Journal of Research in Peace, Gender and Development (ISSN: 2251-0036) Vol. 2(2) pp. 015-017, February 2012
Available online@ http://www.interesjournals.org/JRPGD
Copyright ©2012 International Research Journals
Short Communication
Needs Assessment as a panacea to Quality Education
in Nigeria
1
Faremi Yinusa Akintoye and 2Ayoola Rebecca Adeola
1
Department of Education Foundations and Management School of Education Osun Sate College of Education,
Ila-Oragun
Accepted 04 November, 2011
The assessment of learning outcomes and productivity of any organization is a major indication of
success or failure, certainly in the eye of funding bodies, the quality of any educational programme is
based on the access, relevance to needs and expectations, quality of programme offered, learning
outcomes, impact and cost effectiveness. Needs assessment is a means of attaining a quality
education. High application rates may indicate that needs is being met, but do not necessarily indicate
potential demand. Broad and varied programmes generally meet the needs of more students and
workers than narrowly focused programmes. In conclusion it is clear that there is no one cut and dried
method for conducting need assessment. It was recommended that educational experts and employers
should make use of needs assessment for ascertain the quality of any educational programmes and
quality of personnel to employed.
Keywords: Needs, assessment, programme and techniques.
INTRODUCTION
Generally, it is difficult to determine the appropriate
methods and instruction for evaluating a programme. The
task is complicated by many specific evaluation issues
that may require attention, by the numerous methods that
could be used to gather and examine information given
the resources and time available and by the need to
ensure that all relevant issues are examined. Verdwn and
Clark (1996) have distinguished six important general
aspects of programmes to be evaluated; Access,
relevancy to needs and expectations, quality of
programme offered, learning outcomes, impact and cost
effectiveness.
The most critical aspect of programme is its relevancy
to needs and expectations. Obviously, if needs are
ignored, not much of educational value can be achieved.
Social, personal and professional needs must be
identified through methods of need assessment such as
market research. High application rules may indicate that
needs is being met, but do not necessarily indicate po-
*Corresponding Author E-mail: fayisod@yahoo.com
tential demand. Broad and varied programmes generally
meet the needs of most students than narrowly focused
programmes.
Why design and conduct a Needs assessment? We
need to consider the benefit of any Human Resources
Development (HRD) which based on:
(i)
What learning will be accomplished?
(ii)
What changes in behaviour and performance are
expected?
(iii) What are the expected economic costs and
benefits of any projected solution?
The curricula for 26 programmes offered at National
and Higher National Diploma Level were revised to taking
into consideration the new needs of the labour market in
Nigeria and the rapid change in technology. They
included programmes in agricultural technology, health
professions
such as optometry,
physiotherapy,
occupational therapy, dental technology, radiology and
applied arts such as interior design, graphic and
advertising, architectural, and printing technology. Over
100 Nigerian national consultants selected from various
Polytechnics, Universities, Professional Bodies and the
Private sector and 14 UNESCO international consultants
016 J. Res. Peace Gend. Dev.
participated in the workshop
Technical Education, 2009).
(National
Board for
Concept of Needs Assessment
Assessment is the process of organizing measurement
data into interpretable forms of a number of variables
(Adesokan, 2009). Needs Assessment is a systematic
exploration of the way things are and the way they should
be. These “things” are usually associated with
organizational and/or individual performance (Robert and
Mitchell, 1995). Needs Assessment is a process for
determining and addressing needs, or “group” between
current conditions and desired condition, often used for
improvement
projects
in
education/training,
organizations, or communities in the context of
community improvement, it is known as community
needs analysis (Gupta et al., 2007). Chain (2004)
claimed that assessment provides a way to measure
student’s demonstration of learning, it also helps us
answer the question: “How much did they learn?” “How
well did they learn it?” and “How well did we teach it?”
It
is
also
involves
identifying
materials
problems/deficits/weakness
and
advantages/opportunities/strengths,
and
evaluating
possible solutions that take those qualities into
consideration. It is also a tool for programme planning.
Anya (2007) claimed that Assessment is an integral part
of teaching–learning process. It is a quality mechanism
for managing and monitoring learning. Anikweze (2005)
referred to assessment as “the process of investigating
the status of standard of learners attainment”, with
reference to expected outcomes that must have been
specified as objectives.
Why Needs Assessment in Programme Planning?
The following points are identified for needs assessment
programme planning;
(i)
The capacity of treatment services in the
community in relation to the prevalence and incidence of
the community.
(ii)
The appropriate mix of services required to
respond to the diverse needs associated with community
disorders.
(iii) The co-ordination of services within a system of
care in order to facilitate entry into the system, smooth
transition across specific components and appropriate
follow-up.
(iv) Needs assessment makes wise investments in
training and other possible interventions.
Communities’ needs assessment involves assessing
the needs that people have in order to live in:
(i)
An ecologically sustainable environment
(ii)
A community that maintain and develop viable
social capita.
(iii) A way that meets their own economic and financial
requirements.
(iv) A manner that permits political participation in
decision that affects them.
Techniques for Assessing Needs
In order to get a true picture about the needs of an
organization and individuals make use of multiple
methods of Needs assessment. Don’t take some
managers word for what is needed. There are several
basis Needs Assessment techniques that are pointed out
by Robert and Mitchell (1995).
(i)
direct observation
(ii)
questionnaire
(iii) consultation with person in key position, and with
specific knowledge
(iv) review of relevant literature
(v)
interviews
(vi) focus groups
(vii) test
(viii) records and report studies
(ix) work samples
It is better to use a combination of some of these, as
appropriate.
Steps for Conducting a Need Assessment
(i)
Perform a “Gap” analysis
(ii)
Identify priorities and importance
(iii) Identify causes of performance problem and / or
opportunities
(iv) Identify possible solutions and Growth opportunities
Perform A “Gap” Analysis
The difference the “Gap” between the current and the
necessary will identify our needs, purpose and objectives.
Perform A “Gap” analysis is to check the actual
performance of our organization and our people against
existing standards, or to set new standards. This can be
approach in two ways.
(i)
The current state of skill, knowledge and abilities of
our current and / or future employees must be
determined.
(ii)
We must identify the desired or necessary
conditions for organizational and personal success.
Perform A “Gap” Analysis can best be explained by
providing solutions to the following question.
(i)
Are there problems in the organization which might
be solved by training?
(ii)
Are there problems which do not current exist but
are foreseen due to changes?
(iii) Could we gain a competitive edge by taking
advantage of new technologies, training programs,
consultant’s suppliers etc.
Faremi and Ayoola 017
Identify Priorities and Importance
RECOMMENDATION
The needs for training and development, career
development, organization development and / or other
interventions must be examine in view of their importance
to our organizational goals, realities, and constraints.
During this process we must identify the; costeffectiveness, legal mandates executive pressure
population and customers. The following question must
provide solution to – how does the cost of the problem
compare to the cost of implementation.
•
Are there laws requiring a solution?
•
Does top management expect a solution?
•
How many people or key people involved?
Identify Causes of performance problems and / or
opportunities
A specific problem areas and opportunities in our
organization must be identified. We must know what our
performance requirements are, if appropriate solutions
are to apply. Two questions are commonly asked for
every identified need:
•
Are our people doing their job effectively?
•
Do they know how to do their job?
Educational experts and employers should make use of
needs assessment for ascertain the quality of any
educational programmes to get a true picture of any
programme the evaluators and researchers should not
rely on one method, they should combined several
techniques together (direct observation, questionnaire,
interview, test, records and report studies etc)
Educational experts and managers of any company,
industries films etc. should carried out needs assessment
instead of taking some manager’s word for what is
needed.
Identify Possible Solution and Growth Opportunities
Some training and / or other interventions might be called
for if sufficient importance is attached to moving our
people and their performance into new directions if they
perform effectively on their jobs but if they are not
effective on their jobs training may be the solution.
CONCLUSION
In term “need assessment” has become strongly
associated with education and instructional design.
However the same basic process is used to determine
customer needs and wants for products and service. It is
clear that there is no one cut and dried method for
conducting need assessment, there is no best approach
to evaluation to select, design and approach that are
suitable to the purposes of evaluation and the necessary
data required for need assessment. Need assessment
involves identifying material possible solution that takes
those qualities into consideration, the outcome of the
assessment will generate and communicate necessary
recommendation for training and development,
organization of career development, and / or other
interventions.
REFERENCES
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Anikweze CM (2005). Assessment and future of schooling and learning.
st
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th
th
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th
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Chain G (2004). Assessment, evaluation and curriculum redesign: what
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nsf.gov.
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nd
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www.nbte.gov.ng
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