Attitudes of secondary school students toward agriculture in Swaziland

Abstract

The primary purpose of the research is to describe and explain the attitude of secondary agriculture school students toward agriculture, and to determine students' perceived usefulness of agriculture as compared with other subjects. A descriptive correlational research was employed. Results revealed that secondary agriculture students hold a slightly positive attitude toward agriculture, and that eleventh and twelfth grade students held a statistically significant higher positive attitude than tenth grade students, when compared, using the Tukey method Agriculture as a subject is more useful in the home situation (mainly rural) than for further education. Results of stepwise regression analysis revealed that out of seven independent variables, only three are significant predictors of attitude at alpha .05. The best predictor variables are school location (urban vs rural), performance level, and growing of crops by family.