Teaching Large Classes of Primary School Children During Health Emergencies in Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated teachers' strategies and coping mechanics adopted in handling large classes of primary school children and determined the extent of meeting learners' needs in large classes. The research adopted the descriptive survey design using both qualitative and quantitative approaches for data collection. The target population comprised of 175 public primary school teachers and 15 headteachers from Ondo State of Nigeria. The multistage sampling technique was used for sample selection. Two research instruments were used for data collection. The results showed that health problems associated with overcrowding constituted the most prominent of the challenges confronting teachers in their management of large classes. The results also showed that the learning needs of special needs pupils in large classes were largely not met by their teachers. The results suggest the need for a paradigm shift in the development and implementation of education policies for achieving reasonable and manageable class size in Nigerian primary education.