CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
In Nigeria and the world over, education is a means of
achieving a nation’s objectives. Education may be viewed as involving the
transmission of what is worthwhile from generation to generation; it is the
various ways in which a society creates and utilises
knowledge, including factual information and occupational skills as well as
cultural norms and values, to its members.
Education is also a life-long process, which transforms
the life of an individual from that of a helpless and dependent creature to a
self-reliant, rational and skilful person who can contribute to the development
of his society. It is the aggregate of all the means by which human beings
develop the necessary skills, attitudes and values that are socially acceptable
(Akinbote, 1988). It is a social institution that should be organized to
improve social life and other social institutions, namely: politics, family,
culture, economy and others. As the society is dynamic, and is constantly
changing and growing, the changes must be reflected in the various social
institutions.
Nigeria’s educational objectives have been geared towards
self-realization, individual and national efficiency, effective citizenship,
national consciousness, and national unity as well as towards social, cultural,
economic, political, scientific and technological emancipation (FRN, 2004).
Changes are most often effected through the educational system of the nation
involving various reform programmes and curriculum development. Indeed,
education is the vehicle for effecting any social change. It is a polyvalent
agent for the transmission of appropriate values, norms, ideals and skills from
generation to generation. It is also the most powerful instrument for
developing and empowering members of the society to compete for survival
(Azikiwe, 2007).Education is also globally recognised as the
bedrock of individual and national development (Lawal, 2008).
Abiri (2008) advocated a functional education aimed at
tackling Nigeria’s numerous problems, and serving as a road map toward the
country’s emergence as a modern and industrialised nation by the year 2020. In
Nigeria, there are major levels of education. These includes: early childhood
education, basic education, secondary education and tertiary education. Aghenta
(2001) observed that the national education system of any country comprises
informal, non-formal and formal processes which constitute the means of
transmitting knowledge to the younger generation with a view to perpetuating
and advancing the people.
The Nigeria secondary school system is the second level
of a three-tier education system. The secondary school has two sections: the
junior and senior secondary. Students are usually admitted into junior
secondary school after they had passed the primary school leaving certificate
examination. Its curriculum is geared towards developing students from the
primary school; instilling in them some forms of literary and vocational skills
that would make them contribute meaningfully to national development as law-abiding
citizens. In the junior secondary school, there are four core subjects taught.
These are English Language, Mathematics, Integrated Science and Social Studies
(FRN, 2004).
The importance of secondary education cannot be
overemphasized in a national development plan. Secondary education is strategic
and it dictates the pace
of education at the primary and tertiary levels of the educational system. It
not only consumes the products of the primary schools but also yields input for
the tertiary level. According to the National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004),
the broad goals of secondary education are to prepare the individual for useful
living within the society and for higher education.
Ukeje (1986) asserted that the imperative needs of youths
of secondary school age are: rational thinking, saleable skills, scientific
knowledge, health and physical fitness, economic efficiency, knowledge of rights
and duties, successful family life, aesthetic appreciation, enjoyment of
leisure and social sensitivity.
Social Studies, as a school subject, try to teach youths
the total summation of all experiences within their environment. The subject
develops students’ appropriate skills and attitudes which will make them become
catalysts and contributors to the community. The youths need to know their
society, its nature, its problems and its prospects (Ogundare, 2003). The
importance of Social Studies education in the school curriculum cannot be
over-emphasized.
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