FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF HOME ECONOMICS STUDENTS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AKWA IBOM STATE
ABSTRACT
A serious government must always strive to help its citizens to reduce poverty and encourage self-sufficiency, self-independent and self-reliance at elementary level. Hence, the introduction of Home Economics as subject in secondary schools educational system as well as a course of study in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. The study sought to find out factors that affect students’ academic performance in Home Economics in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State. Data were collected through field survey and were subjected to secondary analysis. Three research questions guided the study and three hypotheses were tested. The following were the research objectives: to analyse the institutional factors affecting secondary school students’ academic performance in Home Economics in Akwa Ibom State, to identify the parental socioeconomic factors affecting academic performance of secondary school students in Home Economics in Akwa Ibom State and to assess out the attitudes of secondary school students of Akwa Ibom state towards Home Economics subject.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Â Â Â Â Â Background to the Study
Universally, investment in education is usually through three main stages: primary, secondary and tertiary. Mbelle and Katabalo (2003) opined that secondary education mainly aims at meeting global challenges in art, science and technology as well as organizations of production processes and markets. Schultz (2002) stated that investing in education leads to faster growth for developed and newly industrialized countries. That is the reason why; developing countries most especially in Africa are now paying more attention to invest in education from primary, secondary and tertiary levels by increasing enrolment and improving education quality.
The works of Miller-Grandvaur and Yoder (2002) on secondary schools education revealed that Secondary schools are fundamental part of the educational interventions in not only in sub-Saharan Africa alone but in the whole of African countries. Apparently, the introduction of Home Economics on the Nigerian curriculum was born out of its usefulness in addressing skill needs of students and to ensure all secondary school leavers are more productive, independent and self-reliant in their future endeavours. However, the main challenges in secondary school education seem to be academic performance of students. There have been concerns over the years about the factors affecting the performance of students in education attainment and this is what has prompted the current study. In spite of the complexity of factors influencing students’ achievement, studies are pointing to the evidence that institutional factors are associated with academic performance though mainly in other subjects rather than home economics.
