Accessibility of instructional materials for effective teaching: outlook from high schools in Eleme, River State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study focuses on the accessibility of instructional material for effective teaching in secondary (high) schools in Eleme, Rivers State, Nigeria. The population of the study consisted of 450 teachers from eight secondary (high) schools using a structured research questionnaire. The questionnaires were administered to 78 teachers from eight secondary (high) schools. Percentages (%) and frequency counts were used to assess the data that had been obtained. The numerical values of the estimated % of the response options’ values served as the basis for the decision. Any item with a % score of 50 or higher was considered to be accessible (available), whereas % values lower than 50 were considered to be unavailable. The analysis's findings indicated that these secondary (high) schools had a poor supply of instructional materials for efficient instruction. The little teaching resources that were provided were insufficient, and the teachers either could hardly use them or did not know how to use them, so they were rarely used. The research also revealed that teaching without instructional resources is ineffective; thus, for efficient teaching and learning, teachers should make the most of the instructional materials that are already accessible. The study suggests that the government set aside enough money in the budget to increase access to teaching resources across the board for all public secondary (high) schools. This study recommends more investigation into how teachers utilize instructional resources for efficient teaching and learning. Hence, it is believed that this findings from this study will attempt to bring solutions to the inaccessibility and underuse of instructional resources in teaching and studying in high schools.

Keywords: Academic performance; Learning; Student; School; Teaching