Yomi BlackAgriculture is examined at technical and business depth, with a trade or vocational emphasis the general certificates do not carry. That is the sentence to hold onto, because the same subject examined by a different body at a different depth needs a different plan, and candidates who carry preparation across from one to the other lose marks they did not need to lose.
- Subject
- Agriculture
- Examined by
- NABTEB
- Format here
- Written papers plus a substantial practical or trade test that carries more weight here than in any other school certificate
- Depth
- Technical and business depth, with a trade or vocational emphasis the general certificates do not carry
- What the grade does
- An O’level equivalent credit, and for the trade subjects a documented skill an employer can act on
- Papers
- Objective, essay, and a practical or alternative to practical.
- Required for
- Agriculture, agricultural engineering, animal science, crop science, forestry, fisheries and agricultural economics
How NABTEB examines this subject
The format is written papers plus a substantial practical or trade test that carries more weight here than in any other school certificate, and it is written papers marked conventionally, with the practical assessed on procedure, safety and finished work.
This certificate is the only school-leaving award here that proves you can do something, not only that you know something.
Quick answers on Agriculture
Where do I get the official syllabus?
From NABTEB, on its own site, free. Check the year range on the cover before you use it.
Has the syllabus changed?
Syllabuses are revised on published cycles and old ones stay online after they expire. If the copy you are holding has no year range, you do not know what you are holding.
How do I turn it into revision?
One line per topic area with a box beside it, then tick the lines off against past papers rather than against your notes. The lines that stay blank are the finding.
Is Agriculture compulsory?
No. It is a science subject, chosen as one of your electives, and you should choose it because a course you want names it.
What is it required for?
Agriculture, agricultural engineering, animal science, crop science, forestry, fisheries and agricultural economics.
How many papers are there?
Objective, essay, and a practical or alternative to practical.
What makes it hard?
It spans biology, economics and engineering, and candidates who are strong in one of the three routinely neglect the other two.
What is the most common way candidates lose marks?
Answering in generalities where the question names a crop or an animal.
What the subject covers
Use these topic areas as the frame for your own checklist, then verify the detail against the syllabus NABTEB publishes itself, because depth and emphasis shift between curriculum cycles even when the headings do not.
- Agricultural ecology and soil science.
- Crop production and protection.
- Animal production and health.
- Agricultural economics and extension.
- Farm mechanisation and tools.
- Forestry, fisheries and wildlife.
The paper structure, and how to weight your time
Objective, essay, and a practical or alternative to practical.
Split your preparation roughly in the proportion the components are weighted. Candidates habitually over-prepare the part they enjoy and meet the other part for the first time in the hall.
What makes it hard
It spans biology, economics and engineering, and candidates who are strong in one of the three routinely neglect the other two.
Set that against how this examination works. Workshop hours matter more than reading hours. A candidate without bench time cannot pass the practical.
Where marks are lost in this subject
- Answering in generalities where the question names a crop or an animal.
- Neglecting the economics section, which is the most predictable part of the paper.
- Failing to identify specimens and tools in the practical.
Learn the specimens. Tools, pests, diseases and crop parts are identified on sight in the practical and there is no partial credit for a near miss.
Turning it into a plan
- Get the current syllabus from NABTEB and check the year range on the cover.
- Write one line per topic area, with a box beside it.
- Work a past paper in this examination’s format, written papers plus a substantial practical or trade test that carries more weight here than in any other school certificate, and tag every question back to a line.
- Mark the lines your teaching has never covered. Those are the priority.
- Re-weight towards the component carrying the most marks. Two series a year across the school and private examinations.
What a good grade here is worth
In this examination the grade is an O’level equivalent credit, and for the trade subjects a documented skill an employer can act on. Agriculture is required for agriculture, agricultural engineering, animal science, crop science, forestry, fisheries and agricultural economics, and course requirements are checked subject by subject, so a strong overall result with a weak grade here is a disqualification for the course that names it rather than a near miss.
Sources
- National Business and Technical Examinations Board. www.nabtebnigeria.org