QUALITATIVE SECONDARY EDUCATION AND ITS IMPACT ON  SENIOR SECONDARY STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

There is no dispute that a solid educational framework has been meticulously and purposefully created around the culture of every developed country, from curriculum creation through classroom instruction. The governments of the world's developed countries began developing and implementing policies to enrich the process of teaching and learning in such societies in time, and as a result, they are far ahead of Nigeria and other African countries in terms of technological and scientific advancements, let alone other areas of human learning. However, this improvement is a far cry from the scenario in Nigeria. People and nations are making a conscious effort to devote their few resources to getting quality education, as awareness of the relevance of education to the upliftment of individual and social standards grows. Furthermore, "the strategic importance of secondary education in the national educational system has made it a key priority." Segun Adeshina held this view as far back as 1984.

Secondary education, according to Adeshina (2019), serves as a transition zone since it receives primary school leavers and turns out students for post-secondary education. Cornell (2020) expresses a similar viewpoint, stating that secondary education is required for a person as part of the process of obtaining the proper education. According to Cornell, secondary education is important because it not only serves as a bridge between what children learned in primary school and what they will learn in college (secondary) education, but also provides them with the opportunity to acquire knowledge that will aid in the development of critical and analytical thinking as well as understanding of the world around them. Secondary education is critical in providing useful education to the country's inhabitants.

According to Moja (2020), the education provided at this level serves two functions. The first is to prepare students to leave school with the abilities they need to find work, while the second is to equip them to continue their academic careers in higher education. In light of this, the Federal Government of Nigeria (2013) claimed in the National Policy of Education that the broad purposes of secondary education under overall objectives are to prepare students for meaningful life within society and to prepare them for higher education.

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Secondary education has recently been hailed as the most effective tool for national development. As a result, secondary education should be of high quality and level. However, the Nigerian educational system is being beset by several difficult issues. As opined by Almond (2021) There is widespread concern that educational standards are slipping and morals are waning. Some attribute the perceived loss in educational quality and moral standards to students. They are, according to a thoughtful few, related to the character of changes in all directions. The majority of people blame teachers for our schools' problems. They are not as committed to the cause of education as their forefathers were. Teachers collectively blame parents and children. They also hold the government responsible for the unappealing state of service and inadequate physical facilities in various sectors of the educational system. The goal of this study is not to place blame on educational policy or the system. According to the research, the entire fault lies with a lack of competent educational inspection and supervision, insufficient school facilities, and the failure to apply quality control measures in terms of teacher-to-pupil ratio as required in the National Policy on Education.

Furthermore, many pupils participate in various sorts of misconduct, with parents enrolling their children or wards in 'Special Centres.' In secondary schools, qualities such as honesty, hard effort, punctuality, self-denial, and self-discipline are also disappearing, which are fundamental criteria for effective citizenship. Few secondary school graduates can communicate effectively these days, have inadequate academic mastery, lack needed technical skills, oral and written communication, and lack requisite understanding of handling administrative jobs. Furthermore, there is the issue of professionally competent instructors, with significant disparities between teachers' official credentials, real teaching competency, and work performance, according to Egwu (2019). Furthermore, contemporary and suitable teaching and learning facilities such as instructors' instructional materials, labs, libraries, well-equipped classrooms, and office equipment, among others, are lacking. As a result of these serious issues, the purpose of this research is to look at qualitative secondary education and its influence on senior secondary students' academic performance.

1.3     PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The broad objectives of the study borders on qualitative secondary education and its impact on  senior secondary students’ academic performance. These specific objectives are:

i.          To examine if educational inspection and supervision bring about qualitative secondary education.

ii.        To investigate the extent of the contributions of adequate school facilities on the performance of the student.

iii.      To determine the extent to which the students’ learning attitudes affect the performance of the students.

iv.      To identify whether teachers’ qualification  influences effective teaching-learning process.

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

i.          Does educational inspection and supervision bring about qualitative secondary education?

ii.        What is the extent of the contributions of adequate school facilities on the performance of the student?

iii.      What is the extent to which the students’ learning attitudes affect the performance of the students?

iv.      Does teachers’ qualification  influences effective teaching-learning process?

1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research is of significant benefit to teachers, Government, pupils and students as well as the society at large and also educational planners.

The research will help the pupils and students to be able to learn effectively and intelligently, the government will try to prioritize education projects by funding them, teacher will improve on themselves by acquiring necessary professional skills even as good remuneration for them is being worked out, the schools will begin to excel in their examinations, the quality of education will be highly improved, corruption will be reduced and some with proven integrity will be raised higher.

1.7     SCOPE  OF STUDY                                   

This study is focused on the impact of qualitative secondary education on the academic performance of students in the senior secondary schools. The study is limited to  secondary schools in  Oke-ode Local Government Area of  Kwara State.

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 selected to  secondary schools in  Oke-ode Local Government Area of  Kwara State. Thus findings of this study cannot be used for generalization for women  in 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.

1.8     DEFINITION OF TERMS

It is essential to define the terminologies used in this paper because scholars’ view of related concept may greatly differ. Based on this assertion, the following terms are defined as used in the context.

Quality: This is a degree of excellence, a distinguish attribute and a peculiar and essential character of an inherent feature.

Input: It refers to school related factors such as curriculum content, textbooks, and learning materials, teachers, parents and the community.

Output: Refers to students who have received required level of education.

Outcome: This refers to the desired result to be shown forth or expected from the students who have undergone a level of education like good citizenship, healthy behaviour, etc.

Process

This includes school climate and teaching/learning encounter which include leadership expectation, teacher’s attitude and environment that is safe and gender sensitive and autonomy among others.

Quality Assurance

This is a holistic method of identifying and resolving problems within the educational system in order to ensure continuous quality improvement.

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