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.