Rationale for the Use of Public Relation Initiatives by Teachers of Agricultural Science in Secondary Schools in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper investigated the rationale for the use of public relation initiatives by teachers of agricultural science to promote their programmes to the public. It has been observed that most of the success stories about schools agricultural science programmes hardly get to the public thereby creating a wide communication gap between what the school and the teachers of agriculture are doing and the need, interest and developmental strides of the community where the schools are located. Four (4) research questions and one hypothesis were generated for the study. The sample used consisted of 60 teachers of agricultural science, who were sampled through a stratified random sampling techniques from the three senatorial distinct in the state. Three (3) sets of questionnaire containing 25 items were used for data collection. The data were analysed using frequency counts, percentages, mean, standard deviation, and t-test. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that the teachers of agricultural science do not publicise their programmes “success stories” to the public. They however agreed with the public relation initiatives suggested for consideration when planning agricultural science programmes to serve the public interest. There was no significant difference in the opinion of the teachers in both public and private secondary schools. Based on the finding of the study, it was recommended, among others, that all teachers of agricultural science should develop effective educational programmes and success stories that are catchy in nature for “sell out” to the public on regular basis. Parents, officials of the Ministry of Education and Agriculture and other stakeholders of the school system should be invited on regular basis to observe the school farms, agricultural science activities, during PTA meetings, inter house sport competitions, agric shows and others, so as to have a first hand information about the agricultural science success stories in each school.

Keywords: Public, Public Relations, Agricultural Education, Success Stories, Vocational Agriculture, Educational Programmes