ABSTRACT

The study examined the effects of school location on academic performance Students in Nigeria. The purpose was to determine whether the geographical location has any impact on the achievement of the students in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. The design adopted for the study was an ex-post facto of survey type. The targeted population for the study was Senior Secondary III (SS III) Physics students of public secondary schools in Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti State, Nigeria. A total of one hundred and twenty (120) science students were used as samples for the study. The sample consisted of twenty (20) science students that were randomly selected from six (6) public secondary schools selected for the study. Computerized result sheets sent to each school by WAEC were collected on the 2010-2013 May/June West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSSCE) from all the selected schools for the study. The average of the scores of each candidates selected that formed the population of this study were computed in Biology Chemistry and Physics, these serves as the achievements in science. Three research hypotheses were formulated and analysed using t-Test statistical analysis at P< 0.05 level of significant. The findings showed that there was no statistical significant difference in the achievement mean scores of male and female students in the rural school areas and also there was no statistical significant difference in the achievement mean scores of male and female students in the rural school areas. The findings further revealed that there was statistical significant difference in the achievement mean scores of students in rural and urban school located areas. Conclusion and recommendations were also made in this paper.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

School is one of the social institutions that is responsible for the development and training of the mind and skill of man. It is also for the preparation of man for the challenges and responsibilities in the society at large. The importance of education has been well accentuated in all societies whether developed or developing; ancient or modern. It is as a result of this obvious truth that every country accords great emphasis to education both in terms of quality and access. In other for colonial government and the missionaries to have well trained Nigerians as either clerk, clergies, few secondary schools were established; but the increasing desire for salaried job and the acquisition of Western values forced the Nigerian government in post independent era to massively establish secondary schools both in urban and rural areas, Bloodsworth (1993). The role of secondary education in national educational system cannot be underscored. It is the intermediary level between the primary and tertiary education. As a conciliator, it absorbs the product of primary education, and serves as an input unit for tertiary education. As a midpoint in the pecking order of education, the quality of secondary education predicts, and tends to influence the standard of tertiary education and the level of literacy in the country.

In the light of the above, Pascarella and Terenzini (1991) attributed students’ academic performance to school environment. A school located in a rural area, they argue, will have all the characteristics of a rural environment; similarly, an urban school will have an environment-based activities peculiar to its environment but different from a rural location. Thus, as the school environment differs, the level of academic performance may also differ. The consequence is that the quality of education may not be even; and the national policy of education for a democratic, egalitarian society cannot be attained unsentimentally. It is against this background that this study is designed. The study examines school location and class size in relation to academic performance of students in public secondary schools in Rivers State. Determining the factors that negotiate academic performance in Nigerian schools is paramount to both government and educational administrators, Akinanumaju and Oriamalaye (1987).

Location of a market affects buying and selling, location of a church affects it attendance and participation, location of a hospital measures the extent to which it serves the needs of both the users and the operators. Believing the above as correct and undisputable reality, little wonder then whether the locations of schools also contribute to the academic performance of the students. This study is designed to investigate the characteristic factors of school environment and class size leading to high students’ academic performance. Studies by Walberg (1992) reported that there are positive relationships between school variables such as class size, teacher-pupil ratio and performance in examination. Urban schools that are large in class size and higher teacher-student ratio recorded poor performance. Many teachers carry excessive teaching load and thereby, exceed the generally accepted teaching load of 32 hours per week. Urban schools with smaller class size and lower teacher-student ratio performs better in public examination. There is no clear agreement on the dividing line between small and large schools, Thomas (1992). One might note that the term ‘small’ has no concrete numerical limits, Monk (1988). Gottfredson (1985) uses national secondary school survey data to identify relationship, among school size, school disorder, and many other school variables and students characteristics.