Assessment of Utilization of Human and Material Resources on the Implementation of Physical Education Programmes in Nigeria’s Colleges of Education

Abstract

This study provides an expert-level evaluation of the critical determinants affecting the success of Physical Education (PE) programmes within Nigeria’s Colleges of Education (CoEs), specifically focusing on the Availability. The context for this research is the observed deterioration of PE programmes nationally, which has been directly linked to challenges in developing new athletes and achieving high performance in national sports festivals. A robust Descriptive Survey (Ex-Post-Facto) research design was employed to capture the current operational status and perceived impacts of resource provision.The study population encompassed 720 academic staff from Physical and Health Education (PHE) departments across 90 public CoEs throughout Nigeria. A comprehensive sample of 45 institutions, representing 50% of the public CoEs offering the programme, was selected using Simple Random Sampling across all six geo-political zones. Data, gathered via a self-structured questionnaire scored on a 5-point Likert scale, were analyzed using descriptive statistics (Mean and Standard Deviation) to quantify resource status and inferential statistics (Chi-square) to test for significant perceptual differences between academic and management staff at the alpha = 0.05 level. Availability of human resources, particularly qualified PHE academic staff, was found to significantly impact programme implementation success. Furthermore, implementation was found to be heavily dependent on the AAU of essential material resources, including sports equipment and instructional facilities. Critically, hypothesis testing demonstrated a significant perceptual disparity between academic staff (who experience the resource deficits firsthand) and management staff (who oversee resource procurement), resulting in the rejection of all six null hypotheses concerning AAU status. Overall, the resource situation maintained a positive and significant correlation with enhanced student academic performance. It is concluded that systemic resource inadequacy and profound utilization failures constitute fundamental barriers to pedagogical effectiveness, resulting in an instructional gap where lecturers often cannot demonstrate practical skills due to lack of facilities. Recommendations emphasize the urgent need for sustainable recruitment of specialized PHE academic staff, dedicated and earmarked annual funding, and mandatory training programs for utilization and maintenance to ensure the achievement of the national mandate for Physical Education.