CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the study

The differential scholastic achievement of students in Nigeria has been and is still a source of concern  and research interest to educators, government and parents. This is so because of the great importance that education has on the national development of the country. All over the country, there is a consensus of opinion about the fallen standard of education in Nigeria (Adebule, 2004). Parents and government are in total agreement that their huge investment on education is not yielding the desired dividend. Teachers also complain of students’ low performance at both internal and external examination. The annual releases of Senior Secondary Certificate Examination results (SSCE) conducted by West African Examination Council (WAEC) justified the problematic nature and generalization of poor students’ performance in different school subjects Poor academic performance according to Aremu (2003) is a performance that is adjudged by the examinee/testee and some other significant as falling below an expected standard. Poor academic performance has been observed in school subjects especially mathematics and English language among secondary school students (Adesemowo, 2005). Aremu (2000) stresses that academic failure is not only frustrating to the students and the parents, its effects are equally grave on the society in terms of dearth of manpower in all spheres of the economy and politics. 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 the country. The National Policy on Education (2004) stipulated that secondary education is an instrument for national development that fosters the worth and development of the individual for further education and development, general development of the society and equality of educational opportunities to all Nigerian children, irrespective of any real or marginal disabilities.

However, different people at different times have passed the blame of poor  students performance  in tertiary institution because of their low retention, parental factors, association with wrong peers, low achievement, low retention, low achievement motivation and the likes (Aremu & Sokan, 2003; Aremu & Oluwole 2001; Aremu, 2000).

Morakinyo (2003) believe that the falling level of academic achievement is attributable to teacher’s non-use of verbal reinforcement strategy. Others found out that the attitude of some teachers to their job is reflected in their poor attendance to lessons, lateness to school, unsavory comments about student’s performance that could damage their ego, poor method of teaching and the likes affect pupils’ academic performance.

The academic performance of students in higher institution  has taken a dramatic decline in recent times. This poor performance cuts across all subjects including Book Keeping and Accounting . There is no gainsaying that the purpose of teaching is to facilitate learning such that the students will be able to achieve high academic performance in examinations. For teachers of Book Keeping and Accounting, it is important that they understand and appreciate the determinants of their students’ performance in the subject. This knowledge will help the teachers to organize the teaching and learning process such that the students will achieve high performance in Book Keeping and Account . The fact remains that there can be no excellent academic performance without effective teaching and learning. It has been established among Psychologists that a number of factors determine the ability of the students. Some of these factors include; the learning environment, the competence of the teacher, motivation, the interest of the students to mention but a few.

Numerous studies have analyzed the factors behind the performance of students. Identifying the variables that influence the academic performance of students at school is of great importance for two reasons. On one hand, it is an essential tool for the public authorities in charge of definition of optimal and efficient education policies. On the other hand, this kind of analysis can help the educational institutions to improve the quality of their programmes (Awa, 2003) cited in Issah (2009).

Statement of the Problem

The benefits of studying Book Keeping and Accounting cannot be over emphasized, as such, when students fail or perform poorly in Book Keeping and Accounting in the  examination; they lose the opportunity to fully enjoy these benefits. The question therefore is what is the cause of this fallen standard and poor academic performance of students? Is the fault entirely that of lecturers or students or both of them? Is it that students of today are non-achievers because they have low intelligent quotient and a good neutral mechanism to be able to act purposefully, think rationally and deal effectively with academic tasks? Or is it because teachers are no longer putting in much commitment as before? Or is it  in teachers’ method of teaching and interaction with pupils? Or is the poor performance of students caused by parents’ neglect, separation and poverty? The present study therefore sought to find out the causes of poor student performance in Book Keeping and Accounting in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti.

Purpose of the Study

The broad objective of this study is to find out the cause of students poor performance in Book Keeping and Accounting in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti.

To be able to achieve this objective the following specific objective shall be considered:

To determine whether the teacher commitment to teaching and work habit can causes poor performance of student in Book Keeping and Accounting

To find out the opinion of school counselors and their view of factors responsible for poor performance of students in book keeping and Accounting

To determine whether teacher qualification, availability and use of teaching materials and parental involvement can causes poor performance of students in Book Keeping and Accounting.

To also determine whether motivation and job satisfaction can cause poor performance of students in Book Keeping and Accounting and to offer suggestion on how the problem can be solved.

 Research Questions

This study thus attempts to find answers to the under mentioned research questions and find out where the problem lies:

 Significance of the study

 Although, the new national policy on education in Nigeria emphasized on business education and other skill subject, Book Keeping and Accounting in tertiary institution is not effectively implemented.

 It is hoped that the finding of this study will make education authorities to give attention to business education programme. Also the findings and recommendation will provide useful information for the causes of low performance in Book Keeping and Account by business education lecturer in improving plan for implementing Business Education Programme.

 In addition, it will serve as a useful guide to guidance, counselors, parents, teachers and principals in advising the students on choice of future career in the field of business.

 Scope of the Study

 This study is limited in scope to the causes of low performance of Tertiary institution  student in Book Keeping and Accounting in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti.

 The finding of this study will focus on the causes of low performance in Book Keeping and Accounting in  college of education Ikere-Ekiti. fifty student is been used for the study.

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