INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL STUDIES EDUCATION ON ETHNIC TOLERANCE AAMONG NATIONAL CERTIFICATE OF EDUCATION (NCE) STUDENTS IN KADUNA STATE
1Agbo, Eunice Oada, 2Ayuba, Anita Bishara, 3Yaro, Linda Kiritmwa
1 & 2Department of Educational Foundations, Faculty of Education, University of Abuja
3Department of Social Studies, Federal College of Education, Pankshin, Plateau State
Email : 1oadaagbo@gmail.com; 2anitabishara@gmail.com; 3yarolinda@gmail.com
ABSTRACT:
In the world over, societies experience various forms of civil unrests irrespective of their level of development. This civic unrest is evidence Nigeria. Nigeria has been experiencing ethnic intolerance over the years and this has encroached into the educational institutions. Students are expected to live harmoniously among themselves but unfortunately this is not the case especially in the Colleges of education in Kaduna State which is the thrust of this study. The study aims at assessing the influence of social studies education on ethnic tolerance among the NCE students in the two colleges of education in the State. Three research objectives, questions and hypotheses were raised for the study and a sample of 250 respondents was drawn from a population of 940 for NCE II and NCE III students of Federal College of Education Zaria and College of Education Gidan-waya in the State. The data for the study was collected and analysed using percent, mean, standard deviation t-test and one-way ANOVA. At the end of the study, the research revealed that there was a significant difference between the perception of NCE II and NCE III students on the influence of Social Studies education on ethnic tolerance with the p value of 0.006 which is less than the significance level of 0.05 indicating that the opinion of NCE II and NCE III students did differ in the perception regarding the influence of Social Studies education on ethnic tolerance in the state. Meanwhile, on the other hand, the influence of the subject matter on ethnic tolerance based on tribe affiliation and college type revealed that there was and there was no significant difference between the mean opinion scores of the students based on tribe affiliation and college type respectively. The influence of Social Studies education based on college type revealed the p value of 0.001 which is also less than the significance level of 0.05 while the influence based on tribe affiliation was given at 0.478 which is more than the required significance level of 0.05. Based on the outcomes of the result the following recommendations were given; government should encourage the teaching of Social Studies Education courses on religious tolerance by non NCE Social Studies students as electives so as to ensure that the citizenry has all information needed for ensuring ethnic and religious tolerance; teachers of Social Studies Education at NCE level should be made to update their knowledge and skills on how to effectively translate the content of ethnic tolerance through seminars, workshops and conferences organized by governments and professional bodies; and Social Studies Education should be taught in senior secondary school to enable smooth transition to NCE level.
Keywords: Social Studies Education, Ethnic Tolerance
