Assessment of Availability and Utilization of Facilities for Teaching Agricultural Education Students’ Entrepreneurial Skills in Colleges of Education in Northwest Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the availability and utilization of facilities for teaching agricultural education students’ entrepreneurial skills in Colleges of Education in Northwest Nigeria. Two specific purposes, two research questions and one null hypothesis guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted with a population of 276, which comprised of 225 lecturers and 51 technologists of Agricultural Education Department. A sample size of 244, which comprised of 198 lecturers and 46 technologists, was used. Census sampling was employed because the population size is manageable. Structured questionnaire was developed and named: Questionnaire on Availability and Utilization of Facilities for Teaching and Learning Entrepreneurial Skills in Agricultural Education (QAUFTLESAE). Three experts subjected the instrument to face and content validity. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha Coefficient reliability tool and the value of 0.80 was obtained. Percentage, weighted mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The result revealed that all the 34 facilities studied were available but their categorization revealed uneven provision across Colleges of Education in Northwest Nigeria. The levels of utilization of facilities for teaching and learning entrepreneurial skills in agricultural education in College of Education in Northwest Nigeria were occasional. It was also revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean responses of lecturers and technologists in Federal and State Colleges of Education on the utilization of facilities for teaching and learning entrepreneurial skills in agricultural education in Northwest, Nigeria. The study recommended that, the management of the Colleges of Education should advocate for support from Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), to provide facilities across all Colleges of Education within the Northwest zone for teaching and learning of entrepreneurial skills in Agricultural Education. The department in collaboration with the College management should develop and implement a monitoring and evaluation system to ensure optimal utilization of available facilities for teaching and learning entrepreneurial skills in Agricultural Education.