ADMINISTRATIVE FACTORS INFLUENCING STUDENTS ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AT PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS

1.1 Introduction

Schools, colleges and universities have no worth without students. Students are most essential asset for any educational institute. The social and economic development of the country is directly linked with students’ performance. The students’ performance (academic achievement) plays an important role in producing the best quality graduates who will become great leader and manpower for the country thus responsible for the country’s economic and social development (Ali et al, 2009). Performance in public schools is something which everyone expects to be of higher quality because of the roles the sector plays to provide service to the community, on the other hand those who failed to perform better cannot contribute well to the human resources because they don’t have skill needed. Despite of its importance, this has not been implemented effectively thus, many public schools still lack improved performance. The inculcation of academic knowledge, skills, abilities and proficiency among the individuals is enhanced through learning and academic performance. In secondary schools, there are numerous factors that contribute an important part in enhancing the academic performance of students. The academic performance determines the future goals and objectives of students.

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.

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1.2 Background of Study

The education system as a social organization has numerous sub-systems or levels that are managed to ensure some coherence and continuity. To successfully achieve this, records must be safely kept and managed. Egwumyega, (2005) suggested that not all information can be considered as records until they satisfy such characteristics geniueity and authenticity, that is the information that the records given must be time, correct, and original, records must be comprehensive available, accessible and secured. There is a growing body of literature from researchers and educationists which have made an attempt to examine the relationship between education management and students academic performance (Orodho, 2014; UNESCO, 1999; United Nations, 2013; Waweru & Orodho, 2014).

The results reveal rather spurious relationship (Waweru & Orodho, 2014). However, what is clear is that educational management in secondary schools (either private or public) involves the application of management principles in designing, developing and effecting resources towards achievement of educational goals (Okumbe, 2001). The pressure of the parents and other individuals upon teachers and school administrators to improve the academic performance has enabled schools to come up with advanced strategies. These include, promoting extra- classes for students, introducing effective teaching-learning methods and instructional strategies, using technology, rewarding students for good performance serves as a motivating factor and when they achieve low grades, than they usually tend to work more to make improvements (Nyagosia, 2011). When teachers implement the strategies for rewarding good performance, then they would be motivated to study and improve their academic performance. Secondary school students usually belonging to upper class and wealthy families are aware and aspire to have a good career.

This effectiveness according to UNESO (2009) is judged by the extent to which schools generally meet the expectations of the society within which they are established. Since independence, the Nigerian government has demonstrated commitment to the provision of quality secondary school education through allocation of financial resources, provision of trained teachers and establishment of quality assurance department. The government of Nigeria has also put in place a guideline for the establishment of private secondary schools and has continually monitored the activities of secondary school owner with a view to ensure compliance with the set standard and the guidelines.

According to Ohba (2009), shortage of teachers, lack of basic facilities, community interferences, poor teaching methodology and administrative related factors such as poor management of school resources have been noted as some of these factors that are militating against the effectiveness of private schools in Nigeria which has continued to have negative effects on the student's academic performance. Many private secondary schools in Nigeria lack infrastructural facilities, good teachers and are managed by unqualified proprietors.

As a matter of fact, many private secondary schools have turned to “miracle center” where students are helped to write external examinations because the students are not prepared, don't have the requisite knowledge and confidence to face external examination like the senior secondary examination and the junior secondary examination. Literature related to school based strategies employed by school managers to improve students' academic performance has revealed mixed and contrasting range of results (Croninger & Lee, 2001; Zepeda, 2004; Fullan, 1991; Lamb, 2007 ; Waweru & orodho, 2014; World Bank, 2008).

Croninger and Lee (2001) reported that the degree of teacher caring and interaction with students reported by both parents and teachers has a significant impact on performance. In a review of effective schools in the US, Croninger and Lee (2001) found evidence that schools with a common sense of purpose and strong communal organization involving collegial relationships among staff and positive adult student relationships are efficient in promoting a range of academic and social outcomes reflecting students' engagement and commitment.

This is a failure because the graduates of this grade do not qualify in most careers for further education and training. It is apparent that various intertwined factors could be responsible for this poor performance in the local government. This background prompted the undertaking of this study on examination of management strategies factor and its influence on students' academic performance in private secondary schools in Port Harcourt Local Government Area in Rivers State, Nigeria.

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1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that Nigeria has put different policies for both private and public secondary schools in place to make education accessible, improve transition, quality, completion and retention rates to all her citizens. Some of these policies included decent infrastructural facilities (good classroom, library, laboratories, toilets etc.), health facilities, sports and recreational facilities. Despite this intervention, the problem of low performance persisted in schools especially in some private secondary schools that are characterized with poor qualities of facilities and teachers leading to high rate of indiscipline and poor academic performance of the students.

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1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the Administrative Factors Influencing Students Academic Achievement at Private Secondary Schools using Port Harcourt Local Government Area in Rivers State, Nigeria as a case study. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To examine the role of management in the operation of private secondary schools;
2. To determine the other factors that influences the academic performance of private secondary school student; and
3. To identify the influence of management factor on the academic performance of private secondary school students in Port Harcourt Local Government Area in Rivers State.

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1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• What is the role of management in the operation of private secondary schools?
• What are the other factors that influence the academic performance of private secondary school student?
• What is the influence of management factor on the academic performance of private secondary school students in Port Harcourt Local Government Area in Rivers State?

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1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: Management factor do not influence private secondary school student's academic performance in Port Harcourt Local Government Area in Rivers State.
• H1: Management factor do influence private secondary school student's academic performance in Port Harcourt Local Government Area in Rivers State.

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1.7 Significance of Study

The following are the significance of this study:

1. The outcome of this study will educate the general public and the government on the quality of management of private schools in Nigeria with a view of identifying the shortfalls and preferring solutions to them.
2. This research will be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of the effect of personality trait on student's academic performance, thereby constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.

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1.8 Scope of the Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Administrative Factors Influencing Students Academic Achievement at Private Secondary Schools using Port Harcourt Local Government Area in Rivers State, Nigeria as a case study.

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1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
3. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
4. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).