EFFECT OF INSECURITY OF SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

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EFFECT OF INSECURITY OF SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

The importance of education has been adequately discussed in many fora and in different literature (Nwanne- Nzewunwa, 2009; Ojukwu & Nwanma, 2015 and Ojukwu & Onuoha, 2016; Osanti, 2012). It is in realization of the importance of education of the child that the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in its 1999 constitution made a declaration of the right of every Nigerian child to education, irrespective of gender, tribe, religion or race. It makes sense to state that the lofty vision of education as enunciated in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria would be realized in a serene and conducive school environment. According to Lehr (2014), the noble goals of education can never be achieved in a vacuum. They would be achieved in a conducive and peaceful school environment. If there is a feeling of insecurity within and outside the school environment, both students and teachers are likely to be deterred and this may inhibit academic performance of the students.

The concept of school environment has been variously defined by various researchers (Miller & Cunnighan, 2011; Obi, Johnson & Lawani, 2004). According to Obi et al., (2004) school environment connotes all human and material resources available in the school, in which a child can see, hear, touch, smell, taste, feel and respond to. Also Miller and Cunnighan (2011) maintained that the issue of school environment is multi-dimensional. According to them it possesses the physical, social, and academic demons. They listed the physical dimension to include the appearance of school building and classrooms, libraries, laboratories, hostels, sporting games and recreational facilities. Others according to them include instructional materials, school size and ratio of student teacher in the classroom. Others are the order and organization of classrooms in the school, the position of chalk or whiteboard and the availability of resources to afford safety and comfort. They also listed the social dimension aspect to include the quality of interpersonal relationship between and amongst students, teachers and administrators, equitable and fair treatment of students by teachers and staff, the degrees of competition and social comparison amongst students and the degree to which students and teachers contribute to the decision making process of the school. Miller and Cunnighan (2011) also added that the academic dimensions of the school environment include the quality of instruction given to the students and the teachers expectations for good achievements from students. School environment or climate refers to the way students and staff feel about being at school each day. It could be conceived as settings in which young people can learn a sense of membership in and obligation to a group (Glew, Fan, Katon, Rivera & Kernic, 2005). In such environments and climates, we expect that people will be more concerned about fellow students and more inclined to dissuade them from engaging in behaviors that might endanger themselves or others. In this respect, Mcevoy and Werner, (2000) concluded that feelings of trust and respect for students and teachers influenced school environment and Glew et al., (2005) reported that improving student behavior and academic performance generally requires changing school climate. Also a sense of competency will often emerge in an environment that is fair and consistent which will in turn provide approximate academic support and expectations (Grifft, 1999). Besides, to support students’ sense of belonging, the school climate must demonstrate interest in individual students and include emotional support by teachers and other students (Way, Reddy & Rhodes, 2007). Empirical studies have suggested that student’s perceptions of academic support, behavior management, teacher social support, and peer social support are strongly associated with their behavioral adjustment (Wang, 2010). Academic support is the extent to which the school emphasizes and creates a supportive learning environment with huge academic expectations and many opportunities for reinforcement (Kuperminc, Leadbeater & Blatt, 2001). Students who perceive strong academic support in school are more likely to be accordingly motivated and have fewer behavioral problems (Wang, 2010). Conversely, students who experience repeated failures in academics are less inclined to perceive their school as academically supportive and may reduce their commitment to student roles and their motivation to perform well and increase school problem behavior (McEvoy & Werner, 2000).

Attention to the behavior management of students in public school has been shown to be associated with lower levels of problem behavior (Kuperminc et al., 2001). School behavior management involves the extent to which the school provides clear and consistent rules and discipline and adults treat students in a fair and equitable manner. Students who report that their schools establish, communicate, and enforce a fair discipline system with clear rules and consequences have fewer problem behaviors and avoid victimization (Griffith et al., 2000). In essence, the quality of interpersonal relationships in school including student teacher relationships and peer relationships may be an essential role in the development of student problem behaviors and academic performance. Students who perceive that teachers are supportive, responsive and care about them have better academic performance and fewer behavioral problems (Wang, 2010). It makes sense to state that school environment where the situations above are positive may impact positively on the academic performance of the students and vice versa. Hypothetically, therefore, the above environment will have a positive impact on the performance of students in schools (Ojukwu & Nwanma, 2015).

However, one of the major issues that seem to bother students, parents and stakeholders in Nigeria today is the academic performance of the students. According to Fehintola (2009), poor academic performance of students in internal and external examinations is one of the problems and challenges facing the educational system in Nigeria today. Education itself helps individuals to adapt to a new environment (Ojukwu, 2016). In Nigeria, education is seen as one of the means of getting to the top hierarchy in any endeavor. Thus, poor academic performance usually brings about sadness and frustration to the individual concerned and to his/her parents as well as other members of the family. As a matter of fact, it gives parents and students feelings of satisfaction and joy when children excel academically (Fehintola, 2009; Ojukwu, 2016).

Academic performance entails that students are required to maintain a satisfactory academic record and meet the obligations of the courses they are enrolled (Ojukwu, & Nwanma 2015). Academic performance is the outcome of education, the extent to which a student achieved the educational goals. Put in another way, good academic performance is the personal comportment and commitment of the student to actualize his/her academic purposes which may include concentrating on one’s studies, having confidence to success oriented academic activities in school and so in other to maximally actualize his life career or dream (Olofintoye, 2005).

Good or bad academic performance can make or mar the goals of a student’s life as well as the national goals and development. A good academic performance would bring about the motivation and enthusiasm the student needs to attain a high academic standing when compared with his/her mates. It brings about resilience and makes the student success-oriented (Morgan, 2002).

The performance of Imo State Secondary School students in external examinations such as the Senior Secondary School Certificate conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) appears to be poor, failing to meet the minimum learning requirements of acquiring basic skills and competence. Poor academic performance seems to be the order of the day as reflected in the students’ examinations. For example, the SSCE’S result for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 reveals that only 24.94%, 30.99%, 25.99%, 29.27% and 31.28% respectively of the candidates who sat for the examinations obtained five credits including Mathematics and English language which are required for admission into the Nigerian Universities.

Students’ poor academic performance has for some time been attributed to teachers’ ineffectiveness, poor intelligent quotient of the students and poor mental alertness of the students, with less or no reference to the effect of insecurity of the school environment and its related factors. Nevertheless, educators and psychologists have realized that many students perform poorly in their academic work not because they do not possess the mental ability to do well but because they may have been affected by the insecurity of the school environment. In this line, Ojukwu and Nwanma (2015) as well as Ojukwu and Onuoha (2016) have reported influenced respectively students’ behavior and their psychosocial adjustment.

The concept of insecurity connotes the state or quality of being insecure. Security in simple terms means protection of lives and properties from destruction. According to Onifode, Imhonopl and Uorim (2013) security is the dynamic condition which involves the relative ability of a state to counter threats to its core values and interest and their primary beneficiaries are the citizens. In addition, sharing the view Abraham Maslow, Iyenger (1977) stated that an insecure person perceives the world as a life threatening jungle, feels unsafe, unhappy, rejected, hostile, and pessimistic, shows a sign of tension, conflict and guilt, and tends to be neurotic and generally egocentric. It therefore seems that when a student studies in an environment that is characterized by insecurity, the student may suffer socially, mentally and emotionally and it makes sense hypothetically to state that all these are likely to affect not only his behavior and psychosocial adjustment but may also affect his academic performance.

According to Ojukwu and Nwanma (2015), insecure school environment, including the dilapidated conditions and teachers’ negative attitude to condone and accept the emotional needs of students, which will lead to undue influences and clashes of a local community interfering with school business. Also, they stated that in insecure school environments the psychological problems of the students are never met or carelessly handled, there are always segregations in the school community along religions, tribal and sectarian lines as students may ignore teachers’ directives and may also challenge the teachers on certain concepts and school properties may likely be deliberately damaged by the students to show their disapproval of managements decisions (Ojukwu & Nwanma, 2015).

Also Ojukwu and Nwanma (2015) reported that in a school environment characterized by insecurity, lateness is the norm in school and students are allowed to freely use handsets and phones. Annually, the external results of the school are always bad as a result of poor teaching climate of the school as having been shown by 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 WAEC results cited above. Other instances of insecurity of the school environment include that sometimes female staff and students complain of being raped or impregnated leading to school dropout (Ojukwu & Nwanma, 2015). Also, parents complain that their children are bullied and injured and the classrooms are overcrowded, poorly ventilated and lit (Ghazi, Shahzada, Tariq & Khan, 2013). The above painted school environment may most likely affect students’ academic performance.

The levels at which the afore-mentioned variables can positively or negatively interact with each other in the school environment will usually help to make or mar teaching and learning which may affect students’ performance. The end result is that it brings effectiveness in the classroom, enhances students’ cooperation and learning, promotes love and efficient planning by the school authorities where it is positive and vice versa where it is negative (Ojukwu & Nwanma, 2015 and Ojukwu & Onuoha, 2016). Again the negative impact of the above painted variables may help to encourage low academic performance. Because of the negative effect the insecurity of the school environment may have on the academic performance of the secondary school students, this study has become necessary. Therefore, the focus of this study is to examine the effect of insecurity of the school environment on the academic performance of secondary school students in Imo state. The researcher with his students had in previous researches investigated the influence of insecurity of school environment on the students behavior and psychosocial adjustments in Abia and Imo states (Ojukwu & Nwanma 2015; Ojukwu & Onuoha, 2016) respectively. This present study is in furtherance of the former studies in this regard. The result of the findings will help proffer possible solutions to the prevailing and nagging problems of academic performance by our adolescents and students.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Recently major stakeholders in Education such as government, industries, communities, parents, schools even students and many others have been lamenting over the poor quality of Nigerian students in both learning and character suggesting a poor academic performance. Researchers and authors have speculated reasons for the failure on the part of the Nigerian students in secondary schools including those in Imo state to acquire the necessary social, psychological and academic skills to cope with demands of life and living in and outside the school. Their findings and suggestions tend to point at those issues which tend to waste students’ time and then have false notions about true life situations. Others have focused on teaching and learning materials as well as students themselves. An area that seems to have been neglected by past researchers is the effect insecurity of school environment will have on the academic performance of the secondary school students. Educators have long emphasized that many students perform poorly in their academic work not because they do not possess the mental ability to do well. An area that seems to have been neglected by researchers is the issue of insecurity of the school environment and the effect it could have on the academic performance of the secondary school students.

According to Ojukwu and Nwanma (2015), since the inception of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, insecurity has become a major issue of concern to every citizen. On a daily basis the media has continued to highlight and discuss incessant cases of armed robbery, kidnapping, bombings, abductions, rape, cultic activities and a high rise in ethnic and communal clashes, which have become regular occurrences and have characterized life in Nigeria (Nwangwa, 2014). Media report are awash with the number of lives lost as a result of terrorist, insurgent and other attacks that seem to be alarming. As if some places in the country can be walled off from the negative impact of violence, our academic (schools) institutions have also become hot spots where cases of insecurity are recorded (Ojukwu & Nwanma, 2015). The main interest, motivation and problem of this study therefor is to investigate the effect of the insecurity of the school environment on the academic performance of secondary school students in Imo state.

Considerable attempts may have been made at researching on some variables or factors affecting students’ academic performance but little or none has focused on the effect of insecurity of the school environment on the academic performance of secondary school students. Also, given the wide ranging effects of students’ poor academic performance and its concomitant social and destructive emotional effects on the students, parents, society and the nation It is appropriate and should be a welcome development to investigate the effect of insecurity of the school environment on the academic performance of secondary school students with the view of proffering solutions for a better performance by students.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the study were to:

1. Determine the factors that constitute insecurity of the school environment that may influence academic performance.

2. Determine the effect of insecurity of the school environment on the academic performance of secondary school students in Imo state.

3. Determine the statistical significance of the difference between the environment of insecurity of rural and urban secondary schools in Imo state.

4. Investigate the statistical significance of the difference between male and female students academic performance due to insecurity of the school environment in Imo state.

1.4 Research Question

The following research questions were raised to guide the study.

1. What are the factors that constitute insecurity of the school environment t in Imo state?

2. What effect does school environment have on academic performance of secondary school students in Imo state?

1.5 Null Hypotheses

Insecurity of school environment does not significantly affect the academic performance of secondary school students in Imo state.

Ho1: There is no significant difference in the insecurity of the school environment between secondary schools in rural and urban areas in Imo state.

Ho2: There is no significant difference between male and female students’ academic performance due to the insecurity of school environment in Imo state.

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