Biology Education Delivery for Attaining Health-specific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Secondary Schools in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the strategies for ensuring effective delivery of Biology Education at the secondary school level for the attainment of health specific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Akwa Ibom State - Nigeria. A survey design was used for the study. The population of the study covers the entire 237 public secondary schools in the 3 senatorial districts of Akwa Ibom State - Nigeria. The stratified sampling technique was adopted based on the three Senatorial Districts (Uyo = 79, Ikot Ekpene = 70 and Eket = 60) of the State. A total of 209 respondents were involved in the study (95 HODs and 114 Biology teachers). Data collection was carried out with a researcher-developed instrument tagged “Biology  Education Delivery and Millennium Development Goals Questionnaire”  (BEDMDG). The instrument, which had 20 items, was duly validated and  tested for reliability using the Cronbach Alpha techniques, with a reliability estimate of 0.83. Mean and Standard deviation were used to answer research questions and t-test statistics was used to test the hypothesis at P<0.05. The results indicated availability of Biology teachers and inadequacy of instructional materials for the teaching of Biology in schools. It was recommended among others that training should be regularly  organized for the teachers and the state government should pay more attention to the provision of instructional materials. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the State has competent Biology teachers for effective Biology Education Delivery towards the attainment of the health specific MDGs. However, the supply of instructional materials was inadequate for effective teaching of the subject.