Evaluation of the National Physical Education Curriculum Policy Implementation Vis-À-Vis Students’ Performance in Junior Secondary Schools in Edo State

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the national physical education curriculum policy implementation vis-à-vis students’ performance in public junior secondary schools (JSS) in Edo State. This study used the 2013 National Policy on Education (NPE) and 2014 National Policy on Physical Education and School Sports (NPPESS), to ascertain the extent of implementation of the PE curriculum and sports programme policies in secondary schools. To guide the study, five research questions were raised out of which one was hypothesized and tested at 0.05 alpha level. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the study was 110,037 respondents, consisting of 109,383 students in 318 public JSS, 318 principals, 318 PE teachers and 18 supervisory ministry officials in Edo State. The sample size of the study was 1,098 which consists of 90 PE teachers, 900 students, 90 principals and 18 ministry officials in public JSS in Edo State and they were selected using the multi-stage sampling procedure. Three instruments were used to obtain data in the study, they consisted of “Physical Education Curriculum Policy Implementation Questionnaire (PECPIQ)”, PE achievement test termed, “Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE)”, and “Physical Education Classroom Observation Schedule (PECOS)”. These instruments were validated by the researcher’s supervisors, two other experts in the Department of Human Kinetics and Sports Science, and one in Measurement and Evaluation. The cronbach alpha statistics method was used to determine the reliability of the instruments, the r-values of 0.79, and 0.82 were obtained for PECPIQ and PECOS respectively. The BECE was not subjected to reliability test being a standardized test. Data were analysed using percentages, mean and multiple regression. The findings showed that PE teachers were conversant with the policy provisions of NPE and NPPESS in the implementation of PE curriculum and sports programme. The PE teachers’ instructional techniques were rated as fairly good. In terms of students’ performance in the PE test, most of them passed. Lastly, the PE teachers’ instructional techniques rating had a significant negative magnitude of correlation with students’ PE achievement in 2017; meaning, the need exists to improve PE teaching techniques. It was concluded that there was a strong relationship and magnitude of correlation between the predictors of the Input, Activity and Outcome variables, as this will go a long way in entrenching proper implementation of the PE curriculum and sports programmes in secondary schools. It was therefore recommended that the findings be made available to stakeholders for improvement and sustenance of the PE curriculum and sports programme policy planning and implementation.