Analysis of Utilization of Practical Agricultural Equipment/Tools in Colleges of Education in Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated theutilization of practical agricultural equipment/tools in colleges of education in Enugu State, Nigeria. Methods-Descriptive survey design was used for the study. Three objectives were stated for the study. The population of the study was 217 (162 NCE III students) and 55 lecturers of agriculture. All the population was used hence it is called consecutive or total enumerative sampling technique which is often used for better representation of the entire population. The instrument used for data collection was a 26 items questionnaire developed from the literature reviewed. Cronbach's Alpha analysis was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument and a reliability coefficient of 0.86 was obtained. Two hundred and seventeen (217) questionnaires were administered and were retrieved and analyzed using mean and standard deviation. Findings from the study revealed that lecturers were found incompetent or incapable of utilizing most tools and equipment during practical agriculture in their colleges. It was recommended amongst others that workshops should be organized for lecturers by college management to train lecturers on the use of various tools and equipment as recommended by the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE).It was concluded that there were inconsistencies in the implementation process which leads to incompetency on the part of lecturers in the utilization of this equipment in the course of teaching. This could improve student’s skills in the course of learning and after graduation. The study recommends amongst others that Stakeholders in the education sector should make an available fund for the purchase of these tools and equipment for use by lecturers and organize training and workshop for lecturers and students. The study had revealed that if lecturers are properly trained in the use of these tools and equipment, they stand a better chance to impart the knowledge and skills to students who will in turn be competent in an agric-preneurial enterprise. This implies that small and medium scale industries in agriculture will thrive in the economy.