Assessment of Curriculum Load of the National Commission for Colleges of Education’s Minimum Standard for Nigeria Certificate in Education

Abstract

This study was executed with a view to finding out how appropriately loaded is the Minimum Standards curriculum for Colleges of Education in Nigeria. Four research questions were posited to guide the study. The data for the study were collected using two questionnaires named “NCE Course Load Assessment Rating Scale (NCE CLARS) and Lecturers’ Workload Assessment Questionnaire (LWLAQ)” administered to students and lecturers respectively. These questionnaires were constructed by the researchers and validated by experts in measurement and evaluation and curriculum studies respectively.   The area of the study was the south- south geo-political zone of Nigeria. Five colleges of education was randomly selected (one from each state) out of a population of 11 federal and state colleges of education located in five out of the six states in the zone. Five hundred students and 250 lecturers were randomly drawn from the five colleges for the study.  The data so collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. The result of the analysis revealed inter alia that the NCCE minimum standard is overloaded with many courses. Consequently, it was recommended among other things that the move towards the revision of the current edition of the minimum standards should be intensified with a view to reducing the number of courses offered by student.