EFFECTS OF BOARDING AND DE-BOARDING ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SENIOR SECONDARY STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1      BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

            Secondary school level is the bridge between the primary and tertiary levels. The importance of secondary education as outlined by the federal government stated that the broad aim of secondary education is preparation for useful living within the society and for higher education. The underlying principle here is that the secondary schools should be able to provide quality secondary education to all those who can benefit from it. (Federal Ministry of Education, 2004)

            Students’ academic achievement is greatly affected by the area in which a student’s lives. Reasons for the variations in achievement are geographic locations, resources, availability of technology and quality of teachers. The National Education Association (2013) asserts that the low performance of students in schools is becoming alarming and needs to be addressed.  However, in some cases the type of school affects the academic performance of students.

            Nigerian secondary schools are a combination of boarding and de-boarding (day) students. Boarding students are students that reside in the schools while day students usually come to school every morning to receive lectures and hereafter return to their homes after school session. However, the debate on the most appropriate or suitable for students is still on and has not reached a consensus. Some schools of thought maintain that the de-boarding is better than boarding schools and vice-versa. 

            Recent research has shown that secondary schools are not living up to expectation in discharging its obligations. Omoregie (2005) lamented the products of today’s secondary system can neither usefully live in the society nor move into higher institution without their parents’ aid or forgery. It must be stressed that education cannot be an instrument par excellence for achieving national development where the secondary education is not effectively managed to accomplish its aims and objectives.

            According to Ajayi (2002) and Omoregie (2005), secondary education in Nigeria is riddled with crises of various dimensions and magnitude all of which combine to suggest that the system is at crossroad. This crisis usually affects the academic performance of students in the schools thereby the aims and objectives of secondary education are not being attained. It is based on this background that the study seeks to determine the effects of boarding and de-boarding on the academic performance of senior secondary school students in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State.

1.2      STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

            There has been a decline in the general academic performance of senior secondary school students in Nigeria. The poor achievement of students in science and arts subjects is very discouraging. According to Okeke (1997), the teaching of science concepts to pupils have over the years posed a challenge to teachers. The author observed that the poor performance is unfortunate and largely due to the methodology employed by many teachers, type or nature school, school location and also school type affects the performance of students in secondary schools.

             Most importantly, the type of school either a boarding or day school usually affects the students’ performance.  Students in day and boarding school perform poorly in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations. Following this trend, these students often experience challenges in gaining admission into tertiary institutions for further studies. In the light of the above statement, the researcher intends to provide empirical evidence on the effects of boarding and de-boarding on the academic performance of senior secondary school students in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State.

1.3    PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

            The aim of this study is to examine the effects of boarding and de-boarding on the academic performance of senior secondary school students in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State. Specifically, the study intends to achieve the following objectives.

1.      To ascertain the nature and cause of poor academic performance of senior secondary school students.

2.      To identify the extent to which boarding school affects the academic performance of senior secondary school students.

3.      To determine the extent to which de-boarding affects the academic performance of senior secondary school

4.      To determine if a difference exists  between mean performance of boarders and day male students

5.      To ascertain the difference between mean performances of boarders and day male students

6.      To ascertain the difference between mean performances of boarders and day female students

1.4     RESEARCH QUESTIONS

      The following questions will serve as a guide to the study.

1.      What are the causes of poor academic performance of senior secondary school students?

2.      To what extent does boarding school affects the academic performance of senior secondary school students.

3.      To what extent does de-boarding affects the academic performance of senior secondary school

1.5      RESEARCH THPOTHESES

      The following hypotheses to be tested are formulated thus.

Ho1 There is no significant difference in the mean score performance of boarders and day students

Ho2 There is no significant difference in difference between mean performances of male boarders and day students

Ho3There is no significant difference between mean performances of female boarding and day students

1.6     SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

             It is expected that the findings of this research will be of great benefit to the newly developed geography curricular designed for students with visual impairment.  The following persons with visual impairment will benefit from the findings of this study:

1.      The findings of this study will enable the National Council on Education (NCE) to that appropriate school systems (day and/or boarding) are encourages in the public and private sectors in the society.

2.      It is expected that the findings of this research study will be of benefit to school administrators to ensure appropriate and proven practices that will ensure improvement in academic performance of students.

3.      Curriculum developers will use the findings of this study to develop new programmes and subjects into the school curriculum that will benefit all students irrespective of the system of school they attend e.g. boarding, day, mixed and single sex.

4.      Secondary school learners will be able to use the findings of the study to  make appropriate decisions on the  school type to attend and also best learning practicesto adopt in facilitating learning.

5.      This study will pave way for Educational researchers to carry out studies on the advantages and disadvantages of de-boarding and boarding.

6.      Senior Secondary school teachers will benefit from this study as it will pave way and bring to limelight acceptable practices in schools that will enhance students’ performance e.g. counseling, disciplinary measures etc.

1.7     DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

            This study is limited to the effects of boarding and de-boarding on the academic performance of senior secondary school students in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State. The academic performance of students in boarding and day secondary schools will be ascertained. More so, their performance based on gender will also be determined. The study comprises of teachers and students of Government Secondary School Wase (boarding) and Government  Secondary School Ilirim (day) in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State.

1.8  OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Senior secondary school: is the last three year education programme for students who transits from the junior secondary school to the secondary school.

Senior secondary school students: These are students that in their last three years in any secondary school programme.

Boarding students: Refers to students that are in the non-residential system of education where they are expected to take lectures and leave for their homes each day.  They are also referred to as day students.

De-boarding/Day students: Refers to students who are not in the residential system of education. Students receive lectures and school and return to their homes each day after school

Boarding school: refers to students who are in the residential system of education. Students receive lectures and school and stay in the school throughout the session. They only return to their homes during holidays.                                                                                                   

Day school: Refers to schools where students comes school every morning and go home every day after school unlike the boarding school.

Academic performance: Refers to the general average achievement of students in various subjects in the school.

Teaching strategies: This is also referred to as instructional strategies and it is the teaching style/methods adopted of giving instructions to facilitate learning