

Table 15:         Stakeholders Opinions on the NCE teachers attainment                                of inculcating commitment to national objectives of

Teachers of junior secondary schools                                             208

Table 16:         Stakeholders Opinions on the teachers attainment NCE

Teachers attainment of inculcating commitment                           to national objectives of teachers of junior secondary                            schools                                              209

Table 17:         Analysis of stakeholders opinions on ranking of the                           NCE teachers attainment goals on enhancing spirit of                          enquiry and creativity and their rating of teachers                          pedagogical performance (competence) in the junior                         secondary schools of northwest geopolitical zone,

Nigeria (determined using the non-parametric statistic

test of Wilcoxon).	211
Table 18:         Analysis of stakeholders Opinions on ranking of the

NCE teachers attainment goals on teachers fit into

Social life of the immediate community and their rating                        of teachers pedagogical performance (competence) in                        the junior secondary        schools of northwest geopolitical                        zone, Nigeria (determined using Wilcoxon signed

rank test                                                                                           212

Table 19:         Analysis of stakeholders opinions on ranking of the

NCE teachers attainment goals on ensuring intellectual                          and skills acquisition and their rating of teachers                          pedagogical performance (competence) in the junior                          secondary schools of Northwest geopolitical zone,                        Nigeria (determined using the non-parametric statistics

test of Wilcoxon)                                                                             214

Table 20:         Analysis of stakeholders of Opinions on ranking of the                                NCE teachers attainment goals on teachers commitment                             to national objectives and the rating of teachers pedagogical                 performance (competence) in the junior secondary schools of                      northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria (using Kruskal Wallis)      215 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CA	Continuous Assessment
ESFES	Evaluation scale for An Educational System
FGC	Federal Government College
FMOE	Federal Ministry of Education
FVPG	Functional Values of the Pedagogical goals
GCE	General Certificate of Education
HND	Higher National Diploma
ICT	Information and Communication Technology
IPG	Importance of the Pedagogical Goals
JAMB	Joint Admission and Matriculation Board
JSCE	Junior Secondary Certificate Examination
LISP	Learning in Science Project
MLA	Measuring Learning and Achievement
NECO	National Examination Commission
NEDS	Nigeria Education Data Survey
NCE	Nigeria Certificate in Education
NCCE	National Commission for Colleges of Education
NPE	National Policy on Education
NTI	National Teachers Institute
NUC             National University Commission PCK               Pedagogical Content Knowledge PES                Primary Education Studies

SUBEB           State Universal Basic Education Board

TEAC             Teacher Education Accreditation Council

 

 

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix A: Research Questionnaires	256
Appendix B: Data Processing Output (Reliability) Appendix C: Respondents‟ Rating of Pedagogical goals to Teacher in	268
Junior Secondary School	275
Appendix D: Respondents‟ Rating of Pedagogical goals on the basis of
importance	278
Appendix E: Respondents‟ Rating of Pedagogical goals on the basis of
Importance	282
Appendix F: Data Processing Output (Data Analysis)	287
Appendix G: Manual for Training of Research Assistants	317

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

The terms used in the study are operationally defined below:

Attainment goal: organizational attainments that portray an organization‟s effectiveness, in relation to the organizations‟ pre-defined objectives or goals

NCE Teacher Attainment Goals: Achieved performance of NCE teachers in

Nigeria junior secondary schools in relation to NCE goals prescribed in the

National Policy of Education

Assessment: Achieved performance of NCE teachers in process of analyzing events which allows for decision making 

Curriculum: A programme of experience utilized by the school to attain the aims of   education.

Curriculum of teacher education: A programme of all experiences utilized by teacher training institutions to train qualified teachers for teaching at certain level of schooling.

Liberal education: Education directed chiefly towards the broadening of the mind, not specifically to professional or technical need.

Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) programme: Nigerian teacher education programme offered by Nigerian colleges of education and other qualified institutions for the production of well-trained teachers, mainly outside the university.

Needs: The gap between the present state of an individual or society or both, on the one hand, and the desirable objectives concerning the two together on the other hand

Needs assessment: a formal process which determines the gap between current output or outcome and required outcome or output, places these gaps in the priority order, and selects the most important for solution

Needs assessment models: systematically planned procedures and tools for the assessment of  needs

Professional demands of teachers: such professional education and training the teachers need so as to equip them with the ability to carry out their teaching job properly

Junior secondary education: knowledge, attitude, and skills provided by schools during the first three years between primary and tertiary levels of learning Relevance: a situation in which educational curriculum corresponds to an existing need in the society

Teacher education: the accomplishment of the guidelines described by an educational authority for producing qualified individuals expected to educate children for all educational systems

Teaching fields: subject of specialization the teachers are trained to teach at the relevant levels of education

Teaching profession: teachers‟ occupation for which they are trained and employed in normal circumstances

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Effective, efficient, and well-motivated teachers‟ are without doubt

prerequisite to the continued advancement of any nation in all fields of life. The production of such teachers is on the other hand predicated upon a sound training, which must be relevant to the teacher‟s own professional and specific pedagogical requirements. According to Aron (2012), teachers as professionals need training which addresses their own professional and hence pedagogical demands of teaching. The professional demands of teachers are usually in subject of specialization, general knowledge, and pedagogy, to equip them with the ability to educate children in the right way in order that the children may grow up as educated men and women and as useful citizens of the state. They maintain that preparation of good teachers rests upon a broad and liberal education and specialization in the subject to be taught, in addition to professional knowledge and skills, high level of spirit of enquiry and creativity, ability to fit into social life of the immediate community for the performance of teaching assignment and proper exhibition of commitment to national objectives as prescribed or promulgated by the federal government of Nigeria in the National Policy on Education (2004).

The National Policy states that that all categories of teachers will be trained and that the teacher education programmes will be structured so as to equip teachers for the effective performance of their duties. The policy, among other things, aims at providing teachers with the intellectual and professional background adequate for their assignment and at making them adaptable to any changing situation, not only in the life of their country but also in their world. It also aims at encouraging further the spirit of enquiry and creativity in teachers. Colleges of education in the country are among the institutions charged by the policy, with the responsibility of giving such training.

Some educationists maintain that the NCE programme is associated with both quantitative and qualitative shortfalls in its products (Adeyanju, 2008). It is said that the products of this programme are in some cases trained by educated but untrained persons. The teacher training courses in the colleges of education are also observed to be below standard (Akintobi, 2007). One other observation (Akintobi, 2007) is that Nigerian teachers, the NCE graduates inclusive, are professionally conservative, isolated, and lacking in the ability to implement curriculum changes due to limitations imposed by the teachers‟ academic abilities among other things. It is also observed that the NCE programme‟s original concept has rapidly disappeared (Adesina, 2008). There is even the popular belief that the standard of teacher today, including the NCE holders, is by common knowledge, inferior to the old. In fact, even the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) is itself of the view that perform poorly in primary and junior secondary schools of the country (Federal Ministry of Education/National Commission for Colleges of Education, Abuja, 2013). These and other similar observations made the present research to wonder whether the NCE teachers‟ attainment goals are actually up to expectation and whether the NCE certificate is of much relevance as far as teaching in the nation‟s junior secondary schools is concerned. There is no doubt that there is the need to clarify this point and fill the existing gap with an empirical research, hence, the present study.

The term attainment goals technically refer to those organizational attainments that portray an organization‟s effectiveness, in relation to the organizations‟ pre-defined objectives or goals (Bowen, Rawlins & Martin, 2013). According to Bowen, Rawlins & Martin (2013), an organization‟s effectiveness has been defined in terms of attaining goals and the more efficiently and effectively an organization can achieve its goals, the more successful it is according to this approach. Tyler‟s goal attainment model, sometimes called the objectives-centered model as one such a model, is designed to measure the degree to which pre-defined objectives and goals have been attained. It also focuses primarily on the product rather than the process for achieving the goals and objectives of the curriculum. The model is therefore product focused which evaluates the degree to which the pre-defined goals and objectives have been attained (Fundi, 2016). The present study hence focuses on the products of NCE programme, to determine the quality of the programme‟s products in the light of the pogramme‟s goals which include: production of high quality classroom teachers; teachers with high level of spirit of enquiry and creativity; teachers that can fit into social life of the immediate community; teachers with sound intellect and skills; And, teachers that are well committed to national objectives.

Inadequacy of qualified teachers is only one of the multiple problems the educational system of Nigeria is facing today. According to Odiva and

Omofonmwan (2007), education in Nigeria is bisected with myriad‟s of problems which include poor funding and thus poor educational infrastructures, inadequate classrooms, teaching aids (projectors, Computers, Laboratories and libraries), paucity of quality teachers and poor or polluted learning environment. They also observed that in addition to these problems, the educational system is plagued with numerous social vices such as examination malpractices, cultism, hooliganism, and corruption. Now that the Federal Government of Nigeria has adopted education as an instrument par excellence for effecting national development, adequate supply of effective teacher becomes necessary because there is a direct link between the quality of education and the quality of teacher. According to Abduliahi and Onasanya (2010), this view is adequately reflected in the national policy on education in section 9:59 on the purpose of teacher education. The National Implementation Committee for the National Policy on Education has observe that the purpose of teacher education seems to suggest that the real value of sound educational policies lies in its effective implementation and it is the teacher in the final analysis who transforms theory into practice. As  Ukeje in Abduliahi and Onasanya (2010) explained, the system of training teachers should be the keystone of any national system of education, especially in a rapidly developing country like Nigeria and the that effectiveness of teacher training will be the main determining factor in the success or failure of education to meet that country’s needs.

The history of Nigerian education has it in record that at the onset of western education in Nigeria, much attention was not paid to the training and certification of teachers. The situation was so bad that they were using the mentoring system in which the senior pupils were used to teach the junior classes.

Osokoya (2008) has observed that the 1887 education ordinance was the first to provide for the need to train, examine, and certify teachers, thereby beginning to shape a profession for teachers and that every other ordinance or policy after the

1887 ordinance has been building and improving on this. She also reported Yoloye (2007) to have observed that every educational programme that had ever been designed in the country (especially at the primary school level) had been identified to face the problem of unqualified and incompetent teachers. This situation could be attributed to a combination of factors including relatively low remuneration and recognition for teachers, and the cumulative effect of several years of neglect of the educational system prior to 1999, as indicated in reduced funding. This had adverse effects on the facilities and equipment for teaching at all levels, which also had effects on the quality of the products of the educational institutions, including the teachers (Obe, 2007).

The present research work is entitled “Assessment of Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE) teachers‟ attainment goals in Junior Secondary Schools Teachers of Northwest Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria”. It attempts to find out the teachers‟ attainment to NCE goals in junior secondary schools in North West Geopolitical zone of Nigeria. The NCE teachers‟ productivity (performance) or attainment goals should correspond with the goals of NCE curriculum programme (Ekpo, 2005), and any discrepancy between the two indicates a need. In the educational context, a need is a discrepancy between acceptable state of affairs and an observed state of affairs. In the context of the present research therefore, performance would mean the extent to which a discrepancy exists between the ratings, by the selected study groups, of the attainment of NCE goals by teachers of junior secondary schools (JSS) and the NCE training on the one hand, acquired in teachers training institutions.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The federal government of Nigeria, realizing the importance of teacher education in the advancement of knowledge, morals, skills, and manpower essential for national development has undertaken to accord major emphasis to teacher education in its development and planning (National Policy on Education, 2004). On the other hand, the quality of Nigerian teachers has been observed to leave much to be desired. Qualified teachers and instructional materials, as well as funding remain inadequate, not to talk about abysmal results in public examinations, a fact acknowledged by a one-time minister of education (Olatunji, 2010). This problem of inadequacy of qualitative teaching force cuts across all levels of learning, and affects all types of teachers in the country, including those with National Certificate in Education (NCE) as their teaching qualification. One other observed problem of the NCE curriculum is that new areas of knowledge and need that have been made to be part of the basic education programme like information and communication technology (ICT), sexuality education and

HIV/AIDS education, are not part of the current NCE curriculum (Atahiru, 2008).

This study therefore seeks to identify how the NCE training is perceived to have enabled the teachers that have acquired it discharge their teaching assignment in junior secondary schools of northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria.

In other words, the study wants to identify how holders of NCE certificate are perceived in attaining the NCE goals in junior secondary schools of northwest geopolitical zone of the country.

NCE teachers‟ performance should correspond to the goals of the NCE

training they received, as envisaged by the national policy on education. This, in the context of the present research, would mean the absence of any gap between the goals of the NCE programme and the level of attainment of the NCE teachers in the junior secondary schools. Such goals include the production of highly motivated teachers with knowledge and pedagogical skills; teachers that can exhibit high level of spirit of enquiry and creativity in their teaching job; teachers that can effectively fit into social life of the immediate community in discharging their responsibilities as teachers; and, teacher‟s with high level of commitment to national objectives. The attainment of these NCE goals is doubtful with the present crops of NCE teachers teaching in junior secondary schools of northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Unlike the present research, the existing literatures that discuss the NCE programme do not usually compare the goals of the programme with its outcomes. As early as 2000, Ogbonna (2007) observed that this approach was virtually unknown to the Nigeria colleges of education. He followed the above approach in order to assess the perceived educational goals and needs of the Nigerian certificate in education programme but unlike the present researcher, he selected NCE students and their teachers, most of whom had no real contact with teaching and learning environment in the Nigeria junior secondary schools, for his study. Many other related studies that followed that of

Afolayan in this area do not usually discuss the teachers‟ productivity by comparing the goals of the NCE programme with its outcomes.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The general objective of this research is to assess Nigeria certificate in Education (NCE) teachers‟ attainment goals in junior secondary schools in Northwest Geopolitical zone, Nigeria. In specific terms, the research aims at attaining the following objectives, to;

• assess the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) teachers‟ attainment goal of producing high quality classroom teachers for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria.
• find out the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal of spirit of enquiry and creativity, for junior secondary schools of northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria.
• explore the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal of ability to fit into the social life for the immediate community of junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria.
• determine the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal of intellectual and skills acquisition for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria.
• assess the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal of commitment to national objectives, for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions were posed to guide the study:

1. What is the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal of high quality classroom

teachers for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria?

2. What is the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal of spirit of enquiry and

creativity, for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria?

3. To what extent has the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal of fitting into the social life of the immediate community for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria, been attained?
4. What is the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal of intellectual and skills

acquisition, for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria?

5. What is the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal of commitment to

national objectives, for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria?

         1.5    Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were postulated to guide the study:

• there is no significant difference between the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal and production of high quality classroom teachers for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria.
• there is no significant difference between the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal and the spirit of enquiry and creativity of teachers for junior secondary schools of northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria.
• there is no significant difference between the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal and the NCE teachers‟ fitting into the life of the immediate community, for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria.
• there is no significant difference between the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal and intellectual and skills acquisition of teachers, for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria.
• there is no significant difference between the NCE teachers‟ attainment goal and the teachers‟ commitment to national objectives, for junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria.

1. 6 Basic Assumptions

The research is based upon the following assumptions:

1. Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) goals have enhanced the production of high quality classroom teachers of junior secondary schools in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria
2. Teachers of junior secondary schools possessed the spirit of enquiry and creativity as a result of training received during NCE programme.
3. The NCE goals have tremendously helped teachers of junior secondary schools to fit into social life of the immediate community in northwest geopolitical zone, Nigeria.
4. Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) goals have enhanced the equipping of teachers of junior secondary schools with knowledge and skills to meet up their responsibilities of teaching and learning.
5. Nigeria certificate in Education (NCE programme) has curriculum prescription for teachers commitment to national objectives and improve national development

1.7 Significance of the Study

This study is not only beneficial to the Nigerian governments and

educational authorities but also to curriculum planners, NCE training institutions, teachers of junior secondary schools with NCE teaching qualification and educational researchers. The study is also of benefit to students of the NCE programme.

For the Nigerian governments and educational authorities, the study will help them refashion their educational policies in line with the study‟s findings. It will help the government see the extent to which it has realized its teacher educational goal of training the primary and junior secondary school teachers, so as to equip them intellectually and professionally for the effective performance of their duties. In other words, the study will enable the government see whether or not the training given to this category of teachers is in line with their pedagogical needs.

Perhaps the most important and direct significance of the study lies in the fact that as a needs assessment, it provides valuable information to NCE curriculum planners and developers. Needs assessment represents a formal systematic attempt to determine and choose the more important gaps of „what is‟ and „what should be‟. It provides a mechanism for developing, defining and validating curriculum-less goals and the bridge by which curriculum is subsequently selected, shaped, implemented, evaluated and improved (Kaufman; 1979). Valuable information such as the identified needs in the present study is therefore indispensable to the NCE curriculum planners and developers, and even educational administrators. It provides a foresight with which the NCE programmes can properly be implemented.

NCE training institutions and their lecturers also stand to benefit a lot from the present research. This is because the study will make them see how good they have been in discharging their duty of providing teachers with the intellectual and professional background adequate for their assignment, making the teachers adaptable to any changing situation and encouraging further the spirit of enquiry and creativity in the teachers. It will enable both the colleges authorities and lecturers see whether the pedagogical training they give their students is relevancy to the pedagogical needs of the students.

The significance of this study also lies in the fact that, it identifies the areas of discrepancy in order of their priorities as is the usual case with programmes of needs assessment. By prioritizing the needs, the study enables the NCE curriculum planners, developers and educational administrators especially the N.C.C.E., to plan, develop and implement the curriculum in order of the priorities so identified. There appears to be a considerable confusion today in Nigerian colleges of education regarding the priorities of the NCE goals. Researchers (Okpanachi, 2009) for instance, suggest that teaching practice in these schools is not given the appropriate attention it deserves and that there is a gap between theory and practice. By prioritizing the needs of the NCE programme, and that of the contents of its pedagogy, the present study will determine the amount of attention required by the different aspects of the NCE programme.

Another significance of the present study relates to the teachers of junior secondary schools with the NCE teaching qualification. The study will enhance the quality of the NCE products by facilitating a better planning, development, and implementation of the programmes as discussed above. The quality of junior secondary education will consequently be enhanced, and this will have positive economic, political, and social impacts on the development of Nigeria. Thus, if the current popular view that the quality of education is lower than before were true, the present study will help in finding solution to that problem.

1.8 Scope of the Study

This study assessed the NCE teachers‟ attainment goals in junior secondary schools in the Northwest geopolitical zone of the country. The scope therefore involves the junior secondary school teachers, principals of the junior secondary schools, lecturers of NCE programmes, and SUBEB officials in the northwest geopolitical zone of Nigeria. These are to be sampled and studied in relation to the importance of the pedagogical goals of NCE programme, and the pedagogical abilities of junior secondary school teachers in relation to the NCE training they acquired in those goals. In other words, the study is about how the NCE training enables the recipients face the challenges of classroom transactions in the junior secondary schools. Members of the selected study groups are in a good position to rank the NCE pedagogical goals and to assess the various functional values of those goals taking into consideration the appropriate practical context.

The study is however delimited to teachers of public junior secondary schools and lecturers of public colleges of education in the geopolitical zone. Parents are also not included among the study groups despite the fact that they can also assess the products of the NCE programmes to some extent since they have contact with them. This is to facilitate an in-depth study of the problem. Moreover, of the various data collecting instruments relevant to the study, two instruments, questionnaire, and structured interview were used in view of their relative ease to administer and analyze.

STUDY OF NIGERIA CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION (NCE) TEACHERS FULFILLMENT GOALS IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NORTHWEST GEOPOLITICAL DISTRICT OF NIGERIA

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