TEACHERS TRAINING NEEDS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL CURRICULUM IN OSHIMILI NORTH AND SOUTH OF DELTA STATE, NIGERIA

The descriptive survey research sought to identify training needs of teachers for the implementation of the preprimary education curriculum in Oshimili North and South of Delta State, Nigeria. The study was guided by seven research questions and seven hypotheses.608 teachers in preprimary sections in the 430 public primary schools in Oshimili North and South made up the population of the study.280 of the teachers formed the sample. Questionnaire instrument was used for data collection. Data collected was analyzed using mean scores and standard deviation to answer the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 significance level. Among others, the major findings show that teachers very highly need to be trained in the use and mastery of the government approved pre-primary school curriculum contents and in the appropriate statement of instructional objectives. They also highly need to be trained in utilizing the play way methods of teaching preschoolers and instructional materials, caring materials and appropriate pre-school assessment techniques. They need to be highly trained in the proper presentation of pre-primary school lessons. Also, there is no significant difference in the views of teachers in the urban and rural schools on the training needs of pre-primary school teachers. Based on the findings, it was recommended, among others, that these pre-primary school teachers be retrained and that pre-primary school teachers' preparation should be seriously embarked on by the government as well as quality control by the National, State and LGEA desk officers.