Teachers’ Perception on the Falling Standard of Education in Seme and Idiroko Border Towns of Nigeria. Implication for Counselling.

Abstract

Complaints about the apparent falling standard of education at the border towns in Nigeria is a source of worry and concern to the boards of government, educational stakeholders and parents. This study examined teachers’ perception on the falling standard of education in Seme and Idiroko border towns of Nigeria; implication for counselling. Five research questions and five corresponding hypotheses guided the conduct of the study. The study adopted descriptive research design. The population of this study consists of all secondary school principals/head teachers and teachers in Seme border town of Lagos State and Idiroko border town of Ogun State. Two hundred and Thirty (230) respondents were randomly selected as sample for this study but at the end of the exercise, only One Hundred Ninety-Six (196) questionnaires were retrieved for data analysis. A structured questionnaire was constructed and administered on the respondents for data collection. The data on the bio-data of the respondents were analyzed using simple percentages, frequency distribution tables; Chi-square (X2) statistical tool at 0.05 level of significance were used for analyzing the hypotheses raised. The findings of the study revealed a significant impact of planning and management on the falling standard of education; a significant impact of school environment on the falling standard of education; a significant impact of teachers’ working experience on the falling standard of education; a significant impact of teachers’ qualification on the falling standard of education and a significant impact of physical infrastructure on the falling standard of education in the border towns of Seme and Idiroko, Nigeria. Recommendations made include: Adequate funding to maintain both the human and material resources of the education sector; adequate remuneration and motivation of the teaching staff; conducive learning and teaching environment through the provision of appropriate; provision of well-equipped and adequate laboratories, workshops, classrooms, libraries, staff offices, as well as good and adequate hostel and classroom accommodation by both the federal and state governments.