This study examines the implications of perception, interest and socio-economic status of teachers of students with visual impairment who are in training on quality teacher training in Oyo State, Nigeria. Survey research design was used. Forty-three (43) participants were randomly selected. The instruments used were “Questionnaire on Perception and Interest of Teachers in Training in Education of Persons with Visual Impairment and adapted version of Socio-Economic Status of a Family Scale of Aggarwal, Bhasin, Sharma, Chhabra, Aggarwal & Rajoura, 2005. The instruments were tested and reliability index of 0.71 and 0.69 were obtained respectively. Mean and Pearson Product’s Moment Correlation at 0.05 level of significance were used to analyse the data. The results revealed the teachers of students with visual in training have positive perception and interest in their training. While no significant relationship was found between their interest and socio-economic status, a relationship was found between perception and socio-economic status. The study therefore recommends that Student’s interest should be tested in all teacher training programmes prior to admission into special needs education generally and education of persons with visual impairment in particular.

1. Perception, Interest and Socio-Economic Status of
Teachers of Students with Visual Impairment in Training:
Its Implications on Quality Teacher Training in Oyo State,
Nigeria
ADEYEMI, Clara Kikelomo, Ph.D.
&
ODEWENWA, Oludare Joseph
Department of Education for Learners with Visual Impairment
Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria.
odewenwaoludare79@gmail.com

2. Background
Education as it is often said, is the bedrock of any
nation.
This, among other reasons, necessitate various
national and international treaties such as MDGs
The MDGs are eight and the focus of this paper is
on Goal 2 – 'Achieve universal primary education‘

3. Where we are in Nigeria on Goal 2?
80
Enrollment Rate in Nigeria
Enrolled 2nd Qtr
Official Report as at
2013 reveals that 80%
of children of school
age have been
enrolled
However, there is no data on
the actual enrollment of
children with visual
impairment from this
population

4. Background (cont.)
As good as the progress made so far, more emphasis has
been placed on the enrollment rate than the quality of
instruction in assessment of the achievement of the goal.
Studies which have attempted to assess the quality of the
education being given found that the quality of instruction
is still poor and uneven across the country due to various
challenges; one of which is Quality Teacher.
Literatures revealed there were no enough qualified
teachers to staff all primary schools (FRN, n.d., Asomba,
2012, Ofor & Ofoli, 2014, and Amuwa, 2015)

5. Government’s action
Perhaps the Nigerian government recognized this fact, that
is why it established Federal Teachers Scheme, among
efforts, to recruit more teachers into special schools for
state governments to manage.
There are also funds/grants for training of in-service
teachers to improve teacher’s quality.
Federal College of Education (Special), Oyo also runs NCE
in Special Education, Degree in Special Education & Post
Graduate Diploma in Special Education for any interested
graduates who wants to teach but did not study education
at degree level.

6. Background cont.
These, and many others give access to an individual who’s
interested in special needs education, thus, the profession
is open to everyone interested.
Due to influx of enrollment in teacher training programmes
generally, some measures were put in place such as
Teachers Registration Council, Accreditation Exercise for
Teacher Training Institutions to regulate quality output.
However, these have not been much effective.

7. The quest for this study
Quality
Teacher
Training
Perception
Interest
Socio-
economic
factor

8. The purpose
examine their perception of the field of special
needs education.
determine their Interest in the training as a teacher for
students with visual impairment.
determine whether their socio-economic
status/background is a determinant of their choice of the
field of special needs education.

9. Research Questions
5 research
questions were
generated and
analysed using
descriptive
statistics and
PPMC

10. “Perception and Interest
of Teachers in Training
in Education of
Persons with Visual
Impairment (r=0.71)
Socio-Economic Status
of a Family Scale
by
Aggarwal, Bhasin,
Sharma, Chhabra,
Aggarwal & Rajoura,
2005

11. Research Question 1: What is the Socio-
Economic Status of Teachers of Students
with Visual Impairment in Training?

12. Research Question 2: What is the
perception of teachers of students with
visual impairment in training towards the
field of special needs education?
 sds
Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation
Perception of Training 43 3.00 5.00 4.3488 .52932
Valid N (listwise) 43

13. Research Question 3: Are the teachers of
students with visual impairment in training
interested in teacher training programme?
Descriptive Statistics
N Minimum Maximum Mean
Std.
Deviation
Interest in Training 43 2.00 5.00 3.9535 .75446
Valid N (listwise) 43

14. Research Question 4: Does socio-
economic background affect the interest
of teachers of students with visual
impairment in training?Pearson’s Product Moment Correlations of Socio-Economic Status and Interest in
Training
Socio-Economic
Status
Interest in
Training
Socio-Economic Status
Pearson Correlation 1 -.253
Sig. (2-tailed) .120
N 39 39
Interest in Training
Pearson Correlation -.253 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .120
N 39 43

15. Research Question 5: Is there any
significant relationship in the perception
of teachers of students with visual
impairment in training based on their
socio-economic background?
Pearson’s Product Moment Correlations of Socio-Economic Status and Percetion of Training
Socio-Economic
Status
Perception of
Training
Socio-Economic Status
Pearson Correlation 1 -.011
Sig. (2-tailed) .946
N 39 39
Perception of Training
Pearson Correlation -.011 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .946
N 39 43

16. Conclusion
This study has further established that interest and
perception as well as socio-economic status are
factors to be considered in the choice of career.
Interest is more of intrinsic motivation and does
not have any relationship with socio-economic
background. As a results, teachers of students with
visual impairment who have good interest with
positive perception would productive in the
classroom.

17. Assessment of
Student’s Interest
Prior to Admission
Promotion of
Interest &
Perception of In-
service teachers
More efforts
towards quality
other than
quantity.