INVESTIGATION ON THE CAUSES AND EFFECT OF MASS FAILURE OF MATHEMATICS IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In order for Nigeria to accomplish her objective of developing Junior Secondary Schools, the residents of the nation must demonstrate great performance in all secondary school topics throughout their lives. In recent years, student academic achievement in mathematics has increased at the junior secondary school certificate examination level. The name "Mathematics" comes from the Greek language and means "things that are learnt." Counting, measuring, and describing the shape of items are further described by Majasa (1995) as the science of counting, measuring, and describing their shape. It is concerned with logical thinking as well as numerical computations. In the world of science and technology, mathematics is often regarded as the basis upon which a nation can never achieve prosperity and economic independence. Mathematics is taught in schools across the world. Mathematical competency is essential for all learners at all levels of education, and this is one of the reasons why mathematics is made obligatory and one of the most important core subjects in secondary school curricula worldwide. As a result of the significance attached to it, the critical function it plays in contemporary society has been recognized.

 Despite the efforts made by the government and different stakeholders in the education sector, mathematics continues to be one of the most difficult subjects to master in school settings. There is a widespread perception that mathematics is difficult by its very nature, and as a result of this perception, junior secondary school children, who are the subject of this study, demonstrate low performance. This low performance in mathematics has been linked to two major categories: hereditary variables and environmental factors, which may be further separated into factors affecting kids, their families, instructors, and the school environment. Ola is a Portuguese word that means "olive tree" or "olive tree" in English (1998). Students, on the other hand, argue that mathematics is highly organized and abstract, necessitating the development of a distinct intellectual approach. As a result, pupils consider the topic to be esoteric in nature. Nwogu (1990) articulated the fact that the inherent notion held by many Africans that mathematics is a very difficult subject that is capable of making one "mad" is at the heart of the phobia which students exhibit for mathematics and which has claimed many causalities over the years, Emenalo (1986) passes the question "how them would any reasonable person expect our poor and innocent children to be as courageous as to face something that is capable of making them "mad"?" Students would choose to do something else, no matter how tough, rather than attend mathematics lessons, according to the survey results. When it comes to preparing their children for school, the majority of parents do not take an active part. As a result, the kid is expected to view the world through the prism of these archaic ideals, and the goodness or otherwise of his or her behavior is assessed in this manner. The child's opposition is prompted by what he perceives to be out of date, as well as the parents' support of conventional values. When parents respond consistently and appropriately to their children's whole response repertoire, according to Whaler (1997), a family environment favorable to positive reinforcement of child compliance will be established. In contrast, uneven parental responses tend to generate a chaotic home environment that appears to be conducive to the negative reinforcement of kid resistance. He contends that, on the basis of these two types of contexts, the parent and children are observed to establish separate personal norms that specify the roles of context arrangements, behavior, and reinforcement, which are then reinforced. When it comes to their children's mathematics lessons, parents are rarely interested in hearing about the difficulties or joys they have encountered there. And this is considered to be one of the contributing factors to pupils' low performance in mathematics. Teachers of junior mathematics are hard to come by due of the location of some schools, particularly those in the Igbo-Etiti local government area of Enugu State, where several schools are located. The few instructors who are still available have not been provided with opportunity to keep their skills and expertise up to date through in-service training. Students' ability to study mathematics is greatly aided by the efforts of their teachers. According to Nicol (1997), "A teacher can only be considered effective if his or her students learn more easily and perform better with his or her assistance than they would have done without his or her assistance." The attitude of a teacher may be detrimental to learning, particularly when one does not show oneself as a highly intelligent and intimidating individual. A quack doctor is capable of dealing with an individual for a period of time, but a lousy teacher has the potential to damage not just the individual, but also the entire nation. Nigeria is confronted with the problem of a scarcity of qualified mathematics instructors, which is one of the primary causes of the widespread failure of students in mathematics in the country. School administrators have an important role in the discipline of both students and teachers, as well as the monitoring of teaching and learning and the preparation of students to be successful in their examinations, among other responsibilities.

For Ekemia (2006), "effective mental health for a principal includes emotional stability, maturity of character, and a large capacity for frustration tolerance, as well as strength to withstand the strain and stress inherent in running today's Nigeria secondary school without causing undue financial or psychological disequilibrium." Many principals are confronted with managerial issues, particularly those who lack interpersonal skills and are unable to carry out their administrative responsibilities effectively in the schools. The goal and objective of the educational system are rarely achieved in a school that lacks discipline, for example. The facts listed above demonstrate that there are several variables contributing to the widespread failure in mathematics examinations during junior secondary school certificate examinations. This external test is planned and administered by the Ministry of Education and is for students in the junior secondary school certificate program.

As Adewale (1992) points out, it is the sole tool that can be used to evaluate the performance of both students and instructors at the conclusion of their junior secondary school courses. He went on to say that a student's success or failure in an examination is a clear reflection of the student's academic activity during the course. He concluded by saying that The difference between success and failure is that success indicates a better future for the student, but failure indicates a worse future because it always indicates a dropout, which is a regular occurrence in the domain of this research. The findings of the study, it is clear, will spur the researcher to seek out possible suggestions and recommendations to students, teachers, parents, sponsors and the government in order to put an end to the widespread failure of mathematics students in external junior certificate examinations and to improve student performance in future examinations in these schools and other parts of the country experiencing similar educational problems.

1.2  STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

      The performance of students in junior secondary school topics has, perhaps, received insufficient attention in recent years. This is a concern. No doubt, as a result of this negligence, junior subjects have been reduced to a secondary position in our junior secondary certificate test. A detailed examination of the JSSCE results records for the years 2014-2018 indicates that students' overall performance has been extremely low, and the growth in the number of school dropouts in the field of study is a clear indicator of the theme. Many factors contribute to poor performance, including students' ineffective study techniques, the quality of teachers and the method of instruction, the inability of parents to provide necessary materials such as textbooks, exercise books, and school fees, and the lack of adequate instructional materials for the teaching and learning of mathematics in schools. In light of these considerations, the purpose of this study is to determine the reasons and consequences of widespread mathematics failure in junior secondary school certificate examinations in Etinan Local Government Area of  Akwaibom  State.

1.3  PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The main purpose of this study is to find out the causes and effect of mass failure of mathematics in junior secondary school certificate examination. Specifically, the study seeks:

i.            To determine whether  teachers qualification and characteristics significantly triggers student mass failure in mathematics in junior secondary school certificate examination.

ii.          To establish if  socio-economic background of the students affect them in studying mathematics.

iii.        To investigate whether the attitude and interest of students towards the nature of mathematics contribute deeply to their mass failure in JSSCE especially in mathematics.

iv.      To ascertain whether lack of instructional materials for teaching of mathematics impacts deeply to on student mass failure in JSSCE.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION

The research is guided by the following questions:

i.          Does  teachers qualification and characteristics significantly triggers student mass failure in mathematics in junior secondary school certificate examination?

ii.        Does the socio-economic background of the students affect them in studying mathematics?

iii.      Does the attitude and interest of students towards the nature of mathematics contribute deeply to their mass failure in JSSCE especially in mathematics?

iv.      To ascertain whether lack of instructional materials for teaching of mathematics impacts deeply to on student mass failure in JSSCE?

1.5   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The student will be able to appreciate the importance of the effective domain like interest and motivation in improving their performance. With this awareness, the student might put up a positive attitude towards mathematics which will increase their performance and enhance higher grades in junior secondary school certificate examination. Teachers will also be able to adjust their teaching methods and offer remedial helps where they find out that students are putting up a low attitude. State government will also see the need of guidance and counseling in each schools, the ministry of education and curriculum planners for better organization of junior subjects in education.

1.6  SCOPE OF THE STUDY

       The scope of this study was focused on the causes and effect of mass failure of mathematics in junior secondary school certificate examination in Etinan Local Government Area of AkwaIbom State. Variables such as teachers characteristic, student socio-economic background, lack of instructional material and student attitude towards the subject were discussed.

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. The significant constraint was the scanty literature on the subject owing that it is a new discourse thus the researcher incurred more financial expenses and much time was required in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited choice of sample size covering only  junior secondary school in Etinan Local Government Area of AkwaIbom State. Thus findings of this study cannot be used for generalization for other states within Nigeria. Additionally, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work will impede maximum devotion to the research. Howbeit, despite the constraint  encountered during the  research, all factors were downplayed in other to give the best and make the research successful.

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