The Effect of Free Education on the Academic Performance of Students in Secondary School
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The main objective of this study is to know the reason for embarking on free education and its influence on the academic performance of secondary school students in NGOR OKPALA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, IMO STATE.
The specific objectives are:-
- To know the effect of free education on the academic performance of students.
- To know the influence of free education on the enrolment rate of secondary school students.
- To ascertain whether free education make student lazy
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
The wide gap in secondary enrolment rates between Sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the world is raising concerns (Oketch, 2010). In the 20th Century, both the US and the Soviet education policies led to secondary school education models aimed at the creation of massive systems that emphasize open access and universal coverage (Karugu, 2006). After 1945, what were later called comprehensive secondary schools began to spread from northern to southern Europe. Extension of compulsory education had entirely changed the concept as well as the duration of basic education to the point that the basic education usually included lower secondary schooling. Rising average schooling was as important as study objective and as a measure of the success of education reforms (Chabari, 2010). Many other countries have embraced the goal of extending and expanding the idea of basic education to include much of what used to be restricted access, elitist secondary education. In Japan, the government fiscal policy provided for free education to secondary school level. Those of school going age had no option other than attend school to acquire education that is fully funded by the government (Nyaegah, 2005). In the USA, the federal government supports public education. The government is empowered by the constitution welfare clause article 1 section 8 to levy and collect revenues for the support of education. The situation in Kenya is not different from that of Japan and USA. In Canada, school fees are an integral part of an education system. Parents are to contribute to their children’s education through payment of fees (Nyaegah, 2005). The government recognizes that some parents are sincerely not in a position to pay, so the government makes provision to ensure that a child is not denied access to education because of an honest inability to pay fees. The department of education in Canada works with school boards, parents, teachers and other partners to ensure that policies governing school fees are implemented consistently in all provinces. The International community pledged to meet the targets of Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and as a result, many governments particularly in the Sub- Saharan Africa are considering abolishing school fees for secondary school education (Ohba, 2009). This is particularly due to domestic and international demand to achieve Education for All and sustainable Development Goals. Fees charged in secondary schools are indeed the major obstacles for some children to access secondary school education, resulting in low transition rates from primary to secondary. Thus many governments in SSA have planned to abolish secondary education school fees (Ohba, 2009). This is against the back drop that many governments in SSA are under severe budget constraints, especially after the global recession. Thus while the governments are intending to extend free education, they often allow public schools to levy fees for limited items such as sports fees, school meals, uniforms and photocopying papers etc. Even though officially most school fees are not sanctioned by the government, the fees are often used to make up for lost revenue due to delay in government subsidies. While asking many questions about access, evidence indicates that secondary enrolment rates in SSA continue to be the lowest in the world (Ohba, 2009). Approximately 104 million secondary school –age children in the region, only one in four (25%) were enrolled in secondary in 2006 (UNESCO, 2008). Of these, there were 83 girls only for every 100 boys.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought the effect of free education on the academic performance of students in secondary school
- Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
Primary source and Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the effect of free education on the academic performance of students in secondary school. 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 free education on the academic performance of students in secondary school
Summary
This study was on the effect of free education on the academic performance of students in secondary school. Three objectives were raised which included: To know the effect of free education on the academic performance of students, to know the influence of free education on the enrolment rate of secondary school students, to ascertain whether free education make student lazy. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Ngor okpala local government of Imo state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made principals, vice principals administration, senior staff and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
The study concluded that the school environment in Ngor Okpala local government of Imo state is presently under pressure from the high number of learners. The methodology currently used in secondary schools education in the division is not suitable in delivering knowledge to the students this is as result of a high percentage of untrained teachers in the division. The quality of secondary school education is declined as a result of unequal increment in equipments and facilities. Most of the teachers agree that it is important that education taught in secondary schools be considerate of all learners. Teachers are indifferent on whether the methodologies they use in delivering knowledge to the students suits the students needs.
Recommendation
In view of the various factors that emerged from this study, the researcher made the following recommendations:
- The community at large should support construction of more school by providing land and lobour to reduce high enrollment rates in the existing schools in the Ngor Okpala local government of Imo state.
- The government should employ enough teachers so as to cater for the rising number of secondary school students in the District.
- The existing curriculum should be reviewed so as to cater for all the needs of secondary school students so as to adequately and favorably serve them by introducing subjects such as life skills.
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