ABSTRACT
Students’ academic
performance is of great importance in the educational institution. It is the
basis for judging the quality of output vis – a – vis the input in the
educational institution. One major input which can largely influence academic
performance of students is human resources. The influence of human resources on
students’ academic performance is thus the interest in this study. In order to carry out this study, Lagos State
Education District IV Sabo-Yaba was randomly selected out of the six
educational districts in Lagos State. Ten schools were selected from the
educational district using the simple random sampling technique. Then twenty
teachers were selected from each
school making a total of 200 teachers to be used for the study. The teachers’
questionnaire which is divided into four parts was use to collect data for the
study. Analysis of the data collected
revealed that a good percentage of the teachers used for the study are
qualified teachers and the years of teaching experience significantly influence
students’ academic performance. Furthermore, a negative relationship was
observed between teacher – student ratio and academic performance.This result
implies that stakeholders in education should not comprise in the employment of
qualified and experienced teachers. They should however work hard at reducing
the teacher – student ratio because of it negative effect on students’ academic
performance.
Keywords:
Human Resources, academic performance, teacher – student ratio
TABLE OF CONTENT
Page
Title
page………………………………………………………………………………
Certification
…………………………………………………………………………… ii
Dedication
……………………………………………………………………………. iii
Acknowledgment
…………………………………………………………………….. iv
Abstract
………………………………………………………………………………. v
Table of content
………………………………………………………………….........vi
CHAPTER
ONE: …………………………………..……………………………….. 1
1.1
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………..
1.2
Statement of the Problem
…………………………………………………………..
1.3
Purpose of the
Study...................................................................................................
1.4
Research Question......................................................................................................
1.5
Research
Hypothesis...................................................................................................
1.6
Significance of the study
………………………………………………………….. ..
1.7
Delimitation of the
Study...........................................................................................
1.8
Limitations of the
Study...............................................................................................
1.9 Definition of Terms.....................................................................................................
CHAPTER
TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW ..……………...………………………
2.1
Introduction……………………....................……………………………………….
2.2 Conceptual Framework…………………………………….
2.3 Teachers’ Qualification and students’ Academic
Performance........................ …
2.4 Teachers’ Experience and Students ’Academic
Performance.............. ………….
2.5 Summary of Literature
Review.....................................................................
CHAPTER
THREE: METHODOLOGY …………………………………………
3.1 Introduction
………………………………………………………………….
3.2 Research Design
………………………………………………………………………...
3.3 Population
…………………………………………………
3.4 Sampling Procedure
and Sample …………………………………………………
3.5 Instrumentation……………………………………………………
3.6 Validity of the
Research Instrument………………
3.7 Method of Data
Collection...........................................................................
3.9 Method of Data Analysis................................................................
CHAPTER
FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF RESULT... …
CHAPTER
FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS …
References
……………………………………………………………………………….
Appendixes
……………………………………………………………………………...
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
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. 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 equipment 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. 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 various components of
human resources in school in terms of qualification, teacher-student ratio and
years of teaching experience of teachers as a determinant of student’s academic
performance.
1.2 Problem Statement
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 (Ibukun,
Oyetakin, Akinrotimi, Akinfolarin and Ayandoja, 2012). 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.
1.3 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.
1.4 Research Questions
This
study would seek to answer the following questions.
1. What is the status of teachers’ supply in
terms of qualifications in public secondary schools in Education District IV of
Lagos State?
2. What influence do teachers’ years of
teaching experience have on students’ academic performance in public secondary
schools in Education District IV of Lagos State?
3. Is there any significant relationship
between teacher-student ratio and students’ academic performance in public
secondary schools in Education District IV of Lagos State?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
Ho1. Status
of teachers’ supply in terms of qualification have no influence on students’
academic performance in public secondary schools in Education District IV of
Lagos State.
Ho2.
Teachers’ years of teaching experience have no influence on students’
academic performance in the public
secondary schools in Education District IV of Lagos State.
Ho3. There
is no significant relationship between teacher- student ratio and students’
academic performance in public secondary schools in Education District IV of
Lagos State.
1.6 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.
1.7 Delimitations 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 since they were believed to have a
greater influence on the students’ academic performance compared to other
individuals making up the school human resources. Teachers have been shown to have an important influence on
students’ academic achievement and they also 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)
1.8
Limitations 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 opinion which might affect the finding of the
study.
1.9 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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