IMPACT OF SIT-AT-HOME ORDER ON TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM: FOCUS ON COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIA

Abstract

This work investigated the impact of the sit-at-home order declared by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), to press home the release of their leader Maazi Nnamdi Kanu, on teacher education program in colleges of education in states of South East Nigeria. The research was carried out with the purpose of finding the extent the order disrupted academic activities and its impact on quality of teacher education in the region.  Five research questions guided the study and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. A population size of 8560 persons comprising students and lecturers were used for the study while a sample size of 856 persons representing 10% of the population were sampled using simple random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire titled “Impact of Sit-at-Home Order Questionnaire” (ISHOQ) was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by six experts in the Department of Measurement and Evaluation as well as Department of Sociology,  Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki. It was trial tested to 30 respondents not included to the main sample of the study at Institute of Ecumenical Studies, Enugu, to determine the reliability using Cronbach Alpha of 0.95. Mean and Standard Deviation was used to answer the research questions while the t-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. This research findings show that since the declaration and enforcement of the sit-at-home order a lot of harm has been done to the sector as teaching and learning has diminished drastically leading to poor quality of teacher education and further eroding confidence in a sector that is already facing extinction. To wit irregular school attendance on the part of teachers and students, inability of teachers to meet up with school workload such as coverage of curriculum content, low grade, truancy on part of teachers and students as sit-at-home has become an alibi for poor output. Poor academic performance by students especially in external examinations, general atmosphere of fear, lost of lives, psychological trauma and lost of interest in school attendance and activities by students etc. The paper recommends for immediate end to sit-at-home in order to halt the declining academic achievements of students in the zone. It also among other recommendations wants state governors of the zone to come up with measures that can psychological heal those who have been disoriented by the activities of IPOB. It equally recommended that Maazi Nnamdi Kanu who has been acquitted and discharged of all charges by the courts should be released by the Federal Government.