CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

Recently, the reports of poor academic achievement of students especially insecondary schools has raised more attention and greater concerns among stakeholdersin Nigerian education. Academic achievement or academic performance is theoutcome of education, that is the, extent to which a student, teacher or institution hasachieved their educational goals (Ward, Stoker, & Murray-Ward, 2000). Academicachievement is commonly measured by continuous assessment or examination butthere is no general agreement on how it is best tested or which aspects is mostimportant, whether procedural knowledge such as skills or declarative knowledgesuch as facts (Stumm, Hell, & Chamorro-Premuzic, 2011). Irrespective of the methodof academic measurement, Isangedighi (1999) observed that indiscipline, drugaddiction, poor socio-economic background of the parents, inadequate motivation onthe part of students, lack of information couple with teachers’ nonchalant attitude towork and students’ negative self-concept have often resulted into students’inconsistent and poor academic performances. Yoloye (1999) submitted that theoriesof educational disadvantages and social cultural pathology have been most prominentin the explanation of poor academic achievement of students in schools. On thecontrary, a growing number of scholars, have rejected this latter view and havesuggested that many of the problems of learning are the artifacts of discontinuitieswhich are brought about by the separation of learning from real life functions and12situations (Fagbemi, 2001) and by the exclusion of the child’s language, values andmode of cognition from the school environment (Ugodulunwa, 2007). It seems thatthe causes of low academic achievement are diverse and cannot be associated with asingle factor alone. For in-stance, Adamu (1998) observed that self-concept and itsvariables may be a paramount factor in academic failure. Tukur & Musa (2001)attributed the causes of fluctuating performances among students to teacher-studentinter-actions, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, classroom behavior and otherextraneous variables. The above may be responsible for the academic achievement ofstudents in the area of the study.

In Enugu State, the academic achievement of secondary school students hasbeen observed to be generally poor. A look at the West African Senior SecondarySchool Certificate Examination results in the past eight years (2005-2012) showsclearly the declining state of secondary school students’ achievements in externalexaminations in the state. The West African Certificate Examinations Councils’(WAEC) result analysis has it that in 2005, only 27.53% of candidates who sat for thesenior secondary school certificate exanimation had five credit passes and aboveincluding English Language and Mathematics (WAEC, 2010).The same trendcontinued in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011and 2012 where only 15.56%,25.54%, 13.76%, 25.99%, 24.94%, 30.99% and 25.76% of candidates respectivelyobtained five credit passes including English Language and Mathematics.