Museum Education Programmes and Art Literacy Among Secondary School Students in Jos

Museum education has emerged as a significant complement to formal schooling, offering students experiential encounters with art objects, cultural heritage, and historical narratives that enrich classroom learning. This study examines museum education programmes and their contribution to art literacy among secondary school students visiting the Jos Museum, Plateau State, situated in Nigeria's North Central geopolitical zone. Primary data are gathered from 150 secondary school students who participated in museum education sessions, 8 museum education officers, and 12 accompanying teachers through pre- and post-visit questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The study assesses changes in art vocabulary knowledge, aesthetic appreciation skills, cultural heritage awareness, and self-reported attitudes toward visual arts as a result of museum engagement. The theoretical framework draws on constructivist museum education theory, art literacy scholarship, and the experiential learning literature. The Jos Museum's exceptionally diverse collection, spanning traditional arts from Nigeria's six geopolitical zones, makes it a particularly rich educational resource for secondary students from varied backgrounds. The study examines whether the museum's current education programmes are designed with pedagogical intentionality or whether they function primarily as informal guided tours without structured learning outcomes. Recent literature on African museum education has identified the underdevelopment of educational programming as a systemic challenge across the continent. Findings are intended for the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, the Plateau State Ministry of Education, and museum professionals committed to expanding public engagement with cultural heritage. Keywords: museum education, art literacy, Jos Museum, secondary school, Plateau State