CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    Background to the Study

Education is widely regarded as a basic human right, a key to enlightenment, and a source of wealth and power (Mugenda and Mugenda, 1999). Education is critical to industrial and technological development, with the history of developed nations bearing records of this, developing nations aspiring to realize the same status have to put a premium.

According to Boit, Njoki and Chang’ach (2012), the purpose of education is to equip the individuals to reshape their society and eliminate inequality. In particular, secondary school education is an important sector in national and individual development. It plays a vital role in creating a country’s human resource base at a level higher than primary education (Achoka, Odebero, Maiyo and Mualuko, 2007).

Provision of quality secondary education is therefore important in generating the opportunities and benefits of social and economic development (Onsumu, Muthaka, Ngware and Kosembei, 2006). One of the indicators of quality of education being provided is cognitive performance of learners (UNESCO, 2005). Levin, Wasanga and Somerset (2011) reported that the academic performance of students at secondary school level is not only a pointer of the effectiveness of students but also a major issue that depends on teachers characteristics.

Yusuf and Adigun (2010) noted that the performance of students in any academic task has always been of special interest to the government, educators, parents and society at large. It has been proved that teachers have an important influence on students’ academic achievement. They 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, 2001).

Wright, Horn and Sanders (1997) posit that the most important factor influencing student learning is the teacher’s characteristics. Teachers stand in the interface of the transmission of knowledge, values and skills in the learning process. If the teacher is ineffective, students under the teacher’s tutelage will achieve inadequate progress academically (Lydiah and Nasongo, 2009). This is regardless of how similar or different the students are in terms of individual potential in academic achievement.

A teacher is the bridge that makes teaching and learning effective. The teacher is thus the builder whose performance depends on adequate qualification, gender, experience and preparation. This adequate knowledge and experience could be attained or achieved by acquiring additional knowledge that will stimulate his/her communication in teaching for efficiency (Oyedeji, 2000). That is, teachers’ attitude, personality, quality, effectiveness, academic qualification, experience and gender of a teacher enhance or determine his/her performance. It could also be noted that the level and quality of education attained by the teacher determines the characteristics exhibited vis-à-vis the performance of the students. Hence, this study investigates the effects of teachers’ characteristics on students’ academic achievement in Government.

1.2   Statement of the Problem

Several researchers have attempted to investigate the link between teacher’s characteristics andacademic achievement, leaving behind gaps that needed to be filled. Prior studies had different independent variables and were conducted in different contexts which justify the need for the proposed study.

Many schools whether public or private in Nigeria engage unqualified teachers and tutors who lack the requisite characteristics in terms of academic competence and training needed to transfer knowledge to their students. These teachers who ought to be the catalyst for learning and aiding academic performance in students have become a cog in the wheel of academic progress in the Nigerian educational system.

Parents while being worried by the under-achievement of their children and wards in the senior secondary school government often blame the school authorities for engaging under-qualified teachers, with little or no teaching experience.  It is against this backdrop that this research seeks to examine the effects of teachers’ characteristics on students’ academic achievement in government.

1.3   Purpose of the Study

The general objective of this study is to examine the effects of teachers’ characteristics on students’ academic achievement. Other specific objectives of this study are:

·        To explore the relationship between teachers qualifications and students academic achievement.

·        To find out the link between teachers’ gender, status and students’ learning outcomes.

·        To examine the effects of teachers’ experience and status on students’ academic performance in senior secondary.

1.4      Research Questions

The following questions were answered in the study:

1.      Does teachers’ qualification have any effect on students’ academic performance in government?

2.      What is the nexus between teacher’s gender and students’ learning outcomes in government?

3.Is teachers experience a significant predictor of students academic performance in senior secondary in government?

1.5   Research Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were tested in the study:

HO1There is nosignificant relationship between teachers qualifications and students academic performance in government.

HO2There is nosignificant effect of teacher’s gender on student learning     outcomes in government.

HO3  Teacher’s experience is not a significant predictor of students’       academic     performance in senior secondary school in government.