EFFECT OF PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING TEACHERS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STUDENTS

EFFECT OF PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING TEACHERS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STUDENTS 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

          Education is considered the first step for every human activity as it plays a vital role in the development of human capital as well as an individual’s well-being and opportunities for better living. Vocational Technical Education (VTE) is a program of study designed to equip students with practical skills in different occupational fields which will help them become self-reliant in the face of the paucity of paid employment. Education for work had its beginning many years ago. In VTE, individuals are formally prepared for the world of work. Technical education differs in both concept and status in different nations of the world. In Nigeria, vocational technical education programmes are offered at the pre-vocational and vocational schools at post-primary level, the technical colleges, the polytechnics, and colleges of technical education and universities level.

In Nigeria, education is seen as an instrument par excellence for effecting national development. As such, education is expected to be of high quality in order to produce sound and quality products that can contribute to the growth of the national economy. The quality of education of a nation could be determined by the quality of her teachers. The most important factor in improving students’ academic achievement in school is by employing seasoned and qualified teachers in all schools (Abe &Adu, 2013). Academically qualified teachers refer to those who have academic training as a result of enrolment into educational institution and obtained qualifications in various areas of endeavour such as HND, B.Sc, B.A, and Master of Education (M.Ed.) and so on; while professionally qualified teachers are those who got professional training that gave them professional knowledge, skills, techniques, aptitudes as different from the general education. They hold degrees like, B.Ed, B.Sc. Ed, B.A. Ed, and M. Ed degrees and so on.

          Academic achievement or performance is used in the school to refer to students’ success in learning specified curriculum content as revealed by continuous assessment and examination. According to Adediwura and Tayo (2007), academic achievement is designated by test and examination scores or marks assigned by the subject teachers. It could also be said to be any expression used to represent students’ scholastic standing. Levin, Wasanga and Somerset (2011) reported that the academic achievement of students at secondary school level is not only a pointer of the effectiveness of schools, but also a major determinant of the well-being of youths in particular and the nation in general. Yusuf and Adigun (2010); Lydiah and Nasongo (2009) noted that the performance of students in any academic task has always been of special interest to the government, educators, parents and society at large.

According to Ali (2013), academic achievement is a measure of the degree of success in performing specific tasks in a subject or area of study by students after a learning experience. It is the outcome of education that indicates how well a student or class of students is doing academically. Academic achievement is a major issue to teachers, students, parents and guardians as well as other stakeholders in the education industry. This concern cuts across all school subjects and all levels in the education system, including primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

The issue of professionalism in teaching has been on course for quite some decades ago. Scholars argued the necessity of skilled teachers for effective learning. Ngada in Fajonyomi (2007) emphasized that the success or failure of any educational programme rests majorly on the adequate availability of qualified (professional), competent and dedicated teachers. Seweje and Jegede (2005) noted that the ability of a teacher to teach is not derived only from one’s academic background but it is based upon outstanding pedagogical skill acquired. The realization of the national growth in technology as highlighted in the Nigeria national policy on education hinges (among others) largely on the quality of the Financial Accounting teachers. This view is supported by Nkwodimah’s (2003) submission that the teacher’s quality will inevitably be seen in the citizens tomorrow. Okebukola in Ngada (2008), while remarking on teachers’ quality, observed that over 80% of respondents in a survey research were of the view that teachers are carriers of weaknesses. These weaknesses include, among others, inadequate exposure to teaching practice, poor classroom management and control, shallow subject-matter and lack of professionalism. From Ajayi’s (2009) point of view, the professional qualities of a teacher have to do with the following:

·        Mastery of the subject matter

·        Sense of organisation

·        Ability to clarify ideas

·        Ability to motivate students

·        Good imagination ØAbility to involve the students in meaningful activities throughout the period of teaching

·        Management of the details of learning ØFrequent monitoring of students’ progress through tests, formal and informal, written and oral quizzes.

The availability of professional teachers in our schools is low (Ngada, 2008). The reasons may not be farfetched. Teaching is seen as a dumping ground for any unemployed school leavers, irrespective of their area of specialization. This group of able bodied young men and women thus handle the job as a bye-pass venture to their desired ends. Consequently, their input on the job would be very low since it lacks the dedication demanded by the job. The few ones that seem to show little dedication lack the technical knowhow of teaching since they were never trained on the job. The resultant effect on the students’ performance is catastrophic. The major evil done by this is half-backed and shallow-knowledge students who often perform poorly in their examinations. This eventually culminates to a decline in the national technological growth.

According to Adentwi (2005), a subject specialist or professionally trained teacher is one who has pursued detailed formal and systematic study of a particular subject. The role of such a subject specialist is to act as storehouse of essential and well processed information leading his students to gain deep insights into the various subjects to be taught. According to BuddiandZamarro(2009), teacher quality is a key element of student academic success. Obasi (2010) also asserts that the professional and academic training and qualification of the teacher can raise the prospects of a student’s academic performance and attainments. This validates the truism that the quality of our schools cannot be better than the quality of the teachers we have.

Teachers cannot be dissociated from the schools they teach and academic results of their students. It would therefore be logical to use the standardized students’ assessments results as the basis for judging the performance of teachers. Teachers are celebrated and rewarded when their schools and teaching subjects are highly ranked. While appreciating the value of rewarding teachers who produce better results, teachers should also not escape a portion of blame when students perform poorly. It has been proved that teachers have an important influence on students’ academic achievement. They play a crucial role in educational attainment because the teacher is ultimately responsible for translating policy into action and principles based on practice during interaction with the students (Afe, 2001).

Statement of the Problem

Since one of the purposes of education is the acquisition of knowledge and skills, students’ performance after graduation can be seen as a reflection of their performance in school. This also borders on the quality of human and material resources which are available during their schooling. There has also been an outcry from stakeholders in the educational sector such as parents and concerned individuals about the poor provision of facilities for providing essential services for teaching and learning as well as their effective utilization. The genuineness of this outcry is depicted by the deteriorating poor performance of students in examination as earlier mentioned.

Although several attempts have been made at improving teacher quality and teaching facilities, these efforts have not been proportionately reflected in students’ overall performance. Therefore, there is the need for teachers to acquire enough skills to make them relevant technologically and professionally. Therefore, adequacy of educational resources (both human and material) and their effective utilization, conducive learning environment and professional qualifications of Financial Accounting teachers’ on academic performance of Financial Accounting students in Financial Accounting in Ekiti State will be the focus of this study.

Purpose of the Study

          The main purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of professional qualifications of Financial Accounting teachers’ on academic performance of Financial Accounting in Ekiti State. Specifically, the study seeks to:

       i.            investigate  the effect of integrity of professional lecturers on students’ academic performance in tertiary institutions in Ekiti State.

     ii.            examine the effect of professional competence of lecturers on students’ academic performance in tertiary institutions in Ekiti State.

  iii.            investigate the professional behaviour of lecturers on academic performance of accounting students in the study area.

   iv.            investigate the confidentiality of professional lecturers on students’ academic performance in tertiary institutions in the study are.

Significance of the Study

Teachers' characteristics go a long way to have impact on the performance of students. For example, among the various characteristics of a teacher are: attitude, his qualification, years of experience etc. attitude (a part of characteristics of a teacher) as a concept could be formed as a result of some kind of learning experiences. It could also be learned simply by following the example or opinion of parent, teacher or peer group. This is mimicry or imitation which also has a part to play in the teaching and learning situation. In this respected the learner draws from the teachers' disposition to form his own attitude which may likely affect his learning outcomes. If Financial Accounting is well taught in school, students are expected to learn certain fundamental skills and pass very well in both internal and external examinations. 

       i.            The study will make the educationist to see the need for qualify teacher in teaching Financial Accounting and the provision for relevant infrastructural facilities, instructional materials, equipment such as computers and conducive learning environment for students to excel in their studies.  The identification and analysis of the performance of students will help educational managers to deeply reflect in future planning.

     ii.            The result of this study will hopefully reveal the strength or weakness of the subject under consideration and help decision makers in either improving on the revealed lapses or enacting new solutions on the effective performance of Financial Accounting students.

  iii.            It will also help the school administrators and government to recognize the areas where the students are lacking behind and to solve the problems that bring about such lapses.

   iv.            Furthermore, the study will be of help to parents to be acquainted with the problems facing their children who offer Financial Accounting in tertiary institution.

     v.            Finally, this study will be helpful to policy makers in formulating appropriate educational policy in the near future.  In the same vein, Federal and State Ministry of Education and other institutions within the study location will benefit from this study by identifying the hindrances to academic performance of students in external examination, and also using such vital information to correct imbalance by proper funding of education sector.

Research Questions

The following research questions were raise to guide the study.

       i.            Toward extent does the integrity of professional lecturers affect the academic performance of students in tertiary institutions in Ekiti State?

     ii.            Is there any significant between professional competence of lecturers and students’ academic performance in tertiary institutions?

  iii.            Is there any significant between professional behaviour of lecturers and students’ academic performance in tertiary institution in study area?

   iv.            Is there any significant between confidentiality of professional lecturers and students’ academic performance in tertiary institution in study area?

Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 level of significance.

       i.            There is no significant relationship of integrity of professional lecturers and students’ academic performance in tertiary institution in Ekiti State?

     ii.            There is no significant relationship of professional competence of lecturers and students’ academic performance in tertiary institutions?

  iii.            There is no significant relationship of professional behaviour of lecturers and students’ academic performance in tertiary institution in study area?

   iv.            There is no significant relationship of confidentiality of professional lecturers and students’ academic performance in tertiary institution in study area? 

 

Scope of the Study

This research work instigates the effect of professional qualification of Financial accounting teachers on academic performance of students in Ekiti State. However, the research study will be limited to tertiary institutions in Ekiti State and lecturers will be sampled, based on their metropolitan population characteristics and this research will endeavor to provide possible solution and recommendations that would help to improve professional qualification of lecturer and students’ academic performance.

Definition of Terms

Professional Qualification: This is obtained from Universities or from professional bodies, often involving an element of practical training. Usually, they are linked with a specific industry and are designed to help someone improve and develop relevant skills for a particular career path.

Teacher: Is a person that impact knowledge on a student or a person whose job is teaching

Academic performance or "academic achievement" is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has attained their short or long-term educational goals. Academic achievement is commonly measured through examinations or continuous assessments but there is no general agreement on how it is best evaluated or which aspects are most important—procedural knowledge such as skills or declarative knowledge such as facts.

Continuous Assignment: Isthe part of a student's work that is done in the classroom, homework preparation. A task assigned for individual study by teacher to the students’.

Achievement: This refers to the performance of students in biology examinations.