AN EVALUATION OF TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS REGARDING THE CHALLENGES TO EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF HOME ECONOMICS

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study The prominence of Home Economics as a field of study has grown progressively in Nigeria, where it plays a vital role in the lives of individuals across various communities. Home Economics contributes to national development in multiple ways; as a core component of vocational and technical education, it significantly enhances the nation's economic growth through improved teaching and learning strategies. Being a skill-based discipline, Home Economics requires the effective integration of both human and material resources for its proper delivery. However, the introduction of formal education in Nigeria resulted in the marginalization of vocational and technical education. Despite several efforts aimed at promoting vocational training, the attention given to it has remained minimal. For decades, vocational education lacked substantial advancement until the publication of the National Policy on Education in 1981. This historical neglect has led to a noticeable decline in the quality, policy direction, and recognition of vocational and technical education within the Nigerian educational system. As Osifeso (2021) notes, although there is no universally accepted definition of vocational or technical education, the shared objectives and goals across definitions are consistent: to equip learners with practical, technical, and manipulative skills applicable in industrial and applied science settings. Akoka (2021) emphasizes that Home Economics, as a skill-driven and entrepreneurship-oriented discipline, is designed to empower learners with marketable competencies that promote self-reliance and opportunities for gainful employment. The subject area comprises three major branches: Food and Nutrition, Clothing and Textiles, and Home Management. These components cannot be effectively taught in isolation from the necessary human and material resources. Despite its clear contributions to national development, Home Economics still faces several challenges, particularly in the realm of instruction. Over time, many teachers have encountered persistent obstacles in teaching Home Economics within schools and colleges. Rabiu (2017) observed that without adequate funding, the essential material resources for effective instruction cannot be provided. This lack of resources often results in poor-quality teaching, which negatively affects students’ learning outcomes and contributes to student disengagement, low motivation, and frustration. These issues form the context for the current study, which seeks to explore the challenges surrounding the teaching and learning of Home Economics in Nigerian secondary schools. 1.2 Statement of the Problem The need to investigate the challenges associated with teaching Home Economics in Nigerian schools and colleges emerged in response to the consistently poor performance of students in the subject. These challenges are particularly prevalent in secondary schools, many of which lack fully equipped Home Economics laboratories. This deficiency significantly affects instructional delivery, especially in practical areas like Clothing and Textiles and Food and Nutrition, which require hands-on materials such as sewing machines, fabric, and kitchen equipment. As noted by Shehu (2020), even when these materials are made available, they are often insufficient to serve all students adequately. This inadequacy hinders practical demonstrations, which are central to skill acquisition in Home Economics. Consequently, these limitations negatively influence students’ attitudes toward the subject and further compromise the quality of learning. Such lapses continue to impede the effective teaching and learning of Home Economics in secondary schools. As a result, many teachers develop a negative perception of the subject and, in some cases, become demotivated, which hampers their ability to deliver quality instruction. It is within this context that the present study aims to examine the challenges confronting the effective teaching and learning of Home Economics in Nigerian secondary schools. 1.3 Objective of the study The main focus of this study is to evaluate Teachers’ Perceptions Regarding the Challenges to Effective Teaching and Learning of Home Economics. Specifically the study seeks: i. To examine the nature of  home economics curriculum content in secondary school. ii. To determine the impact of teaching home economic in secondary schools. iii. To examine the factors that affects the effective teaching and learning of home economics in secondary schools.. iv. To proffer solutions to the problems of teaching and learning of home economics in secondary schools. 1.4 Research Questions i. What is  the nature of home economics curriculum content in secondary school ? ii. What is the impact of learning  home economic on student  in secondary schools? iii. What are the problems  that affects the effective teaching and learning of home economics  in secondary schools? iv. What are the solutions to the problems of teaching and learning of home economics in  secondary schools? 1.5 Research hypotheses H0: There are no challenges to the effective teaching and learning of home economics Ha: There are challenges to the effective teaching and learning of home economics 1.6 Significance of the study The study will be of immense benefit to the entire Oredo local government area, the schools and colleges; it will also help teachers to understand what is obtainable in the teaching and learning home economics. This study if need be, will direct the home economics teachers’ attention to the need for them to adopt more appropriate teaching method in order to bring about desirable experience in the students. Finally the study will  serve as a reference material  to other student and scholars  that wishes to carry out similar research on the above topic. 1.7 Scope of the study the scope of this study borders on Teachers’ Perceptions Regarding the Challenges to Effective Teaching and Learning of Home Economics. The study is  however delimited to selected secondary school in Oredo local government area in Edo State. 1.8 Limitation of the study The researcher was faced with the constraint of getting adequate information from students in the state due to the fact that most of them were not willing to reveal adequate information about their perception of the topics in the subject as some of them thought that the researcher might be seeing them as unserious students. More so, Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview). 1.9 Definition of terms Challenges: The situation of being faced with something that needs great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully and therefore tests a person's ability Home economics: This is a  field of study that deals with the economics and management of the home and community. It deals with the relationship between individuals, families, communities, and the environment in which they live. Learning:  is the act of acquiring new or modifying and reinforcing existing knowledge, behaviors, skills, values, or preferences which may lead to a potential change in synthesizing information, depth of the knowledge, attitude or behavior relative to the type and range of experience.