An Examination of Important Competencies Necessary for Vocational Agriculture in Selected Senior Secondary Students in Ijebu North Local Government Area, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analyses the relationship existing between some specified competencies important to vocational agriculture and preparation for occupation between male and female students in senior secondary schools in Ijebu-North Local Government Area, Nigeria. It adopted the classical design for change experiment (i.e. before and after measures) with eighty-eight subjects (60 males and 28 females) from two schools purposively selected while the classes remained intact. Three objectives and one null hypothesis were formulated to conceptualize the study. The instruments used for the study were two, namely: Agricultural Skill Performance Test (ASPT) and Observer’s Rating Scale (ORS); and the data obtained were analyzed using frequency, percentages, graphs and point-biserial correlation co-efficient. The results revealed that 47.73% of the subjects received occupational work experience in schools whereas 52.27% did not; and out of the proportion of (52.27%) representing 46 subjects, 60.87% received outside the school but 39.13% had no opportunity at all. It also showed that a moderately low positive correlation existed between specified competencies important to vocational agriculture and preparation for occupation with a r_pb value of 0.34. The study advocated amidst others, for a general change of attitude among stakeholders towards agricultural science being perceived as mere academic rather than being both vocational and academic.

Keywords: Important Competencies, Vocational Agriculture, Senior Secondary Students, Ijebu-North Local Government Area.