FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO POOR PERFORMANCE OF STUDENT IN ACCOUNTING EXAMINATION IN SOME SELECTED SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS AKURE NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
Title Page
Certificate
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Table of contents
Abstract
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Statement of the Problem
Purpose of the Study
Research Questions
Significant of the Study
Delimitation of the Study
Definition of Terms
CHAPTER
TWO:REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
Factors Affecting Students Academic Performance In Accounting
Teacher Commitment to Teaching and Work Habit
Teacher Qualification and Teaching Environment
Motivation and Job Satisfaction
Class Sizes as a Motivating Factor and Determinant of Academic Performance
Availability and Use of Teaching and Learning Materials
Lateness and Absenteeism
CHAPTER
THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
Research Design
Population of
the study
Sample and sampling technique
Instrumentation
Validity of the Instrument
Reliability of the Instrument
Data Collection
Data Analysis
CHAPTER
FOUR: PRESENTATION AND DATA ANALYSIS
Introduction
School Related factors Influencing the Performance of
Student
Factors Outside the School Environment that Influence the
Performance of
Mechanism
for Monitoring Student Academic Performance
Testing of
Hypothesis
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary
Conclusion
Recommendations
References
Appendix A
ABSTRACT
The research aimed at finding out the factors contribute
to poor performance of accounting student in some selected senior secondary
schools in Akure North local government area in Ikere west local government
area of Ikere state in four (4) senior secondary school in Ikere west local
government area. Eight (8) teachers that is, 2 from each school and 25 students
from each school were randomly selected, that is 108 participate were
selected.Questionnaire was the major instrument used; one hundred and eight
questionnaires were distributed. Frequency count was the method used to analyzed
data collected from respondent and the chi- square (X2) statistics
was used to test the research question.
The finding from the result shows that the conclusion
that teachers teach what is relevance to the syllabus each year, it was recommended
that regular sensitization meeting and community non-formal education classes
should be organized within the communities in Ikere state to inform parents
about the value of education to children the community and the nation as a
whole.
Parents should be encourage to be active in parent
teacher association as well as in other to activities of schools their
involvement would make them aware of the problems and issues affecting the
students, teachers and the school in general.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Education, either formal or informal continues to shape the
three domains of human development. These are the cognitive, affective and the
psychomotor domains. Much then is said that formal education remains the vehicle
for social-economic development and social mobilization in any society.
Therefore, education at the basic level must be of a quality that will help the
young ones to acquire skills, knowledge, values and attitudes that will enable
them to contribute positively to the social, economic, political and moral
development of the society.
It is a common practice these days
in Nigeria for people to compare modern
day graduates from the basic schools
to those of the ‘Middle’ Schools era in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Some graduates from the ‘Middle’ Schools
gained direct entry into the Civil Service; some got appointed as Pupil
(untrained) Teachers and performed creditably. The Government of Nigeria and other stakeholders in education
have put in place a number of measures aimed at addressing this perceived poor
performance of pupils at the basic level of education and improving the general
quality of education in the country.
Education might be seen as the best legacy a nation can
give to her citizens especially the youth. This is because the development of
any nation or community depends largely on the quality of education of such a
nation. It might also be seen as helping individuals to grow, develop, earn a
decent living in the society and contribute positively to the welfare of the
society in which they live. It is
generally believed that the basis for any true development must commence with
the development of human resources. It could also be considered to be a
reliable tool for poverty reduction apart from its direct functions of
increasing knowledge, building skills, values and attitudes and opening for
critical thinking.
According to Mayer (1960),
a teacher’s influence can be unlimited and his/her ideas can affect thousands.
He further states that one of the foremost problems of education deals with the
recruitment and preparation of teachers. Recognizing this and the fact
that pupils’ performance at the basic
level cannot be improved without a conscious effort at upgrading the knowledge
of teachers at this level of education, the Government of Nigeria has initiated certain policies aimed
at improving the quality of teachers at the basic level.
Various researchers have investigated and found a number of
factors that contribute to poor performance of pupils in basic schools in Nigeria. The findings of these researchers
are available and presumed to be guiding policy makers in addressing this problem
at hand, yet pupils’ performances at the basic school level continue to fall in
the country, especially in the rural areas and among fishing communities. There is therefore the need to conduct
further research into the causes with the view of finding out other factors
contributing to poor performance of students in the schools and probably
suggest ways of managing them.
Statement of the Problem
Academic performance of students in Accounting Examination
has received much attention of late in the
Nigerian educational system. At the beginning of every academic year
when (WAEC) results are released, educational stakeholders raise a lot of
concerns about the falling performance of students. Quansah’s (1997) analysis
of the National Criterion Reference Test (CRT) results showed poor mastery of
numeracy and literacy of students, especially in the rural areas.
Some schools in the Ikere State have similar problems of
poor performance of students in the
WAEC. From the analysis of the 2009
WAEC results (refer to appendix B)
of 19 public schools in Ikere state Education state, twelve (12) schools had below 50% pass
with one school scoring zero per cent pass.
Results from the previous years were no better. From the comparative analysis
of the 2007 and 2008 WAEC results for
the Central Region (refer to appendix B), out of the 13 districts that took
part in the examination, 9 districts showed fallen standard in performance.
Even though researches (Adjei, 1996; Paaku, 2008) have
identified some internal and external school related factors that have
contributed to this state of affairs in certain parts of the country, the
education directorate and parents in the Ikere State have expressed great
concern about the recurring failure of students in Accounting Examinations
especially in the public schools. There is therefore the need to conduct an
inquiry into what factors contribute to this state of affairs and to suggest
ways of improving upon the situation hence this research.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study
was to find out factors that contribute to poor performance of students in the Accounting examination in Ikere state
State.
Therefore, the specific
purpose of the study is to:
i.
Identify school related factors that contribute to poor
performance of financial Accounting
students.
ii.
Find out what factors outside the school environment affect
the academic performance of students in financial Accounting.
iii.
Discover what mechanisms exist in monitoring students’
performance in schools in Ikere State.
Research Questions
In order to
meet the purpose of the study, the following research questions guided the
study:
1. What school related
factors affect the academic performance
of accounting students?
2. What outside school
factors influence academic performance of students in accounting Education?
3. What mechanisms exist in
monitoring students’ academic performance in schools in Ikere State?
Significance of the Study
It is envisaged that findings from the study may reveal
factors that influence the academic performance of students in Accounting
Examination in Ikere State. This exposition would help Ikere State Directorate
to adapt workable measures or strategies that are likely to improve the performance
of students in accounting.
The study would provide information that is likely to be
useful for the purposes of In-Service Training for teachers and other
stakeholders in education in the State. It may also serve as a reference
material for policymakers to consider in the design of programmes to pursue at
the basic level of education that might yield encouraging WAEC results.
Finally, this study is likely to inspire other researchers
to embark on similar studies into factors affecting academic performance of
students in Accounting Examination in other Districts and satieties, so that
more general information about factors that contribute to falling standards in
education especially in Public schools could be obtained and addressed to
improve academic performance of students.
Delimitations
The study covered 9 Senior Secondary Schools in the Ikere
State.
The study included three
(3) schools each in the South (Rural schools), Central and North circuit that
continue to perform poorly in Accounting.
Definition of Terms
It is necessary to clarify the following terms that were used frequently in the study:
Resources: In this study, resources refer toall services in the school
environment that support teaching and learning.
School related factors: For the purpose of this research,
school related factors are defined as all the attitudes and behaviours of
teachers, students, Head teachers and other stakeholders in education that
either promote or inhibit the academic performance of students.
Out of school factors: These may include all other factors
outside the school environment, for example, the home and pressures from peers
outside school, among others.
Monitoring: Management of teachers and learners to enable teaching
and learning take place effectively and efficiently.
Academic performance: It refers to how students deal with
their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to
them by their teachers. It is also said to be the ability to study and remember
facts and being able to communicate your knowledge verbally or down on paper.
Poor Performance: Poor performance as used in the study
refers to the situation where performance is not up to expectation, that is,
where students’ performance is above aggregate 30 per subject in Accounting
Education.
