Assessment of the Relevance of Agricultural Science Curriculum to Farming Practices in Benue State Secondary Schools

Agricultural Science education should directly support the development of practical farming competencies, yet the alignment between curriculum content and the actual farming systems of Benue State, Nigeria's food basket state, has not been systematically examined. This study assessed the relevance of the Agricultural Science curriculum to actual smallholder farming practices in Makurdi, Otukpo, and Gboko Local Government Areas of Benue State, North Central Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was used, with questionnaires administered to 120 Agricultural Science teachers and 50 local farmers. A curriculum document analysis assessed the proportion of content addressing food crop, livestock, and fisheries topics relevant to Benue's dominant farming systems. Results showed that arable crop production content was adequately relevant according to 71.7 percent of teachers. However, fisheries and aquaculture content, representing an important Benue livelihood, was rated as inadequate by 67.5 percent. Practical farm work in school was constrained by absent school farm plots in 47.5 percent of schools. Farmers rated secondary school agricultural graduates as poorly prepared for farm management roles in 73.0 percent of responses. The study recommends a regional curriculum adaptation framework for Benue State that incorporates Benue-specific farming systems, restoration of school farm plot requirements, and collaborative curriculum review between NASREC, ANCOPPS, and the Benue State Ministry of Agriculture.

Keywords: Agricultural Science curriculum, farming practices, Benue State, curriculum relevance, school farm