Peter O. Ouma & M. Masese
Abstract
The ultimate aim of education is to promote responsible citizenship behavior. Secondary school agriculture in Kenya is intended to make learners acquire useful agricultural skills for production and environmental protection. Despite agriculture subject being offered in most secondary schools in Kenya for over a quarter of a century the practice of sustainable agriculture in schools remains elusive and the use of agrochemicals is still a great threat. The objectives of this study was to assess the knowledge level of public secondary school agriculture teachers towards sustainable agriculture; to determine sustainable agriculture practices carried out in schools and to establish the perception of secondary school teachers of agriculture towards environmental sustainability. Structured Questionnaires were administered among agriculture examiners of Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education. The target population was six hundred teachers and a sample of 80 respondents was selected through stratified random sampling technique. The responses were analyzed using frequencies and percentages. Correlations were determined using Pearson’s product moment coefficient and regression analysis used to determine cause-effect relationship. The major finding was that majority of the teachers have no knowledge of sustainable agriculture and do not engage in practices that promote environmental protection. The information from this study is significant to curriculum developers and agriculture teacher trainers to evaluate the content of agriculture education training to infuse sustainable agriculture and sustainable environmental development.
Key words: Agriculture teachers, agrochemicals, biodiversity, environmental education, sustainable agriculture
Corresponding Author: Peter O. Ouma, Email:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Department of Science and Agriculture Education, University of Eldoret.
To cite this article:Ouma, Peter O. & M. Masese, M., Practice of Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya’s Public Secondary Schools, Journal of African Studies in Educational Management and Leadership, Vol. 6, pp. 96-113, 2015
Available online August 2015
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