LEVEL OF CORRESPONDENCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY TEACHING FACILITIES WITH THE SPECIFICATIONS OF UPPER BASIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CORE CURRICULUM IN EBONYI STATE

Abstract

The study investigated the level of correspondence of information technology teaching facilities with the specifications of upper basic science and technology core curriculum in Ebonyi State. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The study employed programme evaluation research design.  The population of the study include all the four hundred and eleven (411) public and private upper basic education schools and all the two thousand, four hundred and sixty-six (2466) information technology teachers in Ebonyi State. The sample for the study comprised of forty-two upper basic education schools and two hundred and forty-six information technology teachers in Ebonyi State. The schools were drawn from a total of four hundred and eleven public and private upper basic schools in Ebonyi State. The instrument that was used in collecting data for this study was Information Technology curriculum implementation evaluation checklist (ITCIEC) developed by the researchers from the information technology core curriculum contents. The research questions were answered using frequencies, ratio and percentage. Hypotheses were tested using chi-square. The result revealed that widespread inadequacy of ICT facilities and instructional materials in Ebonyi State upper basic schools. About 58% of materials are unavailable and 22% are grossly inadequate. Chi-square results (58884.6 vs 3.33) indicate significant dependence on school ownership for both teaching facilities and IT instructional materials alignment with specification of the Basic Science and Technology Core Curriculum. From the findings it was concluded that IT needs vastly exceed resources; essential facilities are inadequate, hindering IT teaching, meeting benchmarks, and students’ achievement. It was recommended that government and partners must provide missing and inadequate IT facilities/materials; teachers should improvise and maximize use of locally sourced resources.