The Challenge of Effective Science Teaching in Nigerian Secondary Schools

This paper attempts to highlight the performance of students in science in Nigeria, and some of the factors that affect performance in science. These include, Quality Science teaching, Teacher quality and the five indicators of teacher quality. These include; academic and professional qualification, In-service refresher courses and trainings, teacher experience and teacher salary and quality teaching –learning resources. All these factors affect largely the way science is taught in schools. Regrettably the teaching and learning of science in Nigerian schools cannot be said to be effective because of the poor performance of students resulting from inappropriate teaching methodologies, lack of adequate knowledge of subject matter, competencies, skills, inadequate teacher training and lack of in-service training and refresher courses, and lack of basic teaching-learning resources. The way forward to improving science education in Nigeria is also discussed and recommendations and conclusions made.