CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Education is a good instrument for the comprehensive development of the human beings where the whole body is effectively utilized to achieve a pre-determined set of objectives, (A.E. Ejili and N.O. Anyanwu, 2006). It is a complex process which starts to improve our lives as soon as we are born, and continues to do so until we die. According to F.H. Aguba (2006:58) “the aim of education is the production of good men, that is for one to be educated, one must be prepared to use the knowledge in the service of God and humanity. We can say that, education is a process of acquiring ideas, skills and values that facilities the development of the learner and the society. The nation recognizes the importance of teacher education when they continue to give a major emphasis in all out educational planning. This is basically because no educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers, that is to say that the quality of the teachers in any country determines the quality of her education and the level of National development.

The National policy on Education of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1998) outlined the purpose of teacher education as follow:

a. to produce highly motivated, conscientious effective classroom teacher for all learning in our educational system;

b. to encourage further the spirit of enquiry and creativity in teachers;

c. to help teachers to fit into the society of the community and the society at large and to enhance their commitment to national objectives;

d. to provide teachers with intellectual professional background adequate for assignment and to make them adaptable to any changing situation not only in the life of their country but to the wider world;