Class Size and Pupils Academic Performance in Primary School in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area.
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the Study
The main objective of this study is to find out the effects of class size on academic achievement of primary school students in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area, specifically the study intends to:
- To analyze out the effects of overpopulation on student’s academic achievement
- To find out the effects of under population on students’ academic achievement
- To Identify the causes of increase in students’ population in government secondary schools in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
Overcrowded or large classes are now common places in most educational institutions, especially those in the developing world of which Ghana is no exception. There are many challenges that university teachers face when teaching large class size particularly in developing countries. According to Benbow, Mizrachi, Oliver, and Said-Moshiro (2007), the growth of large classes in the developing world is as a result of global initiatives for universal education and rapid population growth. Naturally, in order to mitigate the effects of rapid population growth, there is the need to expand access of higher education through increasing funding. Ogbondah (2010, p. 318) noted that, “One of the major critical issues facing public universities in Nigeria is underfunding”. He opined that, “Adequate funding of public universities is sine qua non for sustainable development as such the much needed development will be fast-tracked and sustained”. It must be stressed that even though “money cannot correct all ills of public universities”, the lack of “adequate funding leads to inadequate school buildings, inadequate educational facilities, poorly qualified and poorly remunerated teachers, inadequate learning conditions and lack of instructional materials” (Ogbondah, 2010, p. 321). A study carried out in Ghana by Amua-Sekyi (2010, p. 144) observed that “lack of funding was perceived to impinge well beyond the classroom to the workplace and ultimately to the state of the economy” as expressed by some respondents. Her respondents indicated that, “If we have teaching and learning resources such as slides, flow chart of life cycle on screen, students can make contributions, even as the topic is discussed”. She further found that the lack of large classroom space was another problem that her respondents complained about. This is borne out of the fact that lecturers observed that, “At level 100 and 200 where class sizes are usually large, students are not really involved in teaching and learning”. She argued that, “Even at level 300 and 400 when the class size gets smaller as they choose areas of specialization, students’ contributions seem to improve”. She, however, observed that, “Even then one can see they have a lot of defects since they have not developed the attitudes to contribute at lectures and do independent critical thinking”. She opined that, “Even though we try to mould them, I do not think we are actually able to impact their lives through the training as expected”. Amua-Sekyi (2010, p. 144) in her discussion further observed that, Those who are good developed with the little guidance/exposure and pick up and develop their talents and express themselves do independent work come to see me and ask how to relate what they have found on the Internet with what have been taught. The question one may ask is that how many of them are able to do this? The greater majority is unable to explore on their own, so that when they are unable to benefit from a large class they tend to suffer and become average students and those who are “extremely weak” may suffer several referrals and may drop out or go home without degrees or certificates. Yet, another respondent expressed his frustration about inadequate resources in the universities in Ghana by saying, You have only got to go around science laboratories to see that there is no intention anywhere of investing in the teaching infrastructure. The situation is bad with practical. For instance, when students are working with microscopes, we may have groups of four students to a microscope. How can they focus on observing the specimen to draw? Even though we may draw, it does not appeal as when students mount these things under the microscope and then view more or less actual specimen. The same students who pass through with these difficulties are the same students who end up teaching in the secondary school. The implications are that if students are poorly prepared in the universities where they were supposed to have obtained the best of training, then it means when they are to teach in the secondary school or basic school level we should not expect magic. The quality of teaching they can provide would be suspicious and cannot provide the results we expect in our schools.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
INTRODUCTION
This chapter presents the analysis of data derived through the questionnaire and key informant interview administered on the respondents in the study area. The analysis and interpretation were derived from the findings of the study. The data analysis depicts the simple frequency and percentage of the respondents as well as interpretation of the information gathered. A total of eighty (80) questionnaires were administered to respondents of which only seventy-seven (77) were returned and validated. This was due to irregular, incomplete and inappropriate responses to some questionnaire. For this study a total of 77 was validated for the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain class size and pupils academic performance in primary school in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of class size and pupils academic performance in primary school
Summary
This study was on class size and pupils academic performance in primary school. Three objectives were raised which included: To analyze out the effects of overpopulation on student’s academic achievement, to find out the effects of under population on students’ academic achievement and to Identify the causes of increase in students’ population in government secondary schools in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area. A total of 77 responses were received and validated from the enrolled participants where all respondents were drawn from Nsit Ibom Local Government Area. Hypothesis was tested using Chi-Square statistical tool (SPSS).
Conclusion
The study concludes that large class size contributes to poor academic performance, it results to poor teaching methods, instructional materials are not used properly in a large class size because, it is very hard for the teacher to showthe students the instructional material especially those at the back. Also mosttimesthe teacher always gettired after walking around the class once, Classroom management is always hard, National policy on education approved 40 to 45 students per class, Merging two classes (A and B) is not good and not be done in anyway, Supervisors are not interested in classroom size and number of students in the class, all they are after is the lesson note, inadequate learning environment and improper class size makes the students to lose concentration from the lesson
Recommendation
- Policy makers should consider as a matter of priority the issue of increased funding of secondary school education in Nigeria. Increased funding will help to ameliorate problems facing academic performance in secondary schools.
- School supervisors and inspector should concentrate more on the number of students in each class and avoid overcrowding in classes
References
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