Assessment of Primary School Teachers’ Mastery Number Base System in the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Mathematics.

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue II, February 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186

Assessment of Primary School Teachers’ Mastery Number Base System in the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Mathematics.

DUKU, Tracy Elohor
Department of Guidance and Counselling (Measurement and Evaluation Unit) Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria

ABSTRACT
The study examined primary school teachers’ mastery of number base system in Universal Basic Education (UBE) mathematics curriculum in Delta Central Senatorial District. The purpose of the study was to determine the extent to which primary school teachers have mastery of number base system in the studied area. Four research questions were raised alongside four null hypotheses which were tested at 0.05 level of significance to guide the study. The research design used was descriptive research design. The population of the study consist of 4969 teachers in public primary schools with a sample size of 357 teachers. The research instrument was mathematics question used to determine the extent to which primary school teachers have the mastery of the concept (number base system). The validity of the instrument was established with the use of table of specification. The reliability was established using test-retest method for establishing the stability of the question which yields an alpha reliability coefficient of 0.85. The hypotheses were tested by using independent t-test statistics at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that male, urban, experienced and university qualification of primary school teachers have a slight difference in their mean when compared to female, rural, less experienced and NCE qualifications of primary school teachers’ mastery of number base system in Universal Basic Education Mathematics Curriculum. The researcher recommended that: Teachers training institutions in the country should give adequate training to both male and female primary school teachers’ mastery of number base systems in mathematics, Primary school teachers in the federation should be guided by the curriculum planners on how to implement the new mathematics curriculum.

Keywords: assessment, mastery, number base system, universal basic education, curriculum.

INTRODUCTION

Nigerian leaders, knowing and understanding that education is not only an investment in human capital but also a prerequisite and correlating factor for economic development, have made concerted efforts to make basic education available to all individual seeking to acquire better education in their country (Adetula, Adesina, Owolabi & Ojeka, 2017). Many significant events occurred in Nigeria that set the ground for the introduction of Universal Basic Education (U.B.E). On the international stage, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a statement of human rights in 1948, which included the right to education (at least basic education), which was viewed as a universal right. The right to basic education was incorporated into the United Nations (UN) declaration of child rights in 1959, and being a member, Nigeria adopted it into her constitution (Human Rights Law, 2015).
In 1968, a worldwide conference was held in Paris on the theme of the global education problem. The prior pronouncements were backed up by this conference. The Jomtien World Conference on Education for All (WCEFA), held in 1990, was another international conference that fully supported Nigeria’s desire for basic education (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (1993). There was also the E-9 conference for nine nations that had the highest illiteracy rate in the world, at which Nigeria was in attendance in Delhi in 1991. At this conference, the E-9 countries began to initiate ways of improving their literacy level. Also, the Organization of African Unity (O.A.U) conference of 1992, tagged “Ouagadougou 92”, the O.A.U decade of education in Africa (1997), as well as the Durban (1998) conference of commitment to Education for All (E.F.A), gave a boost to U.B.E in Nigeria (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, 1993).

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