CHAPTER ONE

                                                    INTRODUCTION

   Background of the Study

            In order to have change in the learner, good teaching must take place and to bring about good teaching, teachers should be able to convey their teaching in the simplest, most convincing and practical way to the learner using available resources.

    The use of resource material is recommended by many authors for effective teaching and learning at any stage of the child’s development and level of education. It is only unfortunate that in spite of the importance of resource material in teaching and learning process, they are not effectively used in our schools.

These available resources are the instructional materials used in teaching and learning to make teaching easy and practical for the learners to understand the subject.

Textbook, computer, According to Umoh-Mac and Nkume (1998) are regarded as instructional materials. They enhance real and meaningful teaching and learning. Appropriate instructional materials are imperative for implementing good quality education programes. Unless adequate and quality facilities are available, quality of the programme will be reduced and learning-will be deterred.

Material for teaching business subject range from the common textbooks  to more sophisticated machines, chalkboards, real objects or their representatives which the teacher use to communicate effectively with the students. These materials make learning more permanent and develop continuity of thought among the learner. Teaching materials and aids for the acquisition of required skill for business Education should be on regular supply to school where Business Education subject are taught.

According to Umoh-Mac Nkume (1998) many researches on the availability of instructional material carried out in Nigeria, in schools offering Business Studies program revealed the presence of inadequate teaching facilities in the schools.

They further explained that even the few available ones are not being maintained. There are poor storage facilities and so they become non-functional.

According to Obi and Akume (2001) warned that any school that desire to offer modern Business Education programme must include in its programme, a thorough training in the use of these appliances.

Also to give such training the school must be equipped with appliances with which it intends to give instructions. To take the point further, they stated that for the teaching process to effectively take place generally, both human and materials resources need to be provided adequately.

No matter how good the teaching staff are, they may not be able to function effectively and efficiently without appropriate teaching materials, equipment and adequate infrastructural, like workshop, conducive classrooms and laboratories, especially when it is over loaded with lesson and practical courses. A well-planned programmed, they say, will fail if at implementation stage the necessary instruments are not supplied. The world at large is going technological and if Nigeria schools must keep abreast with the global technological advancement then the training must be borne in mind and they are adequate supply, proper maintenance and judicious usage of the materials.

The question to ask is who provides these resources materials to schools?

Eze (1991) in his contribution opines that instructional materials produced commercially play a key role in functional education in our schools that when these are understood, our next alternative is in improvisation, provide the improvised equally delivers the goods.

Fortunately, some sources of improvisation are available here around us by nature. Human re-arrangement of nature only requires our initiative and creative to tap them fully towards the attainment and mastery of some skills. Nigeria must realize that finding pragmatic solution to the problems is by setting the growth and development, Business Education in the country should not be left to few persons but rather it should be seen as a collective, philanthropists, corporate bodies, government agencies, churches and other religious organization etc. must join hands and regard the task of solving these problem as one that must be done. When this is solved, Business Education will be accorded its pride of place in the nation’s education system as salvation of modern civilization. In view of these, this study was intended to find out the extent to which instructional materials for teaching Business Education courses are available, functional and utilized in Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State.

Statement of problem

Inspire of the federal government emphasis on self-reliance through acquired skill, some schools still suffers some defects such as inadequate supply or provision of resource materials, poor maintenance and poor storage of existing ones.

According to Oren (1998) observed that, being a skill-oriented subject, Business Studies  requires the use of machine and other equipment for effective teaching to take place. It is therefore, it is therefore expected that the federal government through the ministries of education, federal, state and local government to see to the provision of these necessary resources for teaching and learning of Business Studies.

According to Oyedele (1995) citied in Atakps (2001) Nigeria children and youths are being educated more in accordance with yesterday’s world rather than in preparation for tomorrow’s living. This is in agreement with what Umoh-Mac and Nkume said about the obsolete equipment found in Nigeria schools.

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