ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND ITS ASSOCIATED HAZARD ON VEGETABLE GARDEN ON PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN RIVERS STATE.

Abstract

The study investigated environmental pollution and its associated hazard in vegetable garden in public secondary schools in Rivers State.  The study was guided by three research questions and three hypotheses. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study was 132 teachers and students respectively, the sample size for the study was 132 respondents including agricultural science teachers and student in the study area. The target population comprises of (132) a total of 12 teachers, 120 students, the instrument for data collection was a self-structured questionnaire designed Titled Environmental pollution and its Hazard on Vegetables (EPAHVG) in a 4-point rating scale of low extent (1) High extent (4), face and content validity, three experts from Agricultural Education, Measurement and Evaluation review the instrument for clarity, coverage and relevance. The reliability of the instrument was established using the test-retest method which yielded 0.82. Data was analyzed using mean and standard deviation with a criterion mean value of 2.50 and above while a z-test statistical tool was used to test the null hypotheses at a significance level of 0.05. findings from the study revealed that soil and water used in the gardens were significantly affected by environmental contaminants with both students and teachers observing health effects such as skin irritations and noting poor crop growth, also some pollution mitigation practices were in place the study found that formal sensitization and structured environment education were largely in adequate. The study concluded that environmental pollution poses a serious threat to school-based agricultural education and food safety it recommended regular soil testing, curriculum-based-environmental training, provision of clean water sources and stronger policy enforcement to support safe and sustainable school gardening practices in Rivers State.