CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study

Education is the best legacy a nation can give to her citizens. It is generally believed that the basis for any true development must start with the development of human resources. Much then is said that formal education remains the vehicle for social-economic development and social mobilization in any society.

Education therefore, plays an important role in the development of a total person for communication and effective transaction and makes the individual to fit properly into the schemes of life of a society. Parents are aware of these needs, hence the importance of monitoring the standard of education in Kaduna metropolis because it is paramount for the development of the area.

Education as the key to development has the capacity to upgrade teaching effectiveness as well as learning efficiency among learners. Efforts have been made by school administrators to improve the performance of Public secondary school students. The school environment, which include the classrooms, libraries, technical workshops, laboratories, teachers’ quality, school management, teaching methods, peers, etc are variables that affect students’ academic achievement (Ajayi, 2011 and Oluchukwu, 2012).  Hence, the school environment remains an important area that has to be studied well and managed to enhance students’ academic performance.

According to Jam (2012) academic performance is the ability to study and remember facts and being able to communicate this knowledge verbally or on paper. In other words, academic performance refers to how students deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to them by their teachers.  There are quite a number of factors that determine the level and quality of students' academic performance. (Scottk, 2012). 

According to Hussain (2010) secondary school students in public schools often come from economically poor and average income families. These families face various problems causing emotional disturbance among their children. This singular factor has caused serious damage to the achievement status to secondary school students.

Achievement is generally a pedagogical terminology used while determining learners’ success in formal education and which is measured through reports examinations, researches, and ratings with numerous factors of variables exerting influence. Essentially, the National Policy on education (Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2014) has identified school achievement contents according to school subjects which are classified as core or elective subjects.

The issue of poor academic performance of students in Nigeria has been of much concern to the government, parents, teachers and even student themselves. The quality of education not only depends on the teachers as reflected in the performance of their duties, but also in the effective coordination of the school environment (Ajao, 2011). The issue of poor academic performance of students in Nigeria has been of much concern to all and sundry. The problem is so much that it has led to the widely acclaimed fallen standard of education in Delta State and Nigeria at large. The quality of education depends on the teachers as reflected in the performance of their duties. Over time pupils’ academic performance in both internal and external examinations had been used to determine excellence in teachers and teaching (Ajao, 2011). Teachers have been shown to have an important influence on students’ academic achievement and they also play a crucial role in educational attainment because the teacher is ultimately responsible for translating policy into action and principles based on practice during interaction with the students (Afe, 2011). Both teaching and learning depends on teachers: no wonder an effective teacher has been conceptualized as one who produces desired results in the course of his duty as a teacher (Uchefuna, 2011). Considering governments’ huge investment in public education, its output in terms of quality of students has been observed to be unequal with government expenditure.

In Nigeria, there are so many factors influencing the ability of students to cultivate effective and efficient study habit. Ozmert (2005) emphasized the importance of environmental influence as a major factor in the development of students studying habit. In the same vein, Adetunji and Oladeji (2007) submit that the environment of most children is not conducive for studying; it is in the light of this that made some parents to prefer their children to go to boarding school for proper discipline and to inculcate better reading habit.

1.2     Statement of the Problem

The increasing nature of poor academic performance of public secondary school students especially in external examinations like West African Examination Council (WAEC) and Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), tend to shift the blame on the teaching methodology adopted by the teachers and lack of fund from the government to provide quality textbooks. However, these might not be the main reasons why students perform poorly in examinations. It is clear from all indications that most secondary school students have poor study habit which might lead to poor academic performance.

It is yet to gather adequate research evidence to prove that it is a key factor on why students fail. Emphasizing the importance of school environment to students’ academic performance, Oluchukwu, (2009) asserted school environment is an essential aspect of educational planning. The scholar went further to explain that unless schools are well suited, buildings adequately constructed and equipment adequately utilized and maintained, much teaching and learning may not take place.

The high levels of students’ academic performance may not be guaranteed where  space such as classrooms, libraries, technical workshops and laboratories are structurally defective. However, little is known on the impact of school environment on students’ academic performance in an urban city. It is true that inadequate provision of equipment in public secondary school, lack of funds, large classroom, and unqualified teachers among others has affected the overall development of education in Nigeria. It is based on the above stated problems that the study on assessment of factors responsible for students’poor academic performance in public secondary schools became necessary for investigation.

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