PROBLEM FACING LEARNING AND TEACHING OF BUSINESS STUDIES IN SECONDARY
SCHOOL A CASE STUDY OF AKURE SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ONDO STATE
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ABSTRACT
This study
was undertaken to find out the problem militating against effective teaching of
business studies in secondary school and to find out the factors responsible for
these problems.
This population
was drawn from secondary school teacher of ten selected secondary schools in Ado local government
area, Ekiti State.
The main
research instrument was the questionnaire; fifteen item of question was
developed and administrated on S. S. S 1 to S. S. S 3 teachers in ten selected
school. All items were distributed and administrated through supervision. A
total of fifty questionnaires were duly completed and returned, the returned
questionnaire were analyzed by using percentage.
Based on the
findings, it was recommended that the government should encourage students and
teacher of business studies through incentive. It was also recommended that the
school authorities should endeavor to make adequate provision by supplying of
textbooks on business studies and the commission for education should seek for
new avenues of encouraging student to study business studies.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Business studies are integrals part
of general education that is concerned with education for business and
education about business.
Business studies can be traced from
the time when commercial secondary modern school were established in some part
of the country and commercial subject such as typewriting shorthand commerce
principle of account and the use of English were being offered at the moment in
the secondary schools in the country.
Some years
back, government policy on education was indebted to train more business
personnel, so – that business subject can be introduced in the secondary school
curriculum, with the aim of providing capable and competent hands to handle the
finances and administration of the country. The national policy on education
2004 revised education stipulated that business studies should be taught at pre
– vocational level in the secondary
schools, like wise business education subject schools, like wise business
education subject are being taught in tertiary institution such as college of
education college of technology, polytechnics and in universities.
Education is an important aspect of
economic development. When citizens of a country are educated that is a key to
social, economic and political stability (Ojiambo, 2009). The Nigeria
government has considerably invested in education which is evidenced by the
free primary education and the free day secondary education (Ojiambo, 2009).
The main purpose of education is to transmit wisdom and knowledge from one
generation to another, this prepares young people to be members of the society,
maintain it and develop it. Education also has positive influence on
population, health nutrition and also increases value and efficiency for labour
(Kising‟u, 2012).The unemployment problems facing the country can best be
addressed through equipping the young people with skills that can lead to self-employment,
the curriculum therefore should equip the learners with skills and more so
enterprenuaral skills and this therefore indicates the importance of business
education in the school curriculum.
The business study which was earlier
referred to as Business education was introduced into public high Schools in
the U.S.A by tax payer‟s demand during last part of nineteenth century. Parents
insisted that public schools should provide Business education, otherwise they
would take their children to private business colleges. Many district school
introduced Business education courses, shorthand, typewriting and book keeping.
Since then Business education has been undergoing scrutiny and transformation
(Popham et al, 2005). In Nigeria Business Studies in Junior Secondary School curriculum,
came about as a means of laying the foundation for national technological and
economic advancement, as articulated in the National Policy on Education
(Federal Ministry of Education, 2011).The designers of the Business Studies
curriculum apparently considered that, in line with the current Nigerian
vocational curriculum philosophy (National Board for Technical Education,
1984), the obvious way to develop a curriculum that would give a broad
introduction to the field of business was to do away with the traditionally
compartmentalized single subjects. Consequently, five such subjects
(book-keeping, commerce, office practice, shorthand and typewriting) were
brought together as units of a new subject to be called „Business Studies‟
(Ekpenyong 2006).The curriculum aimed at giving students knowledge and skills
that should enable them to adapt to changes in office technology and develop a
broad understanding of business activities, the structure and functions of
business institutions and their inter-relationships.
In Nigeria a numbers of education
commissions and education committees have been put in place to review the
education system in Nigeria. The commissions have seen the business studies
evolve to its current status in the Nigerian education system. Fraser Report (2009)
on Education recommended introduction of industrial education in schools as a
means of providing skills to native labourers and artisans in large numbers for
various purposes. During the colonial period, the colonial government opened a
number of industrial schools in areas not effectively served by missionaries,
some of the courses offered included carpentry, agriculture typing and
blacksmithing (Kising‟u, 2012), typing and office practice is a constituent of
business studies currently. After second world war there was general believe
among Nigerians that vocational education relegated natives to manual workers
for colonialists and therefore academic education was gaining predominance over
Industrial Education (Bagonko, 2012). The curriculum was oriented towards
white-collar jobs in the new independent state, neglecting practical skills.
Eventually many school leavers lacked enough skills to serve the society
(Kising‟u, 2012).The lack of skills called for the incorporation of practical
oriented subjects into formal education, this was seen as a way of equipping
learners with basic knowledge and skills for self-employment (Republic of
Nigeria, 2006).
The introduction of secondary
Business Education programme was based on the results of the manpower survey
and its aim was to produce highly skilled manpower required for the growing
commercial enterprises in the country (Onywoki 2011). Specifically, the project
was aimed at introducing business education subjects in selected general
secondary schools in Nigeria, for example accounting, shorthand and typing with
office practice and commerce. Because of the success of the project, there were
about 1200 secondary schools teaching business education in Nigeria by 2000s
(Oluoch, 2012). The MacKay report of 1981 laid the foundation for the 8-4-4
system of education. The aim for this system of education was to replace the
academic form of education system with an education system that could equip
learners with technical skills that could make them gain self-employment after
school (Kising’u 2012). Implementation of the Mackay commission report led to
the introduction of business education at the secondary school level. The
secondary school business education comprised of Accounting, commerce,
Economics and office practice. Each of these subjects was taught and examined
separately at the secondary schools, it therefore meant that each of the
subjects was taught by different teachers and also allocated its own time on
the school time table, this therefore called for more teachers and more
teaching and learning resources for effective implementation. The curriculum
faced challenges due to constraints of resources which led to its
reorganization.
The report on the inquiry into the
education system in Nigeria (Republic of Nigeria, 2009) led to the
reorganization of the Nigeria education curriculum. Individual business subject
areas were fused into a broad field called business studies. IBSC consists of
concepts from accounting, commerce, economics, office practice and
entrepreneurship education (KNEC, 2007). The rationale was to reduce the
overloaded 8-4-4 curriculum, reduce cost of implementation, and make the
curriculum more relevant to the needs of the society. The key issues behind the
integration of the business subjects i.e. Accounting, Commerce, Economics and
office practice was mainly to allow for a broader coverage of subject matter
and the elimination of excessive and factual details, to save time on the
school time table because instead of allocating four lessons, with IBSC it
would be only one lesson. Integration was also considered to enable learners
see the relationship among the subject clearly Shiundu and Omulando (2012).
Through integration the number of teachers required to teach the subject also
reduced and this was a relief to the side of government as it had to employ few
teachers to implement the integrated curriculum.
According to Shiundu and Omulando (2012),
integration of subjects emphasizes the relationship between various curriculum
areas in an attempt to interrelate content or learning experiences in order to
enable students perceive a unity of knowledge. Anuda (2000) asserts that by
integrating the aspects of these disciplines, overlaps and costs have greatly
been reduced. Business studies aims to provide the learner with opportunities
to acquire basic business knowledge, skills and positive attitude for
development of self and nation, being a dynamic subject it takes into account
the need to address contemporary issues, trends in business and current
economic issues in society (K.I.E, 2007).The content in the Business Studies
syllabus incorporates the acquisition of both academic and practical skills
that may help the students to become self-employed after completing form four.
Accounting, Commerce, Economics,
Entrepreneurship and office practice are distinct subjects of study and have
intrinsic values for the learners and teachers. Therefore, the distinctiveness
of each discipline of study has to be preserved (Onywoki 2011).Integration of
these subjects thus waters down the distinct nature of each. With the move
toward integration, the number of teaching hours was affected. The drastic
reduction in the number of lessons for the new syllabus and directive that
Accounting, Commerce, Economics, Entrepreneurship education and office practice
be taught as one subject had certain implications in the teaching and learning
of the integrated curriculum, to begin with when IBSC was introduced due to
inadequate planning, most schools found that they could not introduce the new
curriculum as they lacked basic resources including teachers qualified to teach
this integrated curriculum (Kilemi 2012), some of the content was also
abstract, teaching and learning resources were also inadequate. Due to the
abstract nature of the content it was reviewed in 2007 (K.I.E, 2007). The
revision was prompted by the findings of curriculum monitoring in 2004 and
2005, the syllabus was found to be overloaded and the content from the
constituent disciplines had not been well integrated (K.I.E, 2007), this was
posing challenges to the teachers in the implementation process. Despite the
importance of this subject, less efforts has been made to ensure success in its
delivery to student in secondary schools and consequently use it in real life
after school for self-employment. The curriculum also suffers setbacks for
being an elective subject whereby students prefer doing other subjects. This
study aimed at identifying the challenges facing the implementation of business
studies curriculum in Nigeria with a view of making recommendations on how to
overcome those challenges.
Claxton and Murell (2007) describe a
person’s learning as consisting of distinct behaviours which serve as
indicators of how a person learns and adapts to learning environment. They also
describe it as the educational conditions under which an individual is most
likely to learn. Mark (2008) indicated that learning influences students’
preference for a particular teaching strategies and learning environments.
Classroom learning environment includes elements of teacher’s interpersonal
style of interaction communication (Deci and Ryan 2012).
Teaching and learning strategies are
traditionally referred to as methods of teaching (Kisirikoi, Wachira and Malusu,
2008). Modern trends in teaching emphasize certain approaches which determine
the strategy to be used. These approaches include; interaction approach,
collaborative approach, transmission approach, experiential approach and
facilitation approach. Interaction approach is where there is exchange of ideas
between the teacher and the learner or among learners themselves as in group
work. Collaborative approach is where learners share ideas in groups or
projects. Transmission approach, the teacher dominates the lesson by use of
lecture. In experiential approach learners life experiences are explored and
used as a basis for development of new knowledge and passing judgment. Learning
is based on the learner’s experiences in the community. Facilitation approach
teacher provides the stimulus for the learners’ interaction with new knowledge
and also provides opportunities for the learners to learn. The teacher is
merely a guide and director of learning. From the above approaches the business
studies teacher determines the strategy to use depending on the content he is
teaching the learners. The most used strategies in teaching business studies
are, lectures, demonstrations, discussion, educational visits, projects,
question and answers, assignments and practical (Vandenbosch, 2006).
Teaching and learning resources are
all materials and equipment used to enhance effective learning (Kisirikoi and
Malusu, 2008). A teacher selects develops and reorganizes teaching – learning
resources for effective teaching. A teacher is therefore the most important
teaching – learning resource. According to Johnson (2008) having satisfactory
facilities equipments and materials should not be minimized in establishing the
curriculum because of their contribution to the effectiveness of the school.
Their availability will enhance or inhibit the implementation of curriculum. It
then follows that facilities, equipments and materials influence the
implementation of secondary business studies curriculum. Because of the
development in modern technology, teachers no longer have to rely solely on
words to make their meanings clear. There is great variety of materials around
that can be used to make meaning more vivid and more interesting. These
materials are the teaching and learning resources.
Leaning styles of students have been
found to influence the educational process and student’s opportunity to learn
(Claxton and Murell, 2007). Researchers have suggested that learning style is
influential in students‟ academic choices. Schroeder (2013) acknowledged that
accommodating variations in learning styles cared improve curricular and the
teaching- learning process in high school education.
Statement of Problem
However, the researcher through
discussion with some of the business studies teachers in JSS and through
interaction with some of the students offering business studies at JSS realized
that business studies has not recorded a remarkable success. Many of the
students that offered the subject in examination have failed woefully. Some of
them that secured clerical job have not been able to adjust to the practical
working of business studies and finally some of those that gained admission for
further studies have not been able to cope up due to their poor foundation in
business studies.
In every teaching and learning
process, there is bound to be some factors which may not allow for smooth
running of the process such as inadequate time table, inadequate instruction
materials these factors will definitely affect the achievement or attainment of
the set objectives which may not thereafter have negative effect on the skills
to be imparted on the learners. This situation will no doubt, affect the
management and administration of today’s business.
Thus,
this study is to examine those problems which can face learning and teaching of
business studies and seek for ways of solving such problem.
Purpose of the Study
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