Investigating the presence of resources for conducting practical work in Biology in secondary schools in Oshana education region

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate whether secondary schools in the Oshana education region had all the necessary resources for conducting practical lessons in Biology. This study was situated in both the qualitative and quantitative research paradigms. The population in this study consisted of all 13 secondary schools in the Oshana Education Region which offer Biology as a subject at Grade 11 and 12 levels. Eight Secondary Schools were randomly selected to take part in this study. A sample comprising 23 Biology teachers was then chosen purposively from the 8 secondary schools. A questionnaire and an observation schedule were used to collect the data for this study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse quantitative data and included frequency tables, graphs and pie charts. Qualitative data were categorised into themes that emerged from the data. This study found that most secondary Schools in Oshana Education Region did not have a laboratory specifically for conducting Biology practicals and that most of the laboratories used did not have enough apparatus and equipment. The study also found that some of the laboratories had expired chemicals and thus could not be used for practicals as indicated by 28.6% of the teachers. Furthermore, the study found that there was only enough equipment for teachers to do practical work and that the equipment was not enough for all the learners to use during the practical lessons. The findings also showed that both teachers and learners did not have Biology practical manuals to guide the conduct of practicals. It is apparent from these findings that the lack of laboratories, equipment, apparatus and chemicals made it difficult for Biology teachers to conduct practicals. This might be the reason why learners performed poorly on Paper 3 which is an alternative to practical work paper. The study recommends that the Ministry of Education should budget money for building Biology laboratories at all secondary schools. The Ministry should also budget money for buying the apparatus and the equipment that will be used by both teachers and learners during practical lessons. The study further recommends that Biology teachers should be encouraged to borrow materials necessary for conducting practical work from private schools in cases where their schools did not have the necessary resources for conducting practicals in Biology.