PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES OF HOME ECONOMICS PROGRAMME IN NIGERIA TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

Home Economics is a comprehensive field of study which offers students with skills and knowledge for livelihood diversification. As a discipline, it offers both diverse prospects as well as challenges. However, there is attitudinal reluctance on the part of students and at times parents towards choosing the course as a profession. Assessing students’ beliefs and perception towards learning and evaluation of Home Economics is germane to developing positive attitude to studying it. This paper therefore examines the trend of events in terms of progress, prospect and challenges of home economics as a profession. The study is both exploratory and descriptive using both content analysis and survey research involving descriptive statistics, Chi-square, correlation and t-test analyses. The findings revealed that educational level of students (χ= 1.359E2, C= 0.036) made a significant contribution to their knowledge and awareness about the challenges of home economics profession.

Also, poor state of general practical equipment (r= 0.041;p< 0.05 r2= 0.0016) is one of the most recognized problems facing both lecturers and students of home economics alike while the most identified prospects include self-reliance after school, diverse career opportunities and knowledge about various handcrafts. From the study, it was concluded that both lecturers and students of Home Economics were aware of the various prospects and challenges of home economics.