INFLUENCE OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN REDUCING ECONOMIC HARDSHIP AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS OF OYO STATE.
Keywords:
Economic hardship, Undergraduates, Gender, Teacher Education and Tertiary Institutions.Abstract
This study investigated the influence of teacher education in reducing economic
hardship among undergraduates in tertiary institutions of Oyo state. The study
adopted descriptive survey design. Two research hypotheses guided the study. The
population for this study comprised all public tertiary institutions students in Oyo
state. The target sample was one hundred (150) purposively selected among final
students from University, Polytechnic and Colleges of Education in Oyo State. A
self-developed questionnaire which contains (20) items structured in a four-Likert
scale (Strongly Agreed, Agreed, Disagreed, and Strongly Disagreed) was used as
research instrument. The face and content validity was carried out by two experts in
the field of test and measurement, Department of Educational Psychology, Kwara
State University, Malete. The reliability coefficient of 0.89 was obtained.Inferential
statistics of t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level for data
analysis. Based on the findings, the researcher concluded that the economic
meltdown has created an opportunity to rethink the curriculum of teacher education
in Nigeria so as to incorporate all the challenges created by the digital revolution,
the knowledge-driven society and the global service-oriented economy in which these perilous time’s teachers are trained to work. The study recommended that government should look into the tertiary institutions by giving adequate attention and financial support to students, in order to reduce their educational burden.
