THE EFFECT OF INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS ON  STUDENTS’ ATTRITION RATES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The Nigerian government has attempted to prioritize the provision of education to its inhabitants, particularly at the basic and secondary levels, as demonstrated in the May 2000 inauguration of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) plan. It has also boosted public investments in the industry and promoted private engagement in education at all levels. Despite these efforts, it has been noticed that Nigerian educational institutions continue to struggle with student retention, particularly at the basic and secondary school levels, as youngsters leave out at whim, failing to reap the advantages of these massive expenditures. Nakpodia (2020) attests to this when he observes secondary school kids leave school at will to engage in various socioeconomic pursuits.

Though there has been no universal way to defining attrition, most definitions define attrition as a circumstance in which students withdraw or drop out from school for reasons other than death or transfer to other institutions before graduation or completion of a program of study. Some of these perspectives appear to indicate that dropouts are deemed underachievers, not working up to their ability, dissatisfied with school, angry, aggressive, rebellious, and socially shunned by the majority of other students since they are typically considered a problem to society. Similarly, prior studies from the 1970s and 1980s tended to characterize attrition as a result of students' incapacity to adjust to the educational environment. However, analysts currently seem to agree that individual attrition, whether voluntary or involuntary, is usually the consequence of a mix of numerous causes (Braxton, 2020). According to Phillip (2016,) attrition or the incidence of dropout was most likely caused by a learner's alienation in the classroom. To him, a student who does not accept personal responsibility for his achievement status is the educational equivalent of society's alienated man; however, he believes that in such a case, the reason for this alienation can be traced to either the learner's personal history, his current reality, or his home circumstances.

Several research on the issue have also been conducted in Nigeria. Various factors were identified as possible reasons that can either directly or indirectly cause attrition in some of these studies (Nakpodia, 2020); these factors ranged from institutional factors like leadership style, the non-availability of facilities within a school, or other variables like illnesses, poor academic performance, and dismissal from school, or even the parent's inability to finance their children's education. However, student attrition in schools, for whatever cause, continues to be a sort of waste within the educational system. This is due to the significant financial losses, increased facility use, and lower graduation rates that it often entails. First, repeaters will spend more time in school than the specified number of years required, and they will have to be "reprocessed" within the system, incurring additional costs. Second, an excessive dropout rate at any level of education will most likely cripple the system and can even bring the educational system to a halt.

According to Odekunle (2017), educational waste is defined as the wasteful use of educational resources, both human and material, which might appear as dropouts, repeaters, early withdrawals, unemployed school leavers, or even brain drain. 'Repetition and drop out are key sources of waste in any educational system (and) excessive repetition generates congestion at every level and grade in the educational system,' he says. High attrition rates in schools should thus be regarded a major problem deserving of attention since, if not regulated, the purposes and objectives of education are likely to be defeated. This study is being conducted to investigate three institutional factors, namely the quality of teachers, class size, and the availability and quality of instructional facilities to facilitate teaching and learning experiences in schools; and to investigate the relationship between these factors and the high attrition rates prevalent in the educational system.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

In recent times, there appears to be a public and even educational planners' apparent severe worry about the alarming rate at which kids drop out of school, particularly at the secondary school level, without benefiting from these massive investments. This means that if kids do not stay in school to reap the advantages of the government's massive expenditures, both money and human resources (students who should profit from them) are squandered. According to Ezenwoko (2021), while it is difficult to determine with certainty the number of students who drop out of our schools due to the lack of a uniform approach to counting the number of dropouts in the system, it is estimated that in Nigeria, a sizable number of students drop out from school daily, with the majority of those who drop out being between the ages of 15 and 21, and mostly from secondary schools. These hypotheses have far-reaching ramifications, especially when one considers the assumptions that dropouts have a tenfold greater delinquency rate and are more likely to become burdens on society.

Today, the majority of dropouts are jobless, and they have fewer possibilities of finding work than those who graduated. As a result, they are more likely to engage in illegal and questionable activities, posing a serious threat not only to themselves but also to their parents and society.

As a result of this circumstance, a study into the causes of the high incidence of attrition in schools in the Ogoja Local Government Area of Cross River State has been launched. The study aims to investigate the relationship between three institutional elements - teacher quality, class size, and the availability of instructional facilities - and the rate of student attrition in schools under the Local Government.

1. 3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of  institutional factors on  students’ attrition rates in secondary schools. Other specific objectives includes:

i.          To examine whether quality of teachers or teacher ratio influences student drop out rate in secondary schools.

ii.        To ascertain if overcrowded classroom and inadequate  influences student attrition rate in secondary schools 

iii.      To determine whether availability and quality of instructional facilities impacts  drop out rate in secondary schools.

iv.      To explore whether school location and learning environment  influences student attrition rate in secondary schools

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

To achieve the stated purpose, this study will be guided by the following research questions which will be answered during the course of the study:

i.          Does quality of teachers and  teacher ratio influences student drop out rate in secondary schools?

ii.        Does overcrowded classroom and inadequate  influences student attrition rate in secondary schools ?

iii.      Does availability and quality of instructional facilities impacts  drop out rate in secondary schools?

iv.      Does  school location and learning environment  influences student attrition rate in secondary schools

1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study would be very beneficial to educational planners and administrators as it will assist them in mapping out policies for students’ retention in schools, develop academic as well as social programmes, and review curriculum that will meet the diverse needs of the students. The study will also assist teachers by raising their awareness on the  various needs of the students under their care. Through this study, parents would be equally sensitized on the various ways and methods of dealing with their children and wards and the need to provide good and basic necessities capable of reducing drop out rates in schools. The findings of this study will also be a build up on the body of knowledge and past studies that have been conducted on similar issues.  It will therefore   be a good reference material for scholars. Findings from this work will also provide an additional empirical evidence to enable administrators draw workable conclusions about specific characteristics that are usually linked with teachers’performance. This knowledge should assist them on the best way to distribute teachers across schools and classrooms. This, in the long run should have implication for efficiency and guide efforts towards future teachers’ policy.

1.6   SCOPE OF STUDY

This scope of this study borders on the effect of  institutional factors on  students’ attrition rates in secondary schools. The study is however delimited to selected secondary schools in Ogoja Local Government area of Cross River  state..

1.7LIMITATION OF 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  secondary schools in Ogoja Local Government area of Cross River  state. Thus findings of this study cannot be used for generalization for other secondary schools 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 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

 Attrition Rates:   Attrition rates would refer to the number of students who leave the school without the completion of a programme for one reason or the other. This is usually manifested in high drop out rates, repeaters as well as any type of premature withdrawal from a school programme.

Repeaters: This refers to those who are held back for the non - completion of an educational course, or a class, usually a course that has been previously failed. Usually, repeaters would have to be reprocessed within the school system once more.

Drop Out:  This is a term used to refer to some one whom on account of one reason or the other is unable to complete an educational programme and who has to withdraw from the system.

Institutional factors: In the context of this study, would refer to factors or variables within a school that are likely to encourage repetition, drop out or high attrition level among students.  For example, the class size, administrative style, types and quality of teachers, as well as the types of instructional facilities. Usually, institutional factors are variables within the control of the school or institutions.

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