CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      Background of the study

The students’ academic achievement plays an important role in producing the best quality graduates who will become great leader and manpower for the country thus responsible for the country’s economic and social development (Ali etal., 2009). The academic achievement of students heavily depends upon the parental involvement in their academic activities to attain the higher level of quality in academic success (Barnard, 2004; Shumox& Lomax, 2001). The junior secondary school education is the foundation of all the formal education to come. According to Friedrich Emelin (1995), it is the most important level of education in an educational system because it forms the basis or background for learning. Academic performance in all stages of education is very important. In this course of study, we shall examine the junior secondary school academics performance. The children of today constitute the leaders of tomorrow, they therefore becomes the focal point of this research. This course of study is worth studying considering the importance of this level of education to the growth and development of the students. Leopoid (2000) remarked that the brilliant performance of any child motivates him/her to focus on his area of specialization and do more. He also remarked that failure on the part of any student to perform better in the academic usually affects such a child psychologically in their next attempts. This forms the concern of teachers, parents and the government. Education is a tool for development area of any country in the world including Nigerian. It is this background that most modern state government usually pay much attention to education sector and allocate larger sum of money and resources in the annual budget to government effort can be supported by parent to send their children to school promptly and for the children to develop the interest to learn, so that they will become the future leader. More so, children should not pay luck worm attitude to their study, so that the aim of education will be achieved. The causes factors for students achievement gap had been raised to be, among many, physical environment and the school facilities, instruction facilities and materials, teachers’ competency and training , teacher experience, teachers’ attitude towards their job, parent involvement, class-size and homework. The home environment also affects the academic achievement of students. Educated parents can provide such an environment that suits best for academic success of their children. The school authorities can provide counseling and guidance to parents for creating positive home environment for improvement in students’ quality of work (Marzano, 2003). The school personnel, members of the families and communities provide help and support to students for the quality of their academic achievement. There is a range of factors that affect on the quality of academic achievement of students (Waters & Marzano, 2006). Education is described, as the total large imparted faculties, trained and skill developed. The school is only an agency in which education is provided. There are other agencies of education, such as the home, the extended, churches or religion body and soon. The matter become clear when we recognized the range from in which education is provides. It is on this view the researcher want to investigate the factors affecting the academic performance of junior secondary school students.

1.2      STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The academic achievements of students were affected by a number of factors. These factors could be grouped in to two broad categories as: in school and out school factors. In this regard, Philip (2000) indicated that factors such as qualified teachers, facilities like adequate and conducive class rooms, text books, and furniture, curriculum relevance, infrastructure, learning process(monitoring and evaluation) and adequate funding have great influence on the successful achievement of the educational objective and enhancing students’ academic achievement. Moreover, sociological variables, which include general categories of social  class, family structure, sibling structure and religion (Mathewos,2000), may be considered as variables which constitute out of school factors that may affect the students’ academic achievement.

1.3      OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is the factors affecting the academic performance of junior secondary school students. But for the successful completion of the study; the researcher intends to achieve the following sub-objectives;

1.    To assess the factors affecting academic achievement in junior secondary school students.

2.   To ascertain the effect of pear group on the academic performance of junior secondary school students

3.   To ascertain the role of parent on the academic performance of the children

4.   To ascertain the contributions of the schools to make the students successful in their academic achievement in the study area.

1.4      RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher;

H0: there are factors affecting academic achievement of junior secondary school students

H1: there are no factors affecting academic achievement of junior secondary school student

H0: pear group does not have any significant effect on the academic achievement of students

H2: pear group has a significant effect on the academic achievement of student

1.5      SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be of benefit to ministry of education. The study will contributes towards better academic performance in junior secondary schools. It will also help school authority to know the causes of poor academic performances of students and remedies to the problem. The study will also be of great benefit to the researchers who intends to embark on research on similar topics as it will serve as a guide. Finally, the study will be of great importance to academia’s, lecturers, teachers, students and the general public.

1.6      SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covers the factors affecting academic performance of junior school students. The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;

a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study       

b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.

c) Organizational privacy: Limited Access to the selected auditing firm makes it difficult to get all the necessary and required information concerning the activities.

1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS

AFFECTING: Touching the emotions; moving.

ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: Academic achievement or (academic) performance is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their short or long-term educational goals. Cumulative GPA and completion of educational degrees such as High School and bachelor's degrees represent academic achievement.

 JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL: Junior Secondary is a phase of education in state secondary schools for Years 7, 8 and 9, which helps to ensure the bridge between primary and secondary school is safe, strong and consistent for all students.

STUDENTS: A student or pupil is a learner or someone who attends an educational institution. In Britain, those attending university are termed "students

1.8 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY

This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows

Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), historical background, statement of problem, objectives of the study, research hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and limitation of the study, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlights the theoretical framework on which the study is based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding.  Chapter five gives summary, conclusion, and recommendations made of the study.   

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