Analysis of Competencies Possessed by Foods and Nutrition Teachers for the Implementation of the Catering Craft Practice Curriculum in Secondary Schools in Delta State

Abstract

The successful implementation of Catering Craft Practice (CCP) curriculum in the secondary schools is heavily reliant on the competencies held by Foods and Nutrition instructors, but there are still the underlying fears that the instructors are not ready to provide practicality and industry relevant skills that the students need to be employable. This paper examined the skills that the Foods and Nutrition teachers have in order to implement the Catering Craft Practice curriculum in the secondary school in Delta State. The research design taken was a descriptive survey study. The sample was made up of all the Foods and Nutrition teachers in the public secondary schools and a sample of 298 teachers was selected. The structured questionnaire with 24 competency items was used to gather the data and the score of the mean and standard deviation was used to answer the research question, whereas the t-test was applied to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that the teachers had the majority of the needed competencies especially in meal preparation, menu planning, equipment usage, and simple food service methods. Yet, some of the special competencies were found to be deficient, such as preparation of therapeutic meals, and preparation of special drinks. The hypothesis tested did not find any significant difference in competencies of rural and urban teachers. The research findings were that despite the fact that the Foods and Nutrition teachers already had a number of core competencies, there were still gaps in areas of advanced competences, and the required in-service training and professional development would help in ensuring a successful implementation of the curriculum.