CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Background to the Study
A school system such as the secondary school is an essential state in the educational hierarch of the society. It ensures among others that students are effectively equipped for the posing challenges of the present era of science and technology (National Policy on Education, 1981). To attain the aforementioned goal, the school variables such as; class size, school location, school facilities, teacher-students interaction etc. should be considered. Since there are numerous school variables, this work is limited to the class size, school type and school location.
The relationship between class size and academic performance has been a perplexing one for educators. Studies have found that the physical environment, class overcrowding and teaching methods are all variables that affect students’ performance (Motnar etal., 2000) as cited by Moffot, 2014). Large class size and over populated schools have direct impact on the quality of teaching and instruction delivery. Overcrowded classrooms have been reported to lead to mass failure and make students to loose interest in school (Udo, 2006).
The type of school a child attends is very important in influencing the educational outcome of the child. For over four decades, series of studies examined school types and their attendance consequences on performance of students in various states of the federation. Buckingham (2000) in his write-up, addressed that public, private, boarding and non-boarding schools are different types of schools which learners can learn and achieve their educational goals and objectives. Studies have found out that students that attend private schools are academically sound than students from public schools because they have good qualified teachers, good infrastructures and conducive environment in the school. However, Ajayi (2004), found out that school types make a difference in students’ academic performance.
Considering the school locations, for some decades now studies have suggested the importance of school as a social environment of learning. Some of these studies examined location planning and their attendants consequences on academic performance of students in various states of the federation. The studies were intended to decide where a particular school should be located, the size of the schools in each location, whether a new school should be built or not (Mbakwe, 2006). Tanimowo (2005) observed that the distribution of pubic secondary schools in the state shows disorder, lack of planning and inefficiency. The inefficiency here refers to students’ academic performance.
Mbakwe (2006) conceptualized urban school location as those environments which have high population density containing a high variety of beauty and common place views. He further identified the rural school location as being characterized by low population density containing a low variety and isolated place view. Owolabi (2000) accentuated that our high qualified teachers prefer to serve in urban centres rather than rural aeras as a corollary of the above, Orebiyi (2001), pointed that teachers do not accept posting to the rural areas because their conditions are not up to the expected standard as the social life in the areas is virtually restricted as a result of inadequate amenities, facilities are deficient, playground are without equipment, libraries are not equipped while laboratories are full of improvised materials.
Hence, to achieve a qualitative and improved academic performance of students in Biology, school variables must be thoroughly considered. Therefore, this work seeks to determine whether, large and small class size, private and public schools together with rural and urban school location influence the academic performance of biology students in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In recent times, the performance of students in both internal and external examinations have been a thing of concern to both parents, teachers, and the government as the poor performance is always very glaring. Several reasons have been given such as; class size, school types, school location, school facilities etc. Many people feel that with so many students now enrolled in the public secondary schools, the qualitative education advocate for in National Policy on Education (2004) may be difficult to achieve because the large the class, the more difficult it becomes to control and consequently, a poor overall output. In the other hand, some parents prefer that their children should remain in private schools throughout their secondary school education, while some prefer public schools for their children. In the same vein, some parents allow their wards to remain in urban schools for their secondary schools for better academic performance.
Therefore, this study is an attempt to determine whether large and small class size, private and public schools together with rural and urban schools influence students’ academic performance in Biology in Etim Ekpo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
