THE EFFECTS OF STRIKE ACTIONS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE ON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Table of content
CHAPTER ONE
2.1 Literature Review
CHAPTER THREE
ABSTRACT
This study researched into the effects of strike action on the academic performance of students, narrowed down to Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA)
The sample population consist one hundred and twenty students drawn from six faculties of the school.
Questionnaires for student were used as the main instrument for obtaining the necessary data for the study. Interview was used as supportive instrument for reliability and validity of the information gathered.
This study concluded that strike actions have tremendous and negative effects of students’ academic performance. And necessary recommendations were proffered
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Strike actions have been playing havoc with academic performance of students and impeding educational development mostly in Nigeria tertiary institutions. The education sub-sectors, especially tertiary institutions in Nigeria have witness in resent time constant closures due to strike actions. The effects of these repeated closures of schools and academic programs on students’ learning effectiveness can better imagined than described. Tertiary education in Nigeria has thus suffered tremendous setbacks as a corollary of strike actions by both the academic and the non-academic staff members. This as always subjected the students to regrettable and pitiable conditions, disrupting academic programs, giving students, undeserved extension in their study years, poor students concentration on academic programs and poor lecturer-student relationships amongst others. Consequently, students’ academic performance has comparatively become so low while various forms of examination malpractice are on the increase, owing to impromptu circumstances.
University worldwide is regarded as the citadel of learning, the fountain of intellectual development and a ground for the production of leaders of tomorrow. According to Ike (1999) a major fulfillment function a university pursues is “it is a knowledge and value provider”. In other words, a university progresses when it is able to provide knowledge and value. And when it is not properly managed by administrators and staff, it then fails in its function of providing knowledge and value. This according to Nwankwo (2000) explains why merit has been the watchword in the university system (an institution in which a student must first be certified worthy in character and learning before being admitted into the Honors Degree). The role of universities in human capital development, research and technological innovation cannot be under evaluated. All over the world, investment in university education is a critical component of national development effort. Nations today depend increasingly on knowledge, ideas and skills which are produced through researches in the universities. Nations invest in university education because society expects it to contribute to national development in three principal ways. First, society expects its university to produce the highly skilled personnel in technology, engineering, management and other professions. Secondly, universities have the responsibility of producing their own corps of academic personnel; that is, the intellectual resource pool that will, through scientific research generate new knowledge and innovation to solve developmental problems. Thirdly, universities produce teachers, administrators and managers for other levels of human resources developmental institutions.
The main union whose incessant industrial action takes a heavy toll on the academic performance of the students is the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The union was formed in 1978, a successor to the Nigerian Association of Universities Teachers formed in 1965 and covering academic staff in the university of Ibadan, university of Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello university, University of Ife, Zaria, University of Lagos. In the 80s, the union was active in its struggles against the military regime in 1988; the union organized a national strike action to obtain fair wages and university autonomy. As a result, the ASSU was proscribed on August 7, 1988 and all its property seized. It was allowed to resume in 1990, but after another strike action, it was again banned on August 23, 1992. However, an agreement was reached on September 3, 1992 that met several of the union’s demands including the right of workers to collective bargaining. The ASSU organized further strike action in 1994 and 1996, protesting against the dismissal of staff by the Sani Abacha military regime. After the return to democracy 1999 with the Nigerian fourth Republic, the union continued to be militant in demanding the rights of university workers against opposition by the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo. In July 2002, the national president of ASUU, petitioned Justice Mustapha Akanbi of the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission to investigate the authorities of the University of Ilorin for financial mismanagement and corruption. In 2007, ASUU embarked on an industrial action for three months. In May 2008, it held two weeks ‘warning strike’ to press a range of demands, including an improved salary scheme and reinstatement of forty-nine lecturers who were dismissed from university of Ilorin in 1998. In June 2009, ASUU ordered its members in federal and state universities nationwide to proceed on an indefinite strike over disagreement with the federal governments on an agreement it reached with the union about two and a half years earlier. After three months of industrial action in 2009, ASUU, and other staff unions signed a memorandum of understanding with the government and called off the strike action. Prior to the last industrial action embarked on by ASUU, the National Executive Council (NEC), or the union met from Tuesday 29th November to Thursday 1st December 2011 at the university of Port-Harcourt to review, among other things: the level of implementation of the 2009 ASUU/ Government Agreement; the extent of compliance with the 2011 ASUU/Federal Government of Nigeria ‘Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the implementation of the agreement; Government’s unilateral dissolution of universities’ governing council; the on-going institutional accreditation and the state of the nation, including the issue of alleged removal of fuel subsidy, but the lack of understanding between the two parties led to an indefinite strike embarked upon by the union for fifty-nine days. It was later called off on the first of February, 2012. ASUU again went on a warning strike on 30th August, 2012. All these have left a unfavorable mark on the academic activities of the universities students and it has also affected the academic calendar and the performance of the students. On 1st of July, 2013, ASUU embarked upon another six months industrial action which was called off on the 17th of December, 2013 which really affected the Nigeria undergraduates leading to the involvement of students in many wholesome activities. Often times, these constant agitation by ASUU usually triggers strike action by sister associations such as NASU, SSANU etc.
Industrial action or strike is workers’ refusal to work as protest for inadequate service or poor conduction. In the education sector, industrial actions by academic and non-academic staff can lead to students’ examination malpractice, corruption and other social vices and malnourishment in the society. Strike is a social ill not different from corruption because it eats into students’ time which makes it difficult for students to be fully and properly ‘baked’ within the designated educational time frame. As a result, ‘products’ that are ill-equipped in both character and learning are turned out to the society. This research is targeted at examining the effects of these industrial actions on the academic performance of students particularly in Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo State.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The demand of ASUU and other industrial unions in the Nigeria universities is that the government should fulfill an agreement it reached with them in 2009 on how to save the nation’s universities from collapse. On the other hand, government is proposing a piecemeal selective approach. There is no doubt that education is too vital to the survival of any nation that it should be treated as a subject beyond politics or evasive polemics. It is not deniable that Nigeria is presently not doing enough, by world standards, in the funding of children’s education. As far as the government is concerned, there are other competing items for the limited funds available and government is not doing enough in infrastructural development of Nigerian universities. This has caused serious altercation between the government and these industrial unions including ASUU resulting into persistent strike actions. The incessant industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and all these industrial unions has inadvertently affected the academic of universities students; it usually poses a lot of challenges to their study duration, performance in examinations and their final grading. The students are kept away from school for a long time; most of them completely cut off from academics as a condition at home may not favor productive and rigorous academic exercise. The students and their parents become frustrated because of long expectation of school resumption that is far from sight. Some of the students while at home doing nothing get engaged in other things other than academics. In some cases, they are easy recruited for criminal activities, such as armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, etc… and on the other hand encourage cultism. This has made them a problem to the society peace and order in Nigeria. However, the extent to which staffs of universities including ASUU strikes affect students’ academic performance require a close examination and this research is geared towards examining the extent to which it has affected the performance of students of Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo State.
1.3 The Purpose of the Study
The general objective of the study is to examine influence of strike actions on the academic performance of students in Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA). Other specific objectives are:-
This research will add to the body of knowledge by enlightening the students on how they can cope with unfavorable strike actions embarked upon by universities’ staff, so as to enable them perform as expected in their studies. Furthermore, this study would also help to further research and add to knowledge build-up in the university. Again from this study, students would be able to device exemplary means of ensuring excellent performance even with the occurrence of a strike action by the various labor unions in the universities including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Policy makers may also find the outcome of the study useful for future planning in tackling the menace by reducing the incessant strike actions to the barest minimum.
1.5 Research Hypotheses
1.6 Scope of the Study
This study on the effects of strike actions on academic performance of students in Federal University of Technology, Akure will cover the issue of strike actions in Nigeria tertiary institutions focusing on FUTA and the view of students about it.
1.7 Limitation of the Study
The first and foremost constraint encountered by the researcher in the course of this work is financial constraint occasioned by the need for continuous sorting for information materials. Also, time constraint as the research work is combining with other academic activities. More so, the scarcity of information as there is a dearth of reliable information on the subject such as low respond from respondent due to one reason or the other.
1.8 Definition of Terms
HAVOC: - a situation in which there is a lot of damages or disorder.
IMPEDE: - to delay or stop the progress of something or somebody.
TREMENDOUS: - Very great.
COROLLARY: - a situation, an argument or a fact that is natural and direct result of another one.
DISRUPT: - To make it difficult for something to continue in the normal way.
PROSCRIBE: - To say officially that something is forbidden.
ACCREDITATION: - Official approval given by an organization stating that somebody or something has achieved a required standard.
POLEMIC: - A speech or a piece of writing that argues very strongly for or against something or somebody.
EVASIVE: - Not willing to give clear answers to a question
ALTERCATION: - A noisy argument or disagreement
PIECEMEAL: - Done or happening gradually at different way, rather than carefully planned at the beginning
INDUSTRIAL OR STRIKE ACTION: - A protest in which workers show that they disagree with a policy of their employer.
1.9 Organisation of Chapters
Chapter one - Background to the study, Statement of the problem, The purpose of the study, Significance of the study, Research hypothesis, Scope of the study, Limitation of the study Definition of terms. Chapter two literature review. Chapter three – Methodology, Population, sample and technique ,Instrument of the study, Reliability of the instruments, Method of data collection. Chapter four - Analysis and interpretation of data. Chapter five- Summary, conclusion and recommendation.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page
Certification
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Table of content
CHAPTER ONE
- Background to the study
- Statement of the problem
- The purpose of the study
- Significance of the study
- Research hypothesis
- Scope of the study
- Limitation of the study
- Definition of terms
- Organization of chapters
2.1 Literature Review
CHAPTER THREE
- Methodology
- Population, sample and technique
- Instrument of the study
- Reliability of the instruments
- Method of data collection
- Analysis and Interpretation of Data
- Summary,
- Conclusion
- Recommendation
ABSTRACT
This study researched into the effects of strike action on the academic performance of students, narrowed down to Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA)
The sample population consist one hundred and twenty students drawn from six faculties of the school.
Questionnaires for student were used as the main instrument for obtaining the necessary data for the study. Interview was used as supportive instrument for reliability and validity of the information gathered.
This study concluded that strike actions have tremendous and negative effects of students’ academic performance. And necessary recommendations were proffered
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Strike actions have been playing havoc with academic performance of students and impeding educational development mostly in Nigeria tertiary institutions. The education sub-sectors, especially tertiary institutions in Nigeria have witness in resent time constant closures due to strike actions. The effects of these repeated closures of schools and academic programs on students’ learning effectiveness can better imagined than described. Tertiary education in Nigeria has thus suffered tremendous setbacks as a corollary of strike actions by both the academic and the non-academic staff members. This as always subjected the students to regrettable and pitiable conditions, disrupting academic programs, giving students, undeserved extension in their study years, poor students concentration on academic programs and poor lecturer-student relationships amongst others. Consequently, students’ academic performance has comparatively become so low while various forms of examination malpractice are on the increase, owing to impromptu circumstances.
University worldwide is regarded as the citadel of learning, the fountain of intellectual development and a ground for the production of leaders of tomorrow. According to Ike (1999) a major fulfillment function a university pursues is “it is a knowledge and value provider”. In other words, a university progresses when it is able to provide knowledge and value. And when it is not properly managed by administrators and staff, it then fails in its function of providing knowledge and value. This according to Nwankwo (2000) explains why merit has been the watchword in the university system (an institution in which a student must first be certified worthy in character and learning before being admitted into the Honors Degree). The role of universities in human capital development, research and technological innovation cannot be under evaluated. All over the world, investment in university education is a critical component of national development effort. Nations today depend increasingly on knowledge, ideas and skills which are produced through researches in the universities. Nations invest in university education because society expects it to contribute to national development in three principal ways. First, society expects its university to produce the highly skilled personnel in technology, engineering, management and other professions. Secondly, universities have the responsibility of producing their own corps of academic personnel; that is, the intellectual resource pool that will, through scientific research generate new knowledge and innovation to solve developmental problems. Thirdly, universities produce teachers, administrators and managers for other levels of human resources developmental institutions.
The main union whose incessant industrial action takes a heavy toll on the academic performance of the students is the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The union was formed in 1978, a successor to the Nigerian Association of Universities Teachers formed in 1965 and covering academic staff in the university of Ibadan, university of Nigeria, Ahmadu Bello university, University of Ife, Zaria, University of Lagos. In the 80s, the union was active in its struggles against the military regime in 1988; the union organized a national strike action to obtain fair wages and university autonomy. As a result, the ASSU was proscribed on August 7, 1988 and all its property seized. It was allowed to resume in 1990, but after another strike action, it was again banned on August 23, 1992. However, an agreement was reached on September 3, 1992 that met several of the union’s demands including the right of workers to collective bargaining. The ASSU organized further strike action in 1994 and 1996, protesting against the dismissal of staff by the Sani Abacha military regime. After the return to democracy 1999 with the Nigerian fourth Republic, the union continued to be militant in demanding the rights of university workers against opposition by the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo. In July 2002, the national president of ASUU, petitioned Justice Mustapha Akanbi of the Independent Corrupt Practice Commission to investigate the authorities of the University of Ilorin for financial mismanagement and corruption. In 2007, ASUU embarked on an industrial action for three months. In May 2008, it held two weeks ‘warning strike’ to press a range of demands, including an improved salary scheme and reinstatement of forty-nine lecturers who were dismissed from university of Ilorin in 1998. In June 2009, ASUU ordered its members in federal and state universities nationwide to proceed on an indefinite strike over disagreement with the federal governments on an agreement it reached with the union about two and a half years earlier. After three months of industrial action in 2009, ASUU, and other staff unions signed a memorandum of understanding with the government and called off the strike action. Prior to the last industrial action embarked on by ASUU, the National Executive Council (NEC), or the union met from Tuesday 29th November to Thursday 1st December 2011 at the university of Port-Harcourt to review, among other things: the level of implementation of the 2009 ASUU/ Government Agreement; the extent of compliance with the 2011 ASUU/Federal Government of Nigeria ‘Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the implementation of the agreement; Government’s unilateral dissolution of universities’ governing council; the on-going institutional accreditation and the state of the nation, including the issue of alleged removal of fuel subsidy, but the lack of understanding between the two parties led to an indefinite strike embarked upon by the union for fifty-nine days. It was later called off on the first of February, 2012. ASUU again went on a warning strike on 30th August, 2012. All these have left a unfavorable mark on the academic activities of the universities students and it has also affected the academic calendar and the performance of the students. On 1st of July, 2013, ASUU embarked upon another six months industrial action which was called off on the 17th of December, 2013 which really affected the Nigeria undergraduates leading to the involvement of students in many wholesome activities. Often times, these constant agitation by ASUU usually triggers strike action by sister associations such as NASU, SSANU etc.
Industrial action or strike is workers’ refusal to work as protest for inadequate service or poor conduction. In the education sector, industrial actions by academic and non-academic staff can lead to students’ examination malpractice, corruption and other social vices and malnourishment in the society. Strike is a social ill not different from corruption because it eats into students’ time which makes it difficult for students to be fully and properly ‘baked’ within the designated educational time frame. As a result, ‘products’ that are ill-equipped in both character and learning are turned out to the society. This research is targeted at examining the effects of these industrial actions on the academic performance of students particularly in Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo State.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The demand of ASUU and other industrial unions in the Nigeria universities is that the government should fulfill an agreement it reached with them in 2009 on how to save the nation’s universities from collapse. On the other hand, government is proposing a piecemeal selective approach. There is no doubt that education is too vital to the survival of any nation that it should be treated as a subject beyond politics or evasive polemics. It is not deniable that Nigeria is presently not doing enough, by world standards, in the funding of children’s education. As far as the government is concerned, there are other competing items for the limited funds available and government is not doing enough in infrastructural development of Nigerian universities. This has caused serious altercation between the government and these industrial unions including ASUU resulting into persistent strike actions. The incessant industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and all these industrial unions has inadvertently affected the academic of universities students; it usually poses a lot of challenges to their study duration, performance in examinations and their final grading. The students are kept away from school for a long time; most of them completely cut off from academics as a condition at home may not favor productive and rigorous academic exercise. The students and their parents become frustrated because of long expectation of school resumption that is far from sight. Some of the students while at home doing nothing get engaged in other things other than academics. In some cases, they are easy recruited for criminal activities, such as armed robbery, kidnapping, rape, etc… and on the other hand encourage cultism. This has made them a problem to the society peace and order in Nigeria. However, the extent to which staffs of universities including ASUU strikes affect students’ academic performance require a close examination and this research is geared towards examining the extent to which it has affected the performance of students of Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Ondo State.
1.3 The Purpose of the Study
The general objective of the study is to examine influence of strike actions on the academic performance of students in Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA). Other specific objectives are:-
- To find out the view of an average university student on strike action by labor union in the university including Academic Staff Union of \Universities (ASUU)
- To ascertain if strike actions by lecturers significantly contribute to low CGPA of students.
- To discover whether industrial actions by the staff of universities has influence on the reading habits of students during the disruption in academic activities period.
- To assess the extent to which disruption in academic program in universities influence students’ learning effectiveness.
- To investigate whether industrial actions have direct influence on student’s overall academic performance.
- To determine whether industrial action motivate students to learn.
This research will add to the body of knowledge by enlightening the students on how they can cope with unfavorable strike actions embarked upon by universities’ staff, so as to enable them perform as expected in their studies. Furthermore, this study would also help to further research and add to knowledge build-up in the university. Again from this study, students would be able to device exemplary means of ensuring excellent performance even with the occurrence of a strike action by the various labor unions in the universities including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Policy makers may also find the outcome of the study useful for future planning in tackling the menace by reducing the incessant strike actions to the barest minimum.
1.5 Research Hypotheses
- Ho: - Students have a negative perception about industrial actions carried out by academic staff of universities.
- Ho: - Strike actions do not influence reading habits of students when academic activities are disrupted.
- Ho: - There is no significant relationship between strike actions and learning effectiveness of students.
- Ho: - There is no significant relationship between strike actions and low CGPA of students.
- Ho: - There is no significant relationship between industrial actions and overall academic performance of students.
- Ho: - Industrial actions do not motivate students to learn.
1.6 Scope of the Study
This study on the effects of strike actions on academic performance of students in Federal University of Technology, Akure will cover the issue of strike actions in Nigeria tertiary institutions focusing on FUTA and the view of students about it.
1.7 Limitation of the Study
The first and foremost constraint encountered by the researcher in the course of this work is financial constraint occasioned by the need for continuous sorting for information materials. Also, time constraint as the research work is combining with other academic activities. More so, the scarcity of information as there is a dearth of reliable information on the subject such as low respond from respondent due to one reason or the other.
1.8 Definition of Terms
HAVOC: - a situation in which there is a lot of damages or disorder.
IMPEDE: - to delay or stop the progress of something or somebody.
TREMENDOUS: - Very great.
COROLLARY: - a situation, an argument or a fact that is natural and direct result of another one.
DISRUPT: - To make it difficult for something to continue in the normal way.
PROSCRIBE: - To say officially that something is forbidden.
ACCREDITATION: - Official approval given by an organization stating that somebody or something has achieved a required standard.
POLEMIC: - A speech or a piece of writing that argues very strongly for or against something or somebody.
EVASIVE: - Not willing to give clear answers to a question
ALTERCATION: - A noisy argument or disagreement
PIECEMEAL: - Done or happening gradually at different way, rather than carefully planned at the beginning
INDUSTRIAL OR STRIKE ACTION: - A protest in which workers show that they disagree with a policy of their employer.
1.9 Organisation of Chapters
Chapter one - Background to the study, Statement of the problem, The purpose of the study, Significance of the study, Research hypothesis, Scope of the study, Limitation of the study Definition of terms. Chapter two literature review. Chapter three – Methodology, Population, sample and technique ,Instrument of the study, Reliability of the instruments, Method of data collection. Chapter four - Analysis and interpretation of data. Chapter five- Summary, conclusion and recommendation.
