PERCEPTIONS OF UNDERGRADUATE DIPLOMA TEACHERS CONCERNING THE USEFULNESS OF THE COURSES OFFERED FOR TRAINING SECONDARY AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION TEACHERS AT THE BOTSWANA COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE

Abstract

The study was a descriptive survey, designed to determine the graduates' perceptions of the diploma in agricultural education courses offered at the Botswana College of Agriculture. The specific objectives were to: (I) determine the perceived usefulness of the courses taught at the college for teaching agricultural science, (2) determine the perceptions of the graduates about the relevance of practical training programmes to teaching agricultural science, and (3) determine the headmasters' perceptions of graduate teachers of the diploma in agricultural education in the schools. The findings revealed that the majority of the socio-economic, crop science and production, agricultural engineering, animal science and production, and teacher education courses were rated very useful while the majority of the basic science courses were rated useful. The headmasters had very good perceptions of the agricultural education diploma graduate teachers. The diploma graduates rated the majority of the practical training programmes relevant to teaching agricultural science in the schools. It was recommended that the diploma in agricultural education curriculum be reviewed based on the findings of the study and that the agriculture teachers be provided in-service training programmes in communication skills, time management and human relations.