CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Generally in the whole world, particularly in Nigeria, education has been considered to be the corner - stone for development. It forms the basis for literacy, skill acquisition, technological advancement and ability to harness human and material resources towards the achievement of societal goal, (FRN, 2004). Education is very important in any given society. It is a process by which abilities and capabilities of individual are developed. These abilities might be physical abilities, emotional abilities, social abilities and intellectual abilities. It is the actualizing of human potential so that the individual can become something more than what he was before. According to Ugwuanyi (2003) education is the process by which society establishes to assist the young to learn and understand the heritage of the past, participate productively in the society and contribute meaningfully for the development of the society. Emeka (2008) citing Kneller (2000) sees education as a process by which any society through schools, colleges, universities and other institutions deliberately transmit knowledge, values and skills from one person to another. As a result of deregulation in Nigerian education, the system of education has two main interest groups – public education and private education. Public education is the pillar or backbone of society which opens the door of equal educational opportunity to all citizens. It is a public owned property which attracts public attention constantly. According to Ukeje in Akpa, Udoh and Faghamiye (2005): Public school is concerned with the acquisition of appropriate skills, abilities and competencies of both mental and physical nature as equipment for the individual to live in this society, and acquisition of a relevant and balanced knowledge of facts about local and world phenomena. (P. 12-13) Public schools can also be seen as those schools controlled neither by individuals nor by private interest or agencies but by those who represent the society as a whole. In other words public schools are those schools which are supported and controlled by the government of the state or nation. Private schools are those schools that are not administered by local, state or national government, which retain the right to select their student body and are founded in whole or part by charging their students tuition rather than with public funds. This means that the school established by the missionaries, individuals and voluntary organizations belong to this group. According to Hernes (2001) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the world Bank, private educational institutions are those that are not operated by a public authority, but are controlled and managed by a private body or board of governors not selected by a public agency on selected by public vote. The institution may be run by or operated by non governmental organizations (NGOS) or business enterprise. Secondary school is the stage of education following primary school. It is generally the final stage of compulsory education. Webster (2009) sees secondary school as a school intermediate between elementary school and collage usually offering general technical, vocational or college- preparatory course, while Collins (2003) refers to it as a school for young people, usually between the ages of eleven and eighteen. As for the National policy on education (FRN, 2004) it is the form of education children receive after primary education and before the tertiary stage. Environment can be defined as a system within which living organisms interacts with the physical element while education environment is a learning place where the learner learn and interact with learning facilities in order to be socialized and face the challenges in the society. Agusiegbe (2004) sees environments as consisting of all elements existing around man and which exert some influence on him. These include physical, biological and social attributes. Environment can also be seen as aggregate of all the external condition and influence affecting the life and development of an organism. In this study, environment includes all the external condition and influences in the school that affect the academic achievement of the student such as laboratory equipment, library facilities, qualified teachers, furniture, school building, good administrative management, teacher pupil relationship and school location among others. Environment for the purpose of this work can be divided into two partshome environment and school environment. School environment is the thread that connects the multitude of activities on the school. In many respects, this thread is almost invisible, yet everyone experiences its influence. Dudek (2000) opined that it could be said to be the external influences in the school that can influence academic achievement of students irrespective of their intelligent quotient. School environment can also be considered as the second teacher since space has the power to organize and promote pleasant relationships between people of different ages, to provide changes, to promote choices and activities and for its potential for sparking different types of social and affective learning (Okeke 2001). It has been generally accepted that environment and heredity can hardly be separated from education in influencing achievement, hence a child’s life and ability is influenced by nature and nurture. Heredity provides the natural disposition while a healthy environment makes available a window of opportunities to the learner (Ohuche 2001). The environmental variable of the setting helps to a large extent in ensuring attainability of the goals of such setting. The environmental differences and the differences in the quality of instruction from one school to another can create differences in the level of knowledge acquisition of the students. This shows that the learning facilities children are exposed to and the socio-economic influence on them can affect their academic achievement. School environment includes the school building and the surrounding grounds such as noise, temperature and lighting as well as physical, biological or chemical agent, (Chiu 1991). School environment can then be seen to include material and human resources, a learning place which consist of the entire interaction. The learning environment is both the natural and provided setting where teaching and learning takes place. Maduewesi (1990) referred to teaching and learning environment as the setting physical and conceptual in which teaching and learning are carried out as deliberately planned. And to Okobia in Maduewesi (1990) learning environment means classroom surroundings, physical facilities in the classroom and teacher – pupil relationship. Studies on the relationship between availability of resources and students academic achievement have revealed that secondary schools provided with adequate education resources performed significantly 6 better than those provided with inadequate resources (Balogun, 1995). Environment is a very important factor in achievement of goal of any educational programme. People acquire most of their knowledge through the interaction with facilities provided in the environment for learning. Also learning is influenced by the environment people are exposed to and the facilities provided in such environment lead to experience.
1.1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In Nigeria, many secondary schools are been established at various places by government, private organizations or individuals (Tella, 2008). As a result, teaching and learning takes place under different learning environment. Every school has its location, facilities and also operates under different classroom condition, but all the students are expected to write the same standard examination (i.e. Junior Secondary Certificate Examination) at a completion of secondary education. It may be reasonable to expect a uniform performance from all the candidates since they were taught using the same curriculum and syllabus but in most cases some schools seem outperform others in all respect. Frankly speaking, there must be a definite determinant that is really responsible for the constant poor academic performance of secondary school students especially in social studies. To find out this, it has become necessary to investigate the nature and pattern for our secondary schools so as to evaluate the academic achievement in mathematics of students with respect to the learning environment.
1.2. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The major aim of the study is to examine the effect of poor learning environment on academic performance of secondary school students. Other objectives of this study are;
1. To examine the effect of poor learning environment on secondary school students academic achievement in Nigeria.
2. To examine the major environmental factors that negatively influences students’ academic performances.
3. To examine the relationship between learning environment and students academic performances in Nigeria.
4. To assess the level of influences exerted by the environment on secondary school students academic achievement in Nigeria.
5. To assess the efforts of governments in achieving a conducive learning environment for secondary school students in Nigeria.
6. To recommend ways of improving poor learning environment on academic performance of students in Nigeria.
1.3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is the effect of poor learning environment on secondary school students’ academic achievement in Nigeria?
2. What are the major environmental factors that negatively influence students’ academic performances?
3. What is the relationship between learning environment and students academic performances in Nigeria?
4. What is the level of influences exerted by the environment on secondary school students academic achievement in Nigeria?
5. What are the efforts of governments in achieving a conducive learning environment for secondary school students in Nigeria?
6. What are the ways of improving poor learning environment on academic performance of students in Nigeria?
1.4. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Ho: There is no significant effect of poor learning environment on academic performance of secondary school students in Nigeria.
H1: There is a significant effect of poor learning environment on academic performance of secondary school students in Nigeria.
Ho: There is no significant relationship between learning environment and academic performance of secondary school students in Nigeria.
H1: There is a significant relationship between learning environment and academic performance of secondary school students in Nigeria.
1.5. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study would greatly benefit students, teachers, school owners and managers as it would reveal the impact of effect of learning environment on students’ academic performances. The study would also benefit government at all levels in formulating educational policies that would improve school learning environment and students’ academic performance. This study would also be of immense benefit to students, researchers and scholars who are interested in developing further study on the subject matter.
1.6. SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
This study is on the effect of poor learning environment on academic performance of secondary school students in Nigeria using secondary school in Lokoja Kogi state as a case study.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
Can't find what you are looking for? Hire A Researchproject Writer To Work On Your Topic or Call 0806-703-7559.
Proceed to Hire a Writer »