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Problems of Teacher Education and Its Effects in the Realization of the Objectives of Universal Basic Education Programme in South East, Nigeria

Juliana Nwanneka Onuoha*, Odo Stella O.

English Department, Ebonyi State College of Education, Ikwo, Ebonyi State Nigeria

Abstract: The study addresses the problems of teachers’ education and its effect in the realization of the objectives of Universal Basic Education programme in South East Nigeria. To guide the study, two research questions were formulated and two null hypotheses was postulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population consisted all teachers under the Universal Basic Education Board in government owned schools in the zone. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select four hundred (400) public primary school teachers from the zone which made up 50% of the entire population. A -27 item researcher – developed questionnaire entitled Problems of Teachers’ Education Questionnaire (PTEQ) was constructed, validated and trial tested and used to elicit data from the respondents. The reliability was determined using Cronbach Alpha statistic and it yielded 0.92. Data obtained were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test statistical tool was used to test the hypotheses. The study revealed amongst other things that lack of adequate educational funding, non-availability/presence of obsolete teaching and learning facilities in the school system, absence of qualified and competent teachers in the school system, poor teachers’ motivation pose a threat to the realization of the UBE objectives in the south east, Nigeria. The researchers recommended that government should provided packages that motivate teachers, provide incentives, provide adequate and modern teaching and learning facilities, increase educational funding and most importantly recruit only trained, qualified and competent teachers into the school system.

Keywords: teacher education, basic education, programme, objectives, realization, effects

Received December 12, 2019; Revised January 22, 2020; Accepted February 05, 2020

Citation: Juliana Nwanneka Onuoha, Odo Stella O., Problems of Teacher Education and Its Effects in the Realization of the Objectives of Universal Basic Education Programme in South East, Nigeria. American Journal of Educational Research, 8 (2). 71-79. January 2020. doi:10.12691/education-8-2-2

1. Introduction

Universal Basic Education is a brain child of the world conference on Education for All held at Jometren Thailand from 5th – 9th March 1990, which was jointly organized by UNDP, UNESCO and UNICEF. The primary goal of the programme is to universalize access to basic education, provide learning environment that is conducive and eradicate illiteracy within the shortest possible time. The vision statement of the programme seeks that at the end of nine years continuous education, every hold should acquire appropriate level of skills of literacy, numeracy, communication, manipulative and life skills, be employable, useful to the society at large by possessing relevant ethical, moral and civic values.

A recent government report states that the UBE programme objectives include:

Ÿ Ensuring an uninterrupted access to a 9 year formal education by providing free and compulsory basic education for every child of school-going age under

Six years of primary education

Three years of junior secondary education

Ÿ Providing Early Childhood Cares Development and Education (ECCDE)

Ÿ Reducing school drop-out and improving relevance, quality and efficiency.

Ÿ And the acquisition of literacy, numeracy, life skills and values for lifelong education and useful living. [1].

Hence the relevance of education to the development of individuals cannot be over-emphasized. It is a veritable instrument for both individual as well as national development.

Education includes all efforts, conscious and direct, incidental or indirect, made by a given society to realize certain objectives that are considered desirable in terms of the individuals own needs as well as the needs of the society where the education is based. [2] Education satisfies human demand for knowledge, offers a means of assisting to meet various basic needs and helps to sustain and accelerate over all development. [2]

Standing on the relevance of education to national and individual development, every nation aspires to make education accessible to its citizens and thus the universal basic education is seen as a priority in many developing countries including Nigeria. It is the central focus of Education for All (EFA), being championed by UNESCO. An extensive number of studies have proven its benefits for public health, (eg. lower spread of HIV/AIDS, better vaccination, prevention and medication of disease, better nutrition, lower maternal, infant and child mortality) demography(e.g. longer life expectancy, accelerated demographic transition through better birth control) and the economy (e.g increased purchase power, increased productivity in traditional sectors) [3]. Other benefits include impact on democracy, human rights, governance and political stability through increased understanding of non-violent ways to solve problems and mutual understanding between groups in conflicts. This forms the fulcrum for attachment to basic education by developing nations.

From the discussion above, what stands tall is that the acquisition of functional education and the actualization of the objectives of basic education revolves around teachers. In other words, teachers are the most important elements in any educational programme. They are directly responsible for the realization of the educational process at any given level. The teacher is central to the attainment of the goals of education as their activities in the classroom translates educational policies, practice and programmes into action. He is the active agent whose contribution is crucial for effective learning. [4] The teacher’s primary responsibility is to help in the learner’s cognitive, affective and psychomotor development that will enable the learner become a functional and contributing member of the society. A teacher not only trains young members of individuals but also has a stake in building a sustainable society and by extension, a teacher can be said to be a facilitator, a counselor, an adviser, a coordinator, an organizer, an exemplary leader, a friend of all especially the learners, a motivator and indeed a morale booster who believers in nation building. [5] A teacher transmits knowledge that will aid learners in building, identifying and acquiring skills that will equip them for life’s challenges. [6] Teachers, therefore, are the pillars of any educational system and thus calls for adequate investment in their education so that the future and destiny of a nation are not meddled with. These equally suggest that there is more to be desired. If the education of the teacher who is the key agent of the translation of the educational policies, practice and programmes into action is not taken serious or is under siege by certain militating factors, then the growth and development of (that) nation is equally under siege. No education system can rise above the quality of its teachers [7]. Effort should be made to ensure quality in the teachers’ education system and it should start from the teachers.

Looking back of the set objectives of basic education programme, which is geared towards the provision of sound qualitative education to the beneficiaries, these objectives seems illusive particularly in the south east Nigeria. One then asks if teacher education is still whots it’s onion or is there still more to be desired in the realization of the objectives of UBE in the zone.

This study therefore sets out to find the problems of teacher education that hinder the realization of the objectives of basic education programme in south east, nigeria and the effects of these problems in the realization of the objectives of UBE in the zone. Finally, the study will proffer suggestions that will help to remedy these problems and its effects in south east nigeria. The findings of this study are significant in that it exposed some of the problems that hinder the realization of the set objectives of UBE on the beneficiaries. It also revealed the effects of these problems on the teachers, students and the nation. In essence, teachers, government, students and parents, curriculum planners will greatly benefit from the findings of the study. Teachers through this study will undoubtedly receive more motivational attention from government and stakeholders; curriculum planners will identify areas of need and pay attention to the right areas and not perceived ones; student-teachers in the zone will benefit as it would lead to the recruitment of more qualified teachers and the provision of more teaching and learning facilities which would in turn lead to the acquisition of more skills, attitude and knowledge. It would increase prompt teacher participation in education on graduation. The findings also would provide accurate information that would enable informed decisions on educational policies, practice and programmes. Finally, the study serves as a reference material for future researchers who may wish to carry out researches in the activities of UBE in the south east, Nigeria.

Teachers guide and nurture their pupils until a desirable outcome takes place; this study is delimited to the problems and effect of teachers’ education towards the realization of the objectives of UBE. Also, the study focused on government – owned (or public) UBE schools in south east, nigeria.

2. Hypotheses

Two null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Ho₁ There is no significant difference in mean responses of teachers from Ebonyi and Enugu states on problems of teacher education in the realization of the objectives of UBE in south east, nigeria.

Ho₂ There is no significant difference in mean responses of teachers from Ebonyi and Enugu State on the effects of these problems of teacher education in the realization of UBE objectives in south east, nigeria.

3. Conceptualization

3.1. Concept of Teacher Education

A teacher (also called a school teacher or in some contexts and educator) is a person who helps others to acquire knowledge, competence or values. A teacher is indeed, we who has gone through a proper teacher preparation process and is qualified to impart knowledge, mould and reform characters, inculcate discipline and the right values as well as equip an individual for a life-long learning [8]. A teacher (may) therefore provide instruction on literacy and numeracy, craftsmanship or vocational training, the arts, religion, civics, community role or life skills.

On the other hand, teacher education refers to the professional education of teachers towards attainment of attitudes, skills and knowledge considered to make them effective and efficient in their work⁹. It equally refers to the policies, procedures and provision designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills they required to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school and wider community [10].

Every prospective teacher is expected to undergo these training so as to be morally, emotionally and intellectually equipped to face the task.

Teacher education has three stages:

a. Initial teacher training (education as a pre-service course before entering the classroom as fully responsible teacher).

b. Induction (process of providing training and support during the first few years of teaching)

c. Teacher/staff development/continuing professional development (CPD) an in-service training process of practicing teachers.

However, the Federal government of Nigeria in the National Policy on Education having realized the importance of good teacher education and therefore designated colleges of education, faculties of education, institutes of Education, National Teachers’ Institute, Schools of Education in Polytechnics, National Institute for Nigerian languages and National Mathematical Centre as institutions for teacher preparation [7].

The objectives of the policy are:

Ÿ Producing highly motivated, conscientious and efficient classroom teachers for all levels of our educational system.

Ÿ Encouraging further the spirit of enquiry and creativity in teachers

Ÿ Helping teachers to fit into the social life of the continuity and the society at large and enhance their commitment to national goals.

Ÿ Providing teachers with the intellectual and professional background adequate for their assignment and make them adaptable to changing situations.

Ÿ Enhancing teachers’ commitment to the teaching profession. [7]

From the above expositions, it is evident that teacher education is a programme of study packaged to equip prospective teachers with the wherewithal for effective teaching in a classroom environment. Despite these laudable goals and the specialized institutions established to drive teacher education in the country, much is still being desired. This has hitherto, been as a result of the problems inherent in our teacher education/preparation programmes. These problems have adverse effect on the quality of outputs. These problems are but not limited to: recruitment/ admission of students into teacher education programmes, poor educational funding, lack of motivation, absence of trained qualified and competent teachers, unavailability/presence of obsolete teaching and learning materials/facilities. Education of teachers is not only responsible for improvement of school education but also for preparing competent, committed, professionally well qualified teachers who can meet the demand of a system. A teacher’s content knowledge, verbal skills or enthusiasm for learning necessarily constitutes high quality teacher [11].

3.2. Concept of Universal Basic Education

Basic education is an offshoot of Universal Primary Education (UPE) scheme which took off in the western and eastern regions of Nigeria in the 1950’s and was subsequently launched in the whole Nigeria in 1976. The re-launching of the UBE programme on September 30, 1999 by the president Olesegun Obasanjo was a strong evidence of Nigeria’s commitment to different international treaties and conventions for the promotion of basic education. Such conventions which Nigeria is a signatory include. The Jometren Declaration of 1990 on the promotion of basic education for all, the New Delhi Declaration of 1991. [12] Others are the Durban statement of 1998 and the OAU Decade of Education in Africa (1997-2006) [13].

The Universal Basic Education was established to serve as a prime energizer of national movement for the actualization of its mandate, that is, by the end of the nine years of continuous education, every child that passes through the system shall acquire appropriate level of literacy, numeracy, communication, manipulative and life skills and be employable, useful to him or herself and the society by passion of relevant ethical, moral and civic values.

3.3. Problems of Teacher Education and Its Effects in South East, Nigeria

The need for qualitative teacher education has become so important in the light of technological development, which hitherto brought about many innovations in the field of education. A typical example is the impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Today’s concepts are outdated tomorrow while instruments invented today are discarded tomorrow.

In the south east, quality assurance in teachers is an illusion and this distorts the realization of the objectives of basic education in the zone. Quality assurance is the processes of setting, maintaining and improving standards in all aspects of the school of the school system.⁷ It is therefore a measure adopted by stakeholders to ensure that achievement of set goals and objectives. Presently, quality assurance appears to be a difficult task in the delivery of UBE programmes in the south east, Nigeria. The UBE reported with dismay that the training envisaged to familiarize teachers with interventions (new textbooks and curriculum, procedure of continuous assessment, personnel management and record keeping) was never implemented. [14] Despite changes in policy related to such aspects as curriculum, accountability, teacher training and certification, there is a persistent lack of equitable educational outcomes at the basic education level, teacher training and certification, there is a persistent lack of equitable educational outcomes at the basic education level [15]. Similarly, the role of the government is not adequate in south eastern states of nigeria considering the needs and aspirations of the people in the universal basic education and this could be justified by dwindling male enrolment [16].

Equally, poor funding of education constitutes to problems of teacher education in the south East zone. Poor funding of education and consequent production of ill-equipped teachers result to college graduates losing confidence and abandoning teaching and this has resulted to lack of teachers in the school system [17]. Lack of funding in institutions of learning has left them to contend with dilapidated and run-down structures, inadequate infrastructures and facilities most of which are outdated and obsolete [17]. A number of schools in Nigeria are characterized by limited resources, overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated buildings [18]. This has a multiplier effect, the recent demographic studies on the existing national situation in the primary education sector revealed that 12% of primary school pupil sit on the floor,38% of classrooms have no ceilings, 87% of classrooms are overcrowded, while 77% of pupils lack textbooks18. The issue of pupils using the bare floors as their desks is still trending while the use of felled tree trunks as seats/desks are there [19]. In all these discoveries, the south east is not an exception. The crucial question is: Given such pitiable circumstances, can the goals of UBE be adequately actualized in such schools?

Evidently no. If the teacher is unable to teach well and the pupils are unable to learn well, then there is a question mark on the quality of students to be raised in the future.

Closely connected to poor funding is apathy or rather laxity of some south east state government in UBE fund assessment. While many of the northern states are paying the counterpart fund and accessing the facility, the south east… states have basically indulged in the act of self harm… particularly… going by UBEC data, … Enugu state which has N4.2 billion idling away… Ebonyi have N3.6 billion while Abia …have N2.67 billion lying waste [20]. It is equally alarming that the fund provided by each tier (of government) in the budget is not enough to execute the UBE plans and this has brought about few implementation and achievement of the programme.

The Executive Secretary of the UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi in an interview with the Guardian, listed the 13 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that have so far accessed the 2017 UBEC matching grants totaling N18,008, 804,569.70 as at August 31,2018 to include Jigawa, Kebbi and Sokoto states (north west zone); Borno, Gombe and Taraba states (north east zone); Kogi and the FCT (north Central Zone) Lagos, Osun and Ogun states (south west zone), Cross River, Delta and Rivers States (south south zone), while no state in the south east has taken advantage of the intervention fund for 2017 [21].

Equally, there is absence of motivation and the provision of incentives to teachers. Motivation is a pre-condition for the achievement of maximum output in any work environment. Results from studies showed that almost all the sampled teachers indicated they were poorly motivated (and this is a national situation in the primary education sector) [18].

Similarly, the poor status/regard accorded the teaching profession in Nigeria is another problem of teacher education in the south east. The teaching profession is often treated as dumping ground [18]. The profession is disliked by many. To say the least, a number of people currently on teaching jobs are only there because they have little or no job options. Some of them are simply marking time, waiting to take their leave immediately an opportunity for one of the “greener pastures” shows up. This does exclude those who studied education in the tertiary institutions.

This has hitherto led to lack of qualified, and competent teachers. Firstly, owing to people’s dislike of the job, the quality of the entrants into teacher training schools is not satisfying. It is not a secret that majority of the students admitted into almost all levels of teacher education programmes are candidates that were frustrated and rejected by other faculties/institutions [22]. Now the effect is the lack of qualified and competent trained teachers. Many of the unemployed people seeking to work with UBE commission lack the expertise and requirements of the commission [23]. This made the implementation of UBE (especially in the southeast) slow. Where unqualified and incompetent personnel is allowed to undertake the duties of a qualified and competent personnel, there will definitely be drastic drop in the progress and achievement of the programme’s objectives. Qualified, trained and competent teacher is one of the tools needed for the success of the UBE programme.

Evidently, poor curriculum planning and implementation has stood tall as one of the challenges to teacher education. The implementation (realization) and content revision of curriculum to include a new outcome – based curriculum has placed teachers under considerable pressure, a situation that has been compounded by inadequate in service education and training [18]. Today, would be teachers are made to take courses across various disciplines in their area of specialization plus education. They also undertake a short teaching practice exercise over a period of three to four years for a bachelors degree programme in the university, three years at the college of education for both course work and teaching practice. Most of the time, they are not well grounded in those areas and are not full available for teaching practice in their locations because the course are too many [8].

Others are – over populated classes, shortage of teaching and boarding facilities, poor remuneration, lack of opportunity for professional growth, misappropriation of fund meant for education etc.

4. Methods

This study is a descriptive survey. A survey research is a systematic collection of data or information from a population (sometimes referred to a universe) or sample of a population (considered to be a representative of the entire group of interest), through the use of personal interview and/or questionniare²⁴. This design was considered appropriate as the study collected data from the sample, with the aid of a researcher developed questionnaire, to describe an entire population under study.

The area of study comprised all the government-owned UBE schools in south east, nigeria which is made of five states of Abia, Anambra, Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi. Also, data was obtained from the official record from the planning, research and statistics of the UBEC, south east zone.

This is due to the fact the government-owned UBE schools in the zone are centrally controlled by the UBEC, south east zone. The study was interested in finding out the problems of teacher education and its effects in the realization of the objectives of UBE programme in south east Nigeria, so the population of the study comprised all the teachers’ government-owned UBE schools in the five (5) states in the zone. Data obtained from the official record from planning, research and statistics UBEC south east zone (Enugu) revealed that there are six thousand three hundred and seven (6,307) teachers in government-owned UBE schools in Enugu, four thousand, five hundred and Eighty three (4583) teachers in Abia, three thousand and fifteen (3015) teachers in Ebonyi, three thousand, eight hundred and seventy five (3875) teachers in Imo and three thousand, nine hundred and seventy two (3972) teachers in Anambra state. Thus the population of the study was 21,752 UBE teachers.

Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 400 respondents for the study. Firstly, random sampling technique by balloting was used to draw a sample of two states namely Ebonyi and Enugu out of the five states in the zone. The same technique was used to select three education zones from each state. The zones that were selected were Abakaliki, Onueke and Afikpo in Ebonyi State and Nsukka, Awgu and Udi in Enugu state. Also, simple random sampling was used to select 66 teachers from five zones while 67 teachers were selected from the sixth zone totaling 400 respondents. This consisted 21.75% of the population. The multi-stage and random sampling by balloting was deemed appropriate because they were very large. When the population is too large, a percentage of the population could be used [24].

The instrument for data collection was a researcher developed teachers questionnaire entitled problems of teacher education questionnaire (PTEQ). The questions were generated based on information gathered from review of related literature. The questionnaire was made up of two parts: part one solicited for information on personal data of the respondents while part two was structured in two sections. Cluster 1 has 15 items cluster 2 has 12 items which attempted to answer the two research questions.

Face and content validity of the instrument were determined by two experts from the Department of Arts and Social Science Education, Ebonyi State University Abakaliki and one expert from the Department of Educational Foundations of same University. Copies of the questionnaire were given to these experts for vetting, corrections and suggestions were incorporated. As a result, the instrument was seen to possess both content and validity.

The reliability of the instrument was determined by pre-testing it one 80 teachers in 10 UBE schools in kogi state. The choice of schools in kogi state was because kogi state is in another geopolitical zone. The scores obtained from the respondents were collated and analyzed to determine the co-efficient of the set of scores for the items in each of the sections. The variance was used to calculate the alpha and coefficient of the questionnaire and it yielded 0.92 and this represented the reliability co-efficient of the questionable.

The researcher employed the services of six (6) research assistants to help in the administration and collection of questionnaire on the spot to avoid loss. The rationale behind the number of the research assistants is that one (1) research assistant covers the schools in each of the three education zones in each of the state. All the questionnaires administered were returned and used in the study.

Data collected were analyzed using weighted mean and standard deviation to answer the two research questions and t test to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Four response options of strongly Agree (SA); Agree (A); Strongly Disagree (SD) and Disagree (D) were posed and this produced cut off point of 2.50. Any mean 2.50 and above was accepted and rejected when it is below the value. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

5. Results

Data presented and analyzed here were based on the research questions guiding the study. They items are clustered according to the research questions and analyzed thus:

Research question 1: What are the problems of teacher education that hinder the realization of the objectives of UBE programme in south east, Nigeria?

The result of data in Table 1 revealed that the respondents in items 1-15 has mean scores of 3.77 ± 1.00, 2.80 ± 1.25, 2.79 ± 1.11, 3.20 ± 1.16, 3, 68 ± 1.07, 3.36 ± 1.09, 2.99 ± 0.44,2.58 ± 0.51, 3.01 ± 0.62, 3.18 ± 0.99, 3.74 ± 1.04, 2.63 ± 0.92, 3.46 ± 1.20, 2.98 ± 0.91 and 3.13 ± 1.02. This indicates that the respondents agreed on all the items i.e. low quality of entrants into teachers’ education programme, curriculum overload, poor motivation of teachers, poor remuneration, under qualified teachers, non-availability of teaching and learning facilities, poor welfare packages for teachers, poor perceptions of teaching profession, lack of commitment on the part of government, obsolete teaching and learning facilities, lack of opportunity for professional growth, admission of uninterested candidates into teacher education, inadequate funding of teacher education, misappropriation of funds meant for education and then lack of adequate monitoring mechanism for teaching. These hinder the realization of the objectives of the universal basic education in the zone. The grand mean score of all the respondent is 3.15 with the standard deviation of 0.95.

The data in Table 1 also revealed that the 15 items in the table had their mean values ranged from 2.50 to 3.77 which are above the cut off point of 2.50, indicating that they are the problems of teacher education which actually militate against the realization of the objectives of the universal basic education programme in south east, Nigeria.

Research question 2: What are the effects of the problems of teacher education in the realization of the objectives of UBE programme in south east, Nigeria?

The result of data in Table 2 revealed that the respondents in items 16-27 had the mean scores of 3.22 ± 0.95, 3.53 ± 1.19, 2.96 ± 1.27, 2.80 ± 0.93, 3.07 ± 0.86, 3.21 ± 0.86, 3.69 ± 1.02, 3.64 ± 0.89, 2.69 ± 0.75, 3.81 ± 0.86, 3.48 ± 0.86, 3.18 ± 0.37. This indicates that the respondents agreed on all the items that the problems of teacher education has resulted in the absence of qualified and competent teachers in the school system, decline in the task of equipping students with the needed literacy skills, decline in the status quo of the profession, low academic achievements, unconducive learning environment, absence of research on teacher education, absence of opportunities for professional growth, absence of in-service training, presence of run-down structures, increased school dropout, decreased enrolment in schools and increased gender disparity.

The grand mean score of all the respondents is 3.27 which is higher than the 2.50 benchmarks. Therefore, the problem of teacher education evidently affects the smooth realization of the objectives of UBE programme in south east, Nigeria.

6. Test of Hypotheses

Hypothesis 1

Ho₁: There is no significant difference in the mean responses of teachers of the Universal Basic Education in the states on the problems of teacher education towards the realization of the objectives of UBE in South East Nigeria.

The data for testing the hypothesis are presented in Table 3.

The data presented in Table 3 revealed that each of the 15 items the table had a calculated t-value less than the table value of 1.96 (two tailed test) at 0.05 significance and 398 degree of freedom. This indicates there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of the groups of respondents (teacher’s at UBE schools from Ebonyi and Enugu States) on the problems of teacher’s education that thwarts the realization of the objectives of UBE in South East Nigeria.

With this result, the null hypothesis of no significant difference was upheld for the 15 items.

Hypothesis 2

Ho₂: There is no significant difference in the mean rating of the responses of teachers from Ebonyi and Enugu State UBE School on the effects of these problems on the realization of the objectives of UBE program in South East Nigeria.

The data for testing the hypothesis are presented in Table 4.

Table 1. Mean ratings of questionnaire on the problems of teacher education that hinder the realization of the objectives of UBE programme in south east, Nigeria

Table 2. Mean ratings of questionnaire on the effects of the problems of teacher education in the realization of the objectives of UBE in south east, Nigeria

Table 3. T-test analysis of the responses of two groups of respondents (teachers from Ebonyi and Enugu states) on the problems of teachers’ education in the realization of the objectives of UBE in south east Nigeria

Table 4. T-test analysis of the responses of two groups of respondents (teachers from Ebonyi and Enugu States) on the effects of these problems in the realization of UBE objectives in South East Nigeria

The data presented in Table 4 revealed that each of the 12 items the table had a calculated t-value less than the table value of 1.96 (two tailed test) at 0.05 significance and 398 degree of freedom. This indicates there was no significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of the groups of respondents (teacher’s at UBE schools from Ebonyi and Enugu States) on the effects of these problems towards the realization of UBE objectives in South East Nigeria.

With this result, the null hypothesis of no significant difference was upheld for the 12 items.

7. Discussion

The first research question sought information on the problems of teacher education which hinders the realization of the objectives of the UBE programme in south east, Nigeria. The finding indicates that a lot of problems actually besiege teacher education which hitherto has militated against the realization of the objectives of the UBE programme in the zone. This is so as all the respondents agreed that the itemized variables are some of the problems. This represents over 99% of the population. These problems include: low quality of entrants into teachers’ education programme, curriculum overload, poor motivation of teachers, poor remuneration, under qualified teachers, non-availability of teaching and learning facilities, poor welfare packages for teachers, poor perceptions of teaching profession, lack of commitment on the part of government, obsolete teaching and learning facilities, lack of opportunity for professional growth, admission of uninterested candidates into teacher education, inadequate funding of teacher education, misappropriation of funds meant for education and then lack of adequate monitoring mechanism for teaching.

Table 2 presented data that answered the second research question. Research question 2 sought answers on the effects of the problems to teacher education in the realization of the objectives of UBE programmes in south east, Nigeria. The itemized variables according to the responses from the respondents are the effects of these problems which run against the realization of UBE objectives in south east Nigeria. This represents over 95% of the population.

From Table 3 and Table 4 which presented data on the hypotheses revealed that there is no significant difference in the mean ratings of the responses of teachers from Ebonyi and Enugu states on the two hypotheses tested with the corresponding items which are the problems of teacher education and its effects in the realization of the objectives of universal basic education programmes in south east, nigeria. The effect of these problems are: absence of qualified and competent teachers in the school system, decline in the task of quipping students/children with needed literacy skills, Less appreciation/Decline in the status quo of the profession, low academic achievements, unconducive/unacceptable learning environment, absence of research on teacher education, absence of opportunity for professional growth, absence of in-service training, presence of dilapidated and run-down structures, increase in school dropout, decreased enrollment in teacher training school, increased gender disparity.

8. Conclusion

The findings of this study show that teacher education is faced with a lot of problems that impedes the realization of the objectives of the Universal Basic Education in south east Nigeria. Considering the importance of education in both individual and national development, the education of this principal agent who translates educational policies, practices and programme into action is crucial. These identified problems and its effects must be eliminated. Teacher education should be given a high priority in budget allocation. By so doing, results may go either way and the quality of education cum the quality of the nation’s citizen would be enhanced.

9. Recommendations

Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations were made:

Ÿ The basic entry qualification into teacher education programme has to be raised to be a par with the universities requirements as admitting low quality candidates into teacher education programme does not enhance quality education.

Ÿ Only qualified, trained and competent teachers should be recruited.

Ÿ The government should provide adequate funding for education so that the needed structures could be put in place.

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