PERCEIVED IMPACT OF CIVIC EDUCATION ON POLITICAL INTEREST OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NSUKKA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, ENUGU STATE

Abstract

This study examined the impact of Civic Education on political interest of senior secondary school students in Nsukka local government area, Enugu State. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study comprised of 1,670 senior secondary school two (SS2) Civic Education students in the 32 public secondary schools in Nsukka LGA. A sample size of 320 Civic Education students was selected for the study through the use of simple random sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire developed by the researchers. To ascertain the validity of the instrument, the researchers subjected the questionnaire to face validity by three experts in Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The reliability of the instrument (ICEPISQ) was determined using Cronbach Alpha statistics which yielded overall reliability index of 0.83 which was high enough for the study. The instrument (ICEPISQ) for data collection was administered directly to the students in their respective schools by the researchers with the help of two research assistants. The data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the three research questions. Results indicated that the impact of Civic Education on political interest of senior secondary school students include that the study of Civic Education helps them to like politics; posting political information on the internet; political activities; voting in elections; campaigning during elections and watching television programmes on law making among other things. Civic Education influences male and female students’ political interest positively. Civic Education influences urban and rural students’ political interest positively. There was significant difference in the mean ratings of male and female students on the impact of Civic Education on political interest of senior secondary school students in favour of female students. The study concluded that Civic Education when appropriately taught in senior secondary schools would promote students’ interest in politics irrespective gender and school location for enhancing democratic processes towards promoting Nigeria national transformation.