Assessing the Implementation of Senior Secondary School Health Science Education Curriculum in South-East Nigeria.

Abstract This study investigated the implementation of the Senior Secondary School Health Education curriculum in South-East Nigeria. Two research questions and two hypotheses were used for the study. A Descriptive survey design was used for the study. The population of this study consisted 1,154 Health Science teachers in 1,283 senior secondary schools across the five states of South-East Nigeria (Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States). Stratified random sampling technique was used for the selection of 736 samples. The research instrument that was used in this study was a 25 items self-structured questionnaire titled. The instrument was subjected to face and content validation. This was done by three (3) experts, one (1) from Measurement and Evaluation unit, and two (2) from Department of Curriculum and Instruction unit, all of the Faculty of Education, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike. Reliability index was determined by the use of Cronbach Alpha reliability statistics tool which yielded 0.84. The research questions were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while hypotheses were tested using t-test at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female teachers in secondary schools on the extent to which teachers’ academic qualifications affect their ability to implement Health Education curriculum and a significant difference between the mean responses of urban and rural teachers on the extent Senior Secondary School Health Education curriculum contents have been covered in South East Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Ministry of Education and School Administrators should provide teachers with opportunities for professional development to enhance their academic qualifications and pedagogical practices. Also, Ministry of Education, Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), and School Administrators should develop a curriculum implementation plan that outlines specific goals and objectives for urban and rural schools.