EFFECTS POSED BY LARGE CLASS SIZE ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN THE JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS ILAJE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ONDO STATE

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

The unprecedented improvement in the medical field and the availability of its product within human community especially in the under developing nations of the world, has led to increased human production. The spectacular decline in death rate over the last three to four decades has not been accompanied by a similar decline in the birth rate. This manifested itself in itself in an impressive growth on the population size from one billion in 2005 and to five billion in 2011 in Nigeria Sadips (2005). The government of the day is apprehensive of the following universal problems associated with population: Over population leads to increase in class size in our educational institutions. Over population leads to mass unemployment which in most case leads to criminal activities such as prostitution, pre-marital sex which could lead to or result in unwanted pregnancy and spread of sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis, HIV/AID, gonorrhea, and host of others? Over population leads to over utilization of resources.

The possibility of the population out growing the food supply and infrastructure in the economics. Among the problems enumerated above, the issue of our populated classroom and the associated consequences is paramount. The phenomenon of large classes is fast becoming the vogue of Junior Secondary Schools in Nigeria, if not over the world. The large class syndrome has been attributed to the expansion in annual students’ enrollment. At any rate, education as old as man has been characterized with mass instruction and this is the peculiarity of large classes in various institutions. (centre for the enhancement of learning and teaching, 2003) students as many as three or four hundred, oen cluster in a small hall tending to pay attention to the ”talking and chalking” teachers who occasionally scribbles on the chalk board, while it is mostly assumed that as the teachers pass the necessary information through verbal means , learning takes place. Whereas Awoniyi (2011) found out that in such a situation, much teaching goes on, but little learning takes place with only a few of the student as a result of the gap between the teacher, the taught and the content. In a large class, where teaching method is typically the mode of instruction, meeting the needs of the variety of students through effective communication has therefore be found to be a challenge. Though it is often thought that learning occurs in proportion to class size, that is, the smaller the size the more the students learn, however, the size of a class may not absolutely be a predictor of students learning and equally of teaching Feilder (2011).

Statement of the Problem

The quality of education acquired in Nigeria schools is increasingly declining due to the problem of large class size which is unfortunately getting larger by the day. In many cases, the problem of students not performing well in their academics is not the fault of the teachers which oen have no choice but to teach a class with an overwhelming number of students in a class room built to accommodate about (40) forty students. The class become so overcrowded that most times students are seen standing inside and outside the classroom with some sitting on the bare floor receiving lessons while the teachers are forced to shout and strain their voices in order to be heard by their students. The fact that this sad condition grossly affects the academic performance of the students is therefore the focus of this research study.

EFFECTS POSED BY LARGE CLASS SIZE ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN THE JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS ILAJE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ONDO STATE