ABSTRACT

This study investigated Student's Perception On Reliance On Formal Educational Broadcasting In Preparation For Secondary School Certificate Examination In Delta State Senatorial . The study made use of three research questions and objectives. The specific objectives are Find out the extent to which formal educational broadcasting is on secondary school students  preparation for SSCE in Delta; Know the extent to which schools in Delta state  uses educational broadcasting in preparation for secondary school certificate examination; Find out the challenges confronting the use of educational broadcasting in formal education delivery for formal education in preparation for secondary school certificate examination. However, relevant literature was reviewed for the study. The primary sources of data for the study included personal interviews, direct observations and structured questionnaire sent to the respondent  who were the direct primary providers of information for the study. The secondary sources of data were collected from newspapers, articles and journals, scholars works and other relevant internet sources. In-depth interview was used to generate qualitative data was used and the data  were analysed with explanation building technique. The findings show that although formal students are significantly knowledgeable about the use of educational broadcasting for formal education, there is a very weak provision for its use because of lack of policy, funding, inter-ministerial collaboration and qualified personnel as well as poor public awareness of the value of educational broadcasting. The study recommends effective collaboration among governments, educationists and broadcasters in Nigeria to formulate pro-educational broadcasting policies and regulate educational broadcasts to ensure content quality control, funding and sustainability. Adequate provisions should be made to improve the competence of educational broadcasters by training and retraining, while innovations to make educational broadcasting attractive to members of the audience and advertisers in order to reduce public preference for entertainment programmes over educational broadcasts should be introduced.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

Educational programmes on radio (and television) are broadcast contents that are produced with the intention of using them to teach specific skills or concepts to the audience (Schryer 2014). Formal educational broadcasting therefore refers to the deployment of radio and television to teach school subjects with the intention of facilitating the covering of prescribed curricula for the purpose of examinations (Nkwam-Uwaoma & Onu, 2017). The involvement of educational broadcasting in the delivery of formal education in Nigeria can be at three levels. It could be for classroom reception facilitated by an instructor who is present in the classroom with the learners. Here, the educational programmes would need to be transmitted within school hours or the recorded version would need to be played back for the consumption of the learners in their classrooms.

Another level of formal educational broadcasting is for reception at public radio listening posts or television viewing centres, with or without facilitators. At this level, the transmission of the formal educational programmes or play back of recorded versions would be outside school hours if the target audience includes pupils and students when schools are in session. This level of delivery of formal education through educational broadcasting usually becomes necessary in societies where schools are non-functional or deficient as a result of crises; natural disasters; underdevelopment; insufficient teachers, incompetent teachers and poor teaching facilities.

The third level of formal educational broadcasting is for consumption at homes. Here the radio and television programmes delivering formal education are expected to be consumed individually at homes or in small groups of family members and other acquaintances. Educational broadcasting can enhance formal education delivery because as Akpan, Udeze & Asogwa (2014) point out, broadcasting is a powerful tool for social control that affects the audience in a variety of ways and can be harnessed to accomplish many purposes. The power of radio and television when properly deployed to deliver formal education can improve learning outcomes because it can make standardised high quality formal knowledge available to the greatest number of learners possible with significant ease, relative low cost and, to a considerable extent, at the convenience of both teachers and learners.

Given the potentials of educational broadcasting in the promotion of formal education, it is expected that it is being engaged by education managers in Nigeria. This study sought to assess Student's Perception On Reliance On Formal Educational Broadcasting In Preparation For Secondary School Certificate Examination In Delta State Senatorial District

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Educational broadcasting is not new and scholars have examined the phenomenon from different perspectives. Onabajo (2000a) and Venniyoor (2005) in their works state that educational broadcasting is used to successfully teach classroom subjects, better farming skills and healthcare practices among others. Ijeh & Onojeghwo (2009) in a study on attitude of secondary school students to educational programmes on radio observe that though the study population had positive attitude towards educational programmes on radio, it was not adequately exposed to it. Abuli & Odera (2013) also studied the impact of Chemistry school radio broadcasts in secondary schools and report that the use of educational broadcasting on radio to teach the subject in the schools covered in the study was low because of the lack of awareness/skill among school authorities, teachers and students; absence of enabling policy and dearth of infrastructure.

The works cited above have focused on general concepts relating to educational broadcasting in Nigeria and other developing countries. However, there appears to be little or no emphasis on how much a particular government (like Delta State Government) has involved educational broadcasting in formal education delivery. What knowledge does Delta State Government have about the use of educational broadcasting in promoting formal education? To what extent does Delta State Government use educational broadcasting in formal education delivery? What challenges does Delta State Government face in its attempts to use educational broadcasting to deliver formal education? These questions and the absence of ready answers represent obvious gaps in knowledge which this student's perception on reliance on formal educational broadcasting in preparation for secondary school certificate examination in delta state senatorial district seeks to fill.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study are to:

1. Find out the extent to which formal educational broadcasting is on secondary school students preparation for SSCE in Delta
2. Know the extent to which schools in Delta state uses educational broadcasting in preparation for secondary school certificate examination;;
3. Find out the challenges confronting the use of educational broadcasting in formal education delivery for formal education in preparation for secondary school certificate examination;.

1.4 Research Questions

The following are the research questions for the study:

1. What are the awareness level of secondary school student’s adoption of formal education broadcasting in preparation for SSCE?
2. What are the extent to which schools in Delta state uses formal educational broadcasting in preparation for secondary school certificate examination?
3. what are the challenges confronting the  use of formal educational broadcasting  in education delivery targeting SSCE student?

1.5 Scope of the study

The study is delimited to secondary school students seating for certificate examination in delta state senatorial district.

1.6 Significance of the study

The significance of a study of this magnitude cannot be overemphasized. Parents, local government education department, state and federal ministries of education involved in policy formulation and implementation, would find this study really useful especially as they utilize the findings of the study.

The study will equally add to the existing body of knowledge on the subject matter. Students undergoing research work similar to the present study who may wish to use this work as a reference material or a spring board for their own work will find this work really useful

1.7  Limitations of the Study

Financial Constraints: The researcher was with limited funds and cannot visit all the areas to get responses from respondents but was able to get good information concerning the research topic.

Time Constraints: The researcher was involved in other departmental activities like seminars, attendance of lectures et.c which limited the time for the research but the researcher was able to meet up with the time assigned for the completion of the research work.