TEACHERS' CHARACTERISTICS AS DETERMINANT OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE, IN LAGOS STATE

 

_{TEACHERS' CHARACTERISTICS AS DETERMINANT OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE, IN LAGOS STATE}

_{CHAPTER ONE}

_INTRODUCTION

_{Background to the study}

Education and its benefits can never be overemphasized as the root of economic, industrial, political, scientific and technological and even religious development. All aspects of development  are  centered  on  education.  Every  educational system  at  any  level  depends  heavily  on  teachers  for  the execution of its programmes. Teachers therefore are highly essential for successful operation of the educational system and important tools for educational development.

It is an acceptable fact that the teacher is the most important factor in the educational process and that teachers are instrumental to the success of any educational programme embarked upon by any government. This is because, apart from being at the implementation level of any educational policy, the realization of these programmes also depend greatly on teachers‟ dedication and commitment to work (Adeniji 1999).

Adeogun (2001) opined that the quality of any educational system depends on the quality of its teaching staff and that without quality teachers; a school may not be able to achieve its goals and objectives. The National Policy on Education further stated that, “no educational system can rise above the quality of teachers in the system” (FGN, 2006).

In view of the above statement on the pre-eminent role of the teacher in boasting the quality of education of a nation, the Federal Government of Nigeria has made several attempts and enacted laws concerning the development of education. Among such attempts is the law concerning the training and recruitment of teachers which was done in order to achieve qualitative educational outcomes. The National Policy on Education emphasizes that only qualified and skilled teachers should be recruited into the educational system of Nigeria (NPE, 2004).

 

Statement of the Problem

The issue of declining academic performance of students has generated much interest among stakeholders in the educational sector in Nigeria. The quality of education and performance of students depends on the teachers as reflected in the discharge of their duties. Overtime, students’ academic performance in both internal and external exams had been used to determine the effectiveness of teachers and teaching. According to Ogunsaju (2004), academic standards have fallen below societal expectations. Considering governments huge investment in public education, its output in terms of quality of students has been observed to be unequal with government expenditure.

Despite the increase in educational attainment by teachers in trying to improve on their qualification and skills/expertise the academic performance of students in senior secondary schools has not been encouraging. This is reflected in the falling standard of education in view of the performance of students in examinations like Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE), Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), etc.

There is a persistent decline in the academic performance of SSS students in spite of the huge government budgetary allocation on education. There is a prevalent rise in examination mal-practices, where parents, teachers and even stakeholders in the economy spend heavily on prepared solution and ‘assistance’ from teachers to make their students pass examinations without merit.

This has led to a high degree of failure to breed students that are worth their certificates and is giving the country a serious cause for concern.

Functional educational system most time depends on the adequacy of some indispensable behavioral traits of teachers, such as qualification, experience, and skills/expertise among others hence the need for further investigation.

Objective of the Study

The essence of this study is to investigate the effect of teachers characteristics  on students academic performance in English Language

The specific objectives are:

•         To determine the effect of teachers qualification on students academic performance in English language

•         To investigate the influence of teacher teaching experience on students academic performance in English language

•                     To determine the influence of teacher subject mastering on students academic performance

Research Questions

  

•         What are  the effect of teachers qualification on students academic performance in English language

•         What are  the influence of teacher teaching experience on students academic performance in English language

•                     What are the  influence of teacher subject mastering on students academic performance

 

Research Hypotheses

H₀₁:   There is no significant relationship between teachers’ qualification and students’ academic performance.

H₀₂:   There is no significant  relationship between teachers teaching experience and academic performance  

H₀₃:   There is no significant relationship between teachers’  subject mastering and   students’ academic performance.

 .

Significance of the Study

This study will look intensively on the effect of teachers’ characteristics on academic performance of students. It will be beneficial to stakeholders in the educational sector such as teachers, parents, students, school management, and ministries of education, educational researchers, and the society at large.

It will be used as a guide line for schools in recruiting teachers and also help already recruited teachers in improving their teaching methods.

It will be beneficial to curriculum developers in the framing and designing of topics that will correct and improve the performance of senior secondary school students. Educational researchers will see it as an addition to the literature on teachers’ characteristics and academic performance; giving them a concise and significant outlook of the topic.

The recommendations will enhance academic performance.

Scope of the Study

The scope of the study is limited to only teachers’ characteristics as a determinant of student’s academic performance in English language .

The study is carried out in the Lagos metropolis only. The study is also limited to activities of Senior Secondary Schools and not Junior Secondary Schools or Primary Schools.

The study will make use of both primary and secondary data. Questionnaires will be distributed and used to find out the correlation between teachers’ characteristics and academic performance.