Influence Of Civic Knowledge On Secondary School Students Civic Participation In Ekiti State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between secondary school students’ civic knowledge and

civic participation in Ekiti State, Nigeria. It also focused on gender in relation with civic

knowledge and civic participation of students. The population for the study comprised all

secondary school students in Ekiti state, while the sample consisted of 1,250 students.

Multistage sampling procedure was used to select the sample. Simple random sampling

technique was used to select five Local Governments out of sixteen in Ekiti state, five public

secondary schools from each of the Local Government and stratificationt 50 students (25males

and 25females) from each of the five selected secondary schools. The instrument used was a

questionnaire designed by the researchers titled Civic Knowledge and Civic Participation

Questionnaire (CKCPQ). The validity of the instrument was determined through face and

content validity procedures by specialists in Social Studies, Educational Management and Test

and Measurement. The reliability of the instrument was ascertained through test-re-test method

and the reliability co efficient of 0.75 was obtained. Three research hypotheses generated were

tested at 0.05 level of significance. The data collected were analysed using Pearson Correlation

statistical tool. The study found a significant relationship between civic knowledge of female

students and civic participation while the relationship of civic knowledge and civic participation

of male students is insignificant. It was recommended that civic education and should be made a

compulsory course for students at all levels of education in Ekiti state.