An Investigation Into the Problems Facing Teachers in Teaching Computer Science in Nigerian Secondary Schools Today

An Investigation Into the Problems Facing Teachers in Teaching Computer Science in Nigerian Secondary Schools Today

A computer can be defined as an electronic machine used for accepting data and instruction from an input unit and processes the data in the processing unit and transfers data for our use through the output unit (Esquire, 2003).
A computer is a machine or an apparatus that manipulates data according to a list of instructions, whose end product (output) may be expressible in numerical or logical terms.

DEFINITION OF TEACHING

The term “teacher” is generally used to refer to anybody who imparts knowledge or instructs another person.  But Akpochafo defines a teacher to be someone who has gone through a level of professional training and is both certificated and actually teaching in an institution.  From the foregoing definition, the teacher is seen as one professionally trained and certified, Teaching in a formal sense could therefore be defined as the process of transferring knowledge or the activities of educating or instructing with the aim of impacting knowledge, by one professionally trained and certified by an institution.

HISTORY OF COMPUTER DEUCATION IN NIGERIA

The introduction of computer education was first mentioned during Professor Jubril Aminu’s tenure as the Minister of Education.
A national committee on computer education was set up after a lecture titled “Catch up with the rest of the world”.  On the 14th of September 1987, the committee submitted its report and so computer entered the educational system.  A total of one hundred and sixty (160) teachers stepped out to take off the study of computer in sixty (60) selected unity and command secondary schools (Daily Times, 3rd December, 1999).
Computer science was introduced as a subject in 1987 by the Federal Government of Nigeria during the 32nd ministerial council meeting at the National Council on Education.  This was also followed by the inauguration of the National Committee on Computer Education the same year.  The functions of the committee include planning for a dynamic policy on computer education and literacy in Nigeria as well as devising clear strategies and terminologies to be used by the Federal and State Government in introducing computer education.  (Nigeria Tribune, April 11, 1988).