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Relevancy of Modern Agriculture Education on Students’ Farming Practical Skills in Secondary Schools of Kabujogera Town Council, Kitagwenda District

Received: 26 November 2023     Accepted: 25 December 2023     Published: 28 February 2024
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Abstract

Despite the importance of agriculture education, it has recently been approved that agriculture students still lack practical skills and this could be attributed to poor delivery of methods on modern agriculture education and other numerous challenge like retention rates of students, lack of interest from the learners, lack of practical time/opportunities, limited funding for agriculture practicals, and low passion by agriculture teachers. The study was about the relevancy of modern agriculture education on students’ farming practical skills in secondary schools in Kabujogera Town council, Kitagwenda district. It was guided by three specific objectives which were to; examine different methods of modern agriculture education taught in secondary schools, identify the challenges experienced in modern agriculture education in secondary schools, evaluate the strategies to enhance modern agriculture education in order to improve practical skills among secondary students. The study employed a cross-sectional study design that used both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study used a sample size of 248. The study used questionnaires and interview guide to collect data. The data collected was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists. The study concluded that modern agricultural education methods had significant relationship with improving students’ farming practical skills. These included; utilization of modern agricultural inputs (x2 = 8.305, p=0.005), Use of improved farm machines (x2 = 6.048, p=0.001), Pre and Post-harvest handling (x2 = 4.985, p= 0.026), and use of modern resistant crop varieties (x2 = 4.120, p=0.004). The study concluded that there were significant challenges experienced in modern agriculture education. These included; limited modern agricultural in puts at [p = 0.001], lack of resources to use [p = 0.005], poor motivation among students and teachers [p = 0.003], limited school farm size [p = 0.001] and poor learning environment [p = 0.004]. The study finally concluded that strategies to enhance modern agriculture education had significant association with improving student’s farming practical skills. Such as; agriculture tours and field trips (p=.027), class discussion student involvement (p=.029), use of practical demonstration method (p=.004) and recruitment of experienced agriculture teachers (p=.028). The study recommended that; there should be training and re-training among teachers and students of agricultural science on use of modern agricultural education technology. Secondary schools should ensure establishment of enough demonstration farms that students would constantly visit in order to copy much on how to do agriculture practical work to improve their skills and experience.

Published in Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies (Volume 9, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.tecs.20240901.12
Page(s) 12-20
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Relevancy, Modern Agriculture Education, Farming Practical Skills

References
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[2] Anderson, J., Learch, C., & Gardner, S. (2016). National survey and segmentation of smallholder households in Uganda. Understanding their demand for financial, agricultural and digital solutions.
[3] Annor-Frempong, M. Zinnah, E and Adam, A, (2020). “Teaching of agricultural science at the basic education level in developing countries: a case study of the nature and constraints at Cape Coast district of Ghana,” in Proceedings of the 19th Annual Conference, pp. 58–64, Raleigh, NC, USA.
[4] Brand, B. V., Andrew; Browning, Andrea. (2018). How Career and Technical Education Can Help Students Be College and Career Ready: A Primer.
[5] Diise, U, Zakaria, H and Mohammed, A. A. (2018). “Effectiveness of project method of teaching on agricultural knowledge and skills acquisition among agricultural science students of Awe Senior High School in the Upper East Region, Ghana,” World Journal of Educational Research and Reviews, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 62–75, 2018.
[6] FAO. (2014). Youth and agriculture: Key challenges and concrete solutions. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation.
[7] Foster, D. D., Masser, Douglas T., Falk, Jeremy M., Sankey Rice, Laura L. (2015). Utilization of Advisory Councils in Pennsylvania Secondary Agricultural Education Programs. Career and Technical Education Research, 40(3), 141.
[8] Kathuri, N. J. (2018). “A study of the new agricultural education in the secondary school in Kenya,” University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign, IL, Ph.D. thesis. USA.
[9] Kothari, D (2014). Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques, New Age International Publishers, New Delhi, India, 2nd edition. VOL. 2.
[10] Mwangi, O. O and Mwai, U. E, (2012). Planning Effective Secondary Professional Development Programs. American Secondary Education, 32(1), 49-6.
[11] Okillan & Asianut, G. (2021). Enhancing students’ hands-on experiences in the acquisition of integrated production skills at Shimoni Core secondary teachers’ college, Wakiso district in Uganda Kyambogo University].
[12] Olowa, O. W, (2019). “Effects of the problem solving and subject matter approaches on the problem solving ability of secondary school agricultural education,” Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, vol. 46, no. 1.
[13] Rayfield, J. M., Tim; Briers, Gary; Lewis, Lauren. (2017). Identifying Innovative Agricultural Education Programs. Journal of career and technical education, 27(2).
[14] Smith, L. M., Zhu, L., Lerman, K., & Kozareva, Z. (2020). The Role of Social Media in the Discussion of Controversial Topics. International Conference on Social Computing. https://doi.org/10.1109/socialcom.2020.41
[15] Thomasian, J. (2019). Building a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Education Agenda. Retrieved from Washington, D.C.
[16] Tschirley, W. M., Young, R. Brent, A, (2015). Sustainability of professional development to enhance student achievement: A shift in the professional development paradigm. Journal of Agricultural Education, 54(4), 13-30.
[17] Tumuheki, P. (2017). Lifelong learning in practice: Understanding and enabling meaningful participation of non-traditional students in university education in Uganda. Groningen: Globalisation Studies Groningen.
[18] UBOS. 2015). Annual Agricultural Survey.
[19] Vandenbosch, C. H, (2006). Secondary School Students’ Views on the medium of Instruction in Tanzania. Paper presented at the LOITASA (Language of instruction in Tanzania and South Africa) workshop, 26-28 January 2006, Arusha: Tanzania.
[20] World Bank (2018). Expanding Opportunities and Building Competencies for Young People: A New Agenda for Secondary Education. The World Bank. Washington, DC. 300pp.
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    Everest, T., Ssemakula, E., Nuwemuhwezi, G. (2024). Relevancy of Modern Agriculture Education on Students’ Farming Practical Skills in Secondary Schools of Kabujogera Town Council, Kitagwenda District. Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies, 9(1), 12-20. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.tecs.20240901.12

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    Everest, T.; Ssemakula, E.; Nuwemuhwezi, G. Relevancy of Modern Agriculture Education on Students’ Farming Practical Skills in Secondary Schools of Kabujogera Town Council, Kitagwenda District. Teach. Educ. Curric. Stud. 2024, 9(1), 12-20. doi: 10.11648/j.tecs.20240901.12

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    AMA Style

    Everest T, Ssemakula E, Nuwemuhwezi G. Relevancy of Modern Agriculture Education on Students’ Farming Practical Skills in Secondary Schools of Kabujogera Town Council, Kitagwenda District. Teach Educ Curric Stud. 2024;9(1):12-20. doi: 10.11648/j.tecs.20240901.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.tecs.20240901.12,
      author = {Turyamureba Everest and Edward Ssemakula and Gershom Nuwemuhwezi},
      title = {Relevancy of Modern Agriculture Education on Students’ Farming Practical Skills in Secondary Schools of Kabujogera Town Council, Kitagwenda District},
      journal = {Teacher Education and Curriculum Studies},
      volume = {9},
      number = {1},
      pages = {12-20},
      doi = {10.11648/j.tecs.20240901.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.tecs.20240901.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.tecs.20240901.12},
      abstract = {Despite the importance of agriculture education, it has recently been approved that agriculture students still lack practical skills and this could be attributed to poor delivery of methods on modern agriculture education and other numerous challenge like retention rates of students, lack of interest from the learners, lack of practical time/opportunities, limited funding for agriculture practicals, and low passion by agriculture teachers. The study was about the relevancy of modern agriculture education on students’ farming practical skills in secondary schools in Kabujogera Town council, Kitagwenda district. It was guided by three specific objectives which were to; examine different methods of modern agriculture education taught in secondary schools, identify the challenges experienced in modern agriculture education in secondary schools, evaluate the strategies to enhance modern agriculture education in order to improve practical skills among secondary students. The study employed a cross-sectional study design that used both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study used a sample size of 248. The study used questionnaires and interview guide to collect data. The data collected was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists. The study concluded that modern agricultural education methods had significant relationship with improving students’ farming practical skills. These included; utilization of modern agricultural inputs (x2 = 8.305, p=0.005), Use of improved farm machines (x2 = 6.048, p=0.001), Pre and Post-harvest handling (x2 = 4.985, p= 0.026), and use of modern resistant crop varieties (x2 = 4.120, p=0.004). The study concluded that there were significant challenges experienced in modern agriculture education. These included; limited modern agricultural in puts at [p = 0.001], lack of resources to use [p = 0.005], poor motivation among students and teachers [p = 0.003], limited school farm size [p = 0.001] and poor learning environment [p = 0.004]. The study finally concluded that strategies to enhance modern agriculture education had significant association with improving student’s farming practical skills. Such as; agriculture tours and field trips (p=.027), class discussion student involvement (p=.029), use of practical demonstration method (p=.004) and recruitment of experienced agriculture teachers (p=.028). The study recommended that; there should be training and re-training among teachers and students of agricultural science on use of modern agricultural education technology. Secondary schools should ensure establishment of enough demonstration farms that students would constantly visit in order to copy much on how to do agriculture practical work to improve their skills and experience.
    },
     year = {2024}
    }
    

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    AB  - Despite the importance of agriculture education, it has recently been approved that agriculture students still lack practical skills and this could be attributed to poor delivery of methods on modern agriculture education and other numerous challenge like retention rates of students, lack of interest from the learners, lack of practical time/opportunities, limited funding for agriculture practicals, and low passion by agriculture teachers. The study was about the relevancy of modern agriculture education on students’ farming practical skills in secondary schools in Kabujogera Town council, Kitagwenda district. It was guided by three specific objectives which were to; examine different methods of modern agriculture education taught in secondary schools, identify the challenges experienced in modern agriculture education in secondary schools, evaluate the strategies to enhance modern agriculture education in order to improve practical skills among secondary students. The study employed a cross-sectional study design that used both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study used a sample size of 248. The study used questionnaires and interview guide to collect data. The data collected was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists. The study concluded that modern agricultural education methods had significant relationship with improving students’ farming practical skills. These included; utilization of modern agricultural inputs (x2 = 8.305, p=0.005), Use of improved farm machines (x2 = 6.048, p=0.001), Pre and Post-harvest handling (x2 = 4.985, p= 0.026), and use of modern resistant crop varieties (x2 = 4.120, p=0.004). The study concluded that there were significant challenges experienced in modern agriculture education. These included; limited modern agricultural in puts at [p = 0.001], lack of resources to use [p = 0.005], poor motivation among students and teachers [p = 0.003], limited school farm size [p = 0.001] and poor learning environment [p = 0.004]. The study finally concluded that strategies to enhance modern agriculture education had significant association with improving student’s farming practical skills. Such as; agriculture tours and field trips (p=.027), class discussion student involvement (p=.029), use of practical demonstration method (p=.004) and recruitment of experienced agriculture teachers (p=.028). The study recommended that; there should be training and re-training among teachers and students of agricultural science on use of modern agricultural education technology. Secondary schools should ensure establishment of enough demonstration farms that students would constantly visit in order to copy much on how to do agriculture practical work to improve their skills and experience.
    
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Agriculture and agribusiness, Bishop Stuart University, Mbarara, Uganda

  • Agriculture and agribusiness, Bishop Stuart University, Mbarara, Uganda

  • Agriculture and agribusiness, Bishop Stuart University, Mbarara, Uganda

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