AN INVESTIGATIVE STUDY ON THE VIEWS OF BIOLOGY STUDENTS ON THE PROBLEMS OF LABORATORY MANAGEMENT AND SAFETY IN SECONDARY SCCHOOLS

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to find out the biology teachers' views on problems of laboratory management and safety in selected secondary school in Lokoja metropolis. The researcher study involved biology teachers only from six selected secondary school. Two independent variables were involved in this research. These variables were teacher’s gender and teacher’s qualification. The researcher designed 30 questionnaires to elicit information.The data collected were analyzed using percentage and chi-square test, the results showed that several factors are responsible for the problems of laboratory management and safety in secondary schools; therefore, recommendations for improving the status of practical work on biology in secondary schools were given. The findings revealed that; in all the teachers teaching biology 65% of them were qualified 42.5% were male teachers while 25% were female teachers. It was revealed that teachers with varying qualification have the same view about the importance of laboratory work in biology.Recommendations made are as follows; teachers teaching biology should attend seminar s and improve their teaching method. Teachers teaching biology should show sense of devotion of their work and develop enthusiasm by improvising materials that are locally made.