CANDIDATES’ WEAKNESSES
Candidates’ weaknesses as reflected in their works included:
(1) Lack of Proper Understanding of the Demands of the Questions
Many candidates seem not to have comprehended the demands of the questions. For instance, most of them resorted to mere mentioning of points instead of giving detailed explanation of such points where required.
(2) Lack of Proper Understanding of the Subject-matter
Many candidates did not understand the specifics of the subject matter which may be as a result of poor coverage of the curriculum.
(3) Violation of Rubrics
Many candidates failed to adhere to the rubrics of the paper and therefore answered all questions from a section while neglecting questions from other sections.
(4) Mixing up of Questions/Improper Arrangement of Answers
Some candidates mixed up their responses to the questions they answered especially in questions with two parts (a) and (b). In such cases, answers were not sequentially arranged. At other times, candidate gave answers without indicating the questions being answered.
(5) Cramming of Answers on the Same Page
Allied with the above was the failure of candidates to read the instructions on the answer booklet properly which made some to cram all their answers in either one or two pages. Some candidates even wrote inside both margins of the answer booklets.
(6) Poor grammatical Expression
The tenses and grammar of most of the candidates were bad. They could hardly express themselves in simple correct statement even in situations where they seemed to know the demands of the question.
(7) Lack of Understanding of Action Verb
In most of the questions, candidates could not distinguish between action verbs such as mention, state, explain, highlight, outline, describe and so on, hence their inability to tackle the questions appropriately.
(8) Illegible Handwriting
Some candidates wrote in illegible ways using bad handwriting which hindered examiners to decipher the words and meaning of what some candidates wrote. Wrong spellings coupled with poor expression of ideas and facts negatively affected the performance of a lot of candidates.
(9) Illogical Presentation of Ideas
Some of candidates were unable to clearly explain the identified points and arrange them in a logical manner. A good number of them could not communicate their thoughts logically even when it seems they had the idea of the demands of the questions.
(10) Lack of Qualified Teachers
The candidates’ weaknesses could also be traced to the lack of qualified teachers of Civic Education who had good grasp of the substance of the subject. It is observed that candidates were not adequately equipped with necessary information and materials needed to do well in the subject.
(11) Dearth of Standard Textbooks
It also observed that the poor performance of the candidates in the subject may not be unconnected to shortage of source materials such as good textbooks and teaching aids on the subject.
SUGGESTED REMEDIES
(1) Teachers of this discipline should be well grounded on the topics as outlined in the syllabus. To this end, qualified teachers with B.Sc/Ed in Social Studies, Political Science, Sociology or related discipline should be employed. The use of unqualified teachers or people with no requisite knowledge should be discouraged.
(2) Candidates should be encouraged to use proper tenses for clarity of expressions. They should also be encouraged to work hard for the purpose of knowledge, comprehension and application of the issues in the schemes. Furthermore, Students should also be taught the necessary skills, methodologies and techniques of responding to questions. And, in doing this, orderly presentation of ideas should be emphasized.
(3) Teachers should take extra-time to teach students how to interpret questions. Students should be asked to spend the first few minutes to read the questions carefully before attempting to answer the questions.
(4) Efforts should also be intensified by students to develop their usage of English by reading books, novels, newspapers just to mention a few. Also, relevant textbooks should be procured by schools for proper learning process.
(5) Civic Education as a course of study should be introduced in Nigerian Universities and colleges so that teachers of the subject can be trained and retrained for optimum performance.
(6) Schools should device means to teach Civic Education holistically, not in piecemeal; the connecting links between and among different civic concepts must be made clear to students for them to appreciate how these are connected to the achievement of the objective of Civic Education in Nigeria.
(7) Students and teachers should take the subject as being very important since it helps shape life and character morally. Civic Education teachers should also be made to attend seminars and workshops that will expose them to the specifics of the subject.
(8) Candidates should be advised to adhere strictly to rubrics as stated on the question paper. It will also help if students are prepared for public examinations through proper tutoring on the use of answer booklets; informing candidates to answer each question on fresh page.
(9) Efforts should also be made by the students to cover every aspect of the Syllabus and also be conversant with current trends in the society by listening to news and reading newspapers as well as magazine to widen their knowledge of the subject as this help them to know more about their immediate environment and their civic duties.
(10) Candidates should make efforts to improve their understanding and mastery of the use of the English Language. This will enable them to comprehend the requirements of questions, as it will also facilitate logical expression and coherent presentation of points. Furthermore, candidates should understand and know how to interpret the demands of questions from the action verbs associated with the questions. These verbs includes: list, interpret, evaluate, identify, state, discuss, emphasise, outline, point out, demonstrate, deduce, analyse, elaborate, etc