ABSTRACT
This study investigated Human Resources and
Students’ Academic Performance in Education District IV of Lagos State Senior
Secondary Schools. Four research questions were answered and four hypotheses
were tested in this study. The population for the research was made up of all
the public senior secondary schools in Lagos State Education District IV, Lagos
State. The simple random sampling technique was used to make the selection of
ten public senior secondary schools. Twenty teachers from each school were
randomly selected from the ten sampled public senior secondary schools in
Education District IV, given a total of 200 teachers. The study used a
descriptive survey research design with the use of questionnaire in the
collection of data from the participants. The Data were analysed with the use
of Chi-square (X2) and correlation statistical tools. The study
found that teachers’ qualification significantly influenced students’ academic
performance; teachers’ years of teaching experience significantly influenced
students’ academic performance and a negative relationship exists between
teacher – student ratio and students’ academic performance. Based on these
findings, it was concluded that teachers’ characteristics such as gender, age,
qualification and years of teaching experience had significant influence on
students’ academic performance. However, it was recommended, among others, that
stakeholders in education should not compromise in the employment of qualified
and experienced teachers; and that there should be provision of more facilities
that will reduce the teacher–student ratio in schools so that academic
performance can be improved.
TABLE OF CONTENT
PAGES
Title
Page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgments iv
Abstract
vii
Table
of Content
v
List
of Tables
vi
CHAPTER
ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Background to the Study 1
Statement
of the Problem 6
Purpose
of the Study 7
Research
Questions 8
Research
Hypotheses 8
Significance
of the Study 8
Delimitation
of the Study 9
Limitation
of the Study 9
Definition
of Terms 9
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction 11
Conceptual Framework
11
Teachers’ Qualifications and
Students’ Academic Performance 14
Teachers’ Experience and Students
’Academic Performance 27
Summary
of Literature Review 35
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 37
Introduction
Research Design 37
Population 37
Sample
and Sampling Procedure 37
Instrumentation 38
Validity
and Reliability of the Research Instrument 38
Method
of Data Collection 38
Method
of Data Analysis 38
CHAPTER
FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 39
OF
RESULTS
Introduction 39
Analysis
of Participants Bio – Data 39
Age
Distribution of Participants 40
Answer
to Research Questions 40
Testing
of Hypotheses 45
Discussion
of Findings 47
CHAPTER FIVE:
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS 49
Introduction
49
Summary
of the Study 49
Discussion
of Findings 50
Implication
for Administration 50
Implication
for Policy and Planning 51
Conclusion
51
Recommendations
51
Suggestions
for Further Studies 52
References 53
Appendixes 61
LIST
OF TABLES
Table
1: Analysis of Participants’ Bio
– Data
Table 2: Age Distribution of Participants
Table 3: Academic Qualifications of participants
Table 4: Influence of Teachers’ years of
Teaching Experience on Students’ Academic Performance
Table
5: Relationship between Teacher
– Student ratio and Students’
Academic Performance
Table 6: Status of Teachers’ supply in terms of Qualification and
Academic Performance
Table 7: Teachers’ years of Teaching Experience and Academic
Performance of Students
Table
8: Relationship between Teacher
– Student ratio and Academic
Performance of Students
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
It
is a global assertion that education is the solid rock of development. The
reason for this is that is expected that the educational system will produce
the quality and quantity of human resources required for the economy’s growth
using the right mix of inputs.
(Ibukun,
2009) affirmed that no nation or society can rise above the quality of her
education. The immeasurable contribution of education in the development
process has left a burning desire in every government to increase access to
education for all her citizens. (Ibukun, 2003). The direction of education
toward national economic growth and development was an important basis for the
introduction of the Universal primary Education (UPE) and the recent Universal
Basic Education (UBE) programme. The expectation has been that opportunity
should be offered to the learners at the lower levels of education in order to
avoid wastage of talents.
Education
is a very important human activity. It helps any society to fashion and model
individuals in order to function well in their environment. According to Boit,
Njoki and Chang’ach (2012), the purpose of education is to equip the citizenry
to reshape their society and eliminate inequality. In particular, secondary
education is an important sector in national and individual development. It plays a vital role in creating a country’s
human resource base at a level higher than primary education (Achoka, Odebero,
Maiyo and Mualuko, 2007). Provision of
quality secondary education is therefore important in generating the
opportunities and benefits of social and economic development (Onsumu, Muthaka,
Ngware and Kosembei, 2006). One of the indicators of quality of education
according to United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(2005) is cognitive achievement of learners.
Adediwura and Tayo (2007) opined that, academic achievement is
designated by test and examination scores or marks assigned by the subject
teachers.
The
Human Resources (HR) of an organization consist of all staff (teaching, managerial,
and technical/support staff) engaged in any of the organization’s activities.
It is well-recognized that the human resources of any school are its most
valuable asset (Achieng, 2012). Despite the scarcity of resources, there is the
need to expand and reform the educational system and ensure its quality in
meeting the popular demand. Of the human resources required for the production
function of the school system, teachers are the most vital. This is because
they play great facilitative role in the teaching – learning process. According
to (Adeyemi and Akposheri, 2009), in spite of the advancement in science and
technology, the teacher is not yet displaced in the classroom nor has his
important role diminished. Teachers seem to have profound influence in the
social – cultural development of their society, since they influence many
values directly or indirectly to their students. No wonder (Chukwu , 2003),
(Famade, 2003), (The National Policy on Education, 2006), (Ibukun, 2009) and
(Okebukola, 2010) identified teachers’ quality and dedication as significant
predictors of quality of education. The
success of any organization is a resultant effect of quantity and quality of
its working force. Ibukun as cited in (Adegbemile, 2011) opined that teacher holds
the key to nation building. The aspiration of any nation to transform into a
greater country can only be possible if there are competent and dedicated
teachers to impact the appropriate attitude skills and knowledge.
This
is particularly true in learning institutions, where the people required to do
the core work of the organization are highly trained individuals. In this
study, the focus will be on the teaching staff, with no less regard to the role
played by the sub-ordinate staff in ensuring good academic performance of
students such as preparing their meals in time, transporting them during
academic performance enhancing tours, typing and producing their assessment
tests and arranging their laboratories and libraries.
In
the United States, a study conducted by Motoko, Akiba, Gerald Letendre and
Scribner (2004), revealed that the countries with better teachers’ quality
produced higher academic achievement. These analyses provide empirical,
cross-national evidence of the importance of investing in teachers’ quality for
improving national achievement. Consequently, human resources management in
education implies effectively coordinating the activities of staff, students
and parents so as to achieve educational aims and objectives (Adeniyi, 2004).
The National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004) clearly spells out the broad
responsibilities of managing schools as employment, promotion, deployment and
discipline of teachers among others.
Successive governments in
Nigeria have made efforts towards the effective management of human resources
in educational institutions. The importance of human resources management has
been stated but there is not much information on its relationship with the
academic performance of students in secondary schools. For secondary schools to
achieve high performance in the public examinations there is the need to
recruit qualified teachers, secure modern buildings, adequate facilities and
equipment should be provided to enhance teaching and learning while supervision
of teaching is carried out for quality control. Other bodies that could
influence students’ academic performance are administrators, managers, guidance
counselors, Parents Teachers Association (PTA), curriculum specialist, funding
agencies, non –teaching staff, inspectors and examination boards (Osagie and
Okafor, 2012).
Any organization that does not
plan for its human resources will often find that it is meeting neither the
personnel requirement nor its over-all goals effectively (Stoner1978). For
example, a school may decide to introduce new subjects into its school
curriculum. If the school does not make adequate arrangements for the teachers
to handle these new subjects, the subjects will remain on the time table
without being taught. To further
buttress this point, when the federal government launched the 6:3:3:4 system of
education, it spent huge financial resources on equipment for technical
education. However, the human resources required to operate the equipment were
not considered. Consequently, the equipments were left to rot in the rain and
many of the equipment were eventually stolen by hoodlums (Osagie and Okafor,
2012).
With regards to the current
educational policy, the supervision of instruction is the process of overseeing
the work of teachers with the aim of assisting them to solve their
instructional problems so that students can benefit maximally from classroom
activities (Igwe, 2005). This can be effected with the involvement of the
principal or any other official appointed by interacting with teachers and
students in the classroom regularly to monitor the teaching and learning
process. Nwagwu (2004), argued that the supervisor has the responsibility of
monitoring and evaluating all staff activities and programs of their
organization. The major reason for this is to ensure dutiful compliance of all
staff with established laws and declared goals through quality assurance,
maintenance of standards and quality control. This view is in line with the
National Policy on Education (FRN, 2004) which declared that supervision is a
device for quality control. The goals of the school can be achieved through the
continuous supervision of the teaching staff and the non- teaching staff.
The evaluation of staff is
conducted as it determines their performance, in as much as it also determines
the academic performance of students. For example, in the study by Akposheri
(1994), she found out that there was significant relationship between teachers
who were highly rated during evaluation and the academic performance of students.
However, Okafor (2006) submitted that in the performance evaluation of staff,
care should be exercised to ensure that it is the performance and not the
personality of the employees that are evaluated.
Secondary school not only occupies a
strategic place in the educational system in Nigeria, it is also the link
between the primary and the university levels of education. According to
Asikhai (2010), education at secondary school level is supposed to be the
bedrock and the foundation towards higher knowledge in tertiary institutions.
It is an investment as well as an instrument that can be used to achieve a more
rapid economic, social, political, technological, scientific and cultural
development in a country. It is rather unfortunate that the secondary schools
today are not measuring up to the standard expected of them. There have been
public outcry over the persistently poor performance of secondary school
students in public examinations (Ibukun, Oyekakin, Akinrotimi, Akinfolarin and
Ayandoja, 2012). According to Nwokocha and Amadike (2005), academic performance
of students is the yardstick for testing educational quality of a nation.
Hence, it is expedient that students in secondary schools in particular
maintain a high performance in internal and mostly external examinations.
The problem of downward trend in academic
performance of students has often been attributed to a number of factors among
which are: the principal’s leadership style, teachers’ quality, home factors,
government factors and non-provision of educational resources (human, material,
financial and physical resources). However, this study is limited to the
provision of human resources and students’ academic performance in secondary
school. The availability of educational
resources (human and material) is very important because of its role in the
attainment of educational objectives. Human resources is a unique educational
input necessary for the overall development of skill acquisition and literacy
of the students. Human resources within the educational system can be
classified into teaching and non-teaching staff (Ekundayo, 2009). Availability
of these resources is needful to achieve excellence in the system. However, it
has been observed that secondary schools in Lagos State do not have the
required number of teachers both in terms of quantity and quality (Ekundayo,
Haastrup, Timilehin, Alonge and Hezekiah, 2010). This is evident in high
student-teacher ratio in the schools.
A close look at the schools in Nigeria and
what goes on there shows that nothing good can come out of most public schools
as they do not have facilities and adequate and appropriate human resources to
prepare candidates for West African Examination Council (WAEC) examinations
(Owoeye and Yara, 2011). Studies on the relationship between availability of
human resources and academic performance have shown that human resources
enhance academic performance of students. Adedeji (1998), Ayodele (2000),
Adewuyi (2002) and Okandeji (2007) had in their various researches submitted that
teachers constitute a very significant factor to students’ academic success.
In a similar dimension, Adedeji (1998),
Owoeye (2000), Ajayi (2002), Akomolafe (2003, 2005) and Owoeye (2011) also
submitted a positive relationship between material resources in schools and
students’ academic performance. According to Hallack (1990), the material
resources that contribute to students’ academic performance include classrooms,
accommodation, libraries, furniture, apparatus and other instructional
materials.
It can be inferred from the literature so
far that human resources have positive significant relationship with academic
performance. This study therefore attempts to analyze the characteristics of
human resources in school in terms of qualification, teacher-student ratio and
years of teaching experience of teachers as a determinant of students’ academic
performance.
Statement of the Problem
Secondary
school students’ academic performance in public examinations of recent is one
of the major means by which the general public judges the products from
secondary schools in Nigeria. This being the case, Nigeria has not fared
favorably well in her attempt to providing quality education to her citizens.
Factors such as motivation, leaders supervision, quality and quantity of
teaching staff and materials, have influence on students’ academic performance
(Ibukun et al, 2012). The problem of downward trend in academic performance of
students has often been attributed to a number of factors among which are the
principal’s leadership style, teachers’ quality, home factors, government
factors and non-provision of educational resources (human, material, financial
and physical resources) (Ekundayo et al ,2010). However, this study is limited
to the provision of human resources and students’ academic performance in
secondary schools. Disparities in performance continued to be noticed as one of
the many challenges facing education. These variations had raised a lot of
concern as the government expenditure on education was not only aimed at
increasing enrolment but also ensuring that academic performance was improved
in these institutions at minimum cost. The problem of this study therefore is
that of poor academic performance of students in secondary schools which could
be attributed to the factors associated with human resources.
Purpose of the Study
This study focuses on the following
objectives;
1 To
determine the relationship between teachers’ qualifications and students’
academic performance in secondary school in Education District IV of Lagos
State.
2 To
establish whether there is a relationship between teachers’ years of teaching
experience and students’ academic performance in the public secondary school in
Education District IV of Lagos State.
3 To
determine the relationship between teacher – student ratio and students’
academic performance in public secondary school in Education District IV of
Lagos State.
4 To
make suggestions for improved planning and management of teachers that would
facilitate teaching and learning and lead to higher productivity in the public
secondary schools Education District IV of Lagos State.
Research Questions
This
study seeks to answer the following questions.
1. What
is the relationship between human resources planning and students’ academic
performance in public secondary school in education District IV of Lagos State?
2. What
is the relationship between staff supervision and students’ academic
performance?
3. What
is the relationship between staff evaluation and students’ academic
performance?
4. What
is the relationship between staff workload and students’ academic performance.
Research Hypotheses
Ho1. There is no significant relationship between
human resources planning and students’ academic performance in secondary school
in Education District IV of Lagos State.
Ho2. There is
no significant relationship between staff supervision and students’ academic
performance.
Ho3. There is no significant relationship
between staff evaluation and students’ academic performance.
Ho4. There is no significant relationship
between staff workload and students’ academic performance.
Significance of the Study
The importance of this study cannot be over emphasized considering
the fact that without adequate human resources, excellent students’ academic
performance cannot be achieved. The findings of this study will serve as a
contribution to existing literature and add knowledge in the subject area. The
findings from this study will assist educational administrators as well as
school administrator in preventing brain drain in the public secondary schools
especially in secondary schools of Education District IV of Lagos State. Also,
this study will be of help to the government in the area of teachers’
recruitment and retention. Moreover, the study will go a long way in assisting educational
administrators in drawing up a comprehensive human resource policy and programs
in the education sector.
In addition, the result of this study will assist educational
managers, administrators, and technocrats in the formulation and execution of educational
policy towards the attainment of the overall educational goals and objectives.
Delimitation of the
Study
The study is restricted to secondary schools in Education District
IV of Lagos State. It is delimited to teachers’ qualification, experience and
teacher – student ratio in secondary schools.
Limitation
of the Study
The study might be limited by a number of
factors beyond the control of the researcher. Lack of reliable data or
information from the participants might also pose limitation to the scope of
study in that the participants might give false opinions which might affect the
findings of the study.
Definition of
Terms
1. Human
Resources: These refer to composition of teachers who conduct instructional
activities with students, be the board of government employed or teaching
service commission employed. This is with regard to their academic
qualifications, adequacy, experience, and staff development.
2. Academic
performance: This is the measure of degree of passing or failing any
evaluation test or examination.
3. Performance:
This is most commonly refers to whether a person performs his/her job
well. Performance is an extremely
important criterion that relates to organizational outcomes and success.
4. Education:
This is a system of transmitting culture, information, knowledge and values to
the learners in a formal setting. It is also important for the transmission of
societal core values and other pieces of information necessary for growth and
development.
5. Secondary
School Education: This is the type of education given to pupils who
transited from the primary school education and which also prepare them for
higher education.
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