Generally,schools especially in developing countries and specifically schools of poor families lack facilities for children to learn effectively. Teachers rely on the chalk board as a teaching aid. Children display natural curiosity about their environmment .The richer the environment the more it provokes the children to explore it. Teachers should be aware that learning can be more valuable in a good environment in a spirit of atmosphere in which the work is done. Where the school lacks learning facilities like charts,computers ,maps ,pictures children will rely on words of the teacher basing on the teacher's knowledge.There is no choice ,the teacher is the source of all knowledge. Lecture ,story telling ,drilling ,dictation and other traditional methods are the only option used as children learn the abstract theoretical concepts. The child is denied any experience of making mental model of reality more complete and true to real life.This way of learning process lead learner to be bored in whatever it is they are told to do.Their progress in learning is slow and completely out. Visual aids in learning situation has motivating effect. They raise and satisfy children's curiosity.Suitable learning aids help to reinforce what the pupils learn.
The mission of schools is to develop pupils' intellectual,artistic ,creative and sporting skills. There are facilities that pupils need to be provided to them to learn and acquire these skills. In co-curricular activities like in ball games ,the appropriate balls are essential and the playing areas should be well slashed ,marked according to the rules of the sporting discipline. If the facilities are not conducive then pupils are not likely to learn the games properly.
An important point to note is that school should have provision of various facilities to enable the children to develop their learning abilities and explore their talents according to their interests. In most of these poor school the main co-curricular activities have been ball games like soccer,netball and athletics. The situation as it stands in the said school ,shows on its own that children have limited choice as far as sporting activities is concerned. We don't want to play blaming game to anyone ,but in short the other sporting activities like tennis,cricket ,hockey ,basket and even rugby are not available in these schools because of lack of expertise and facilities.
Limiting Curriculum: The progress of pupils at school can be retarded by the limitations of the Educational curriculum. The subjects should be designed in a way that they function as an instrument to teach our children how to function effectively in their communities. If the curriculum is meaningful ,the children will be motivated because learning will become purposeful. Where the curriculum is limiting and doesn't relate to the children's experiences,immediate environemtn and aspirations then learning is not likely to be effective. Some children might even lose interest in their social formal Education.For example children taught history of other societies and not learn about their own history. The curriculum is then limiting and meaningless in this respect as it didn't relate to the the child's daily experiences. The limitation of this subject in the curriculum deprived the children of knowledge about their history ,the background of their culture .The children were likely to be retarded in their own history. The taught of local heroes is made to look like they were villains. Whilst the foreign heroes may not be of any signicance to these children. But the children had learn about these foreign history for examination purposes only. There can at times not use this information after school. When the curriculum is limiting and meaningless ,it doesn't cater for the needs of children. Other practical subjects like agriculture is not given much weight especially to those schools where their families rely on agriculture. Due to lack of learning aids like livestock and
crops ,most schools resort to teach it as theory subject. The children on the other hand are not likely to learn with enthusiasm .School Education becomes meaningless if it is not meeting the needs of the community.
The curriculum should be community oriented .Children should be made to learn about their community challenges and identify possible opportunities.
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