CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Education is seen in Nigeria as an instrument par excellence for effecting national development. As such, education is expected to be of high quality in order to produce sound and quality products that can contribute to the growth of the national economy. The quality of education in Nigeria as a nation could be determined by the quality of her teachers. The most important factor in improving students’ academic achievement in school is by employing seasoned qualified teachers in all schools (Abe & Adu, 2013). Academically qualified teachers refer to those who have academic training as a result of enrolment into educational institution and obtained qualifications in various areas of endeavour such as HND, B.Sc, B.A, and Master of Art (M.A.) and so on; while professionally qualified teachers are those who got professional training that gave them professional knowledge, skills, techniques, aptitudes as dierent from the general education. They hold degrees like, B.Ed, B.Sc. Ed, B.A. Ed, and M.Ed degrees and so on. Stakeholders of education especially parents as well as the entire society are now clamouring for quality in the education system which may be as a result of the perceived poor quality products turned out from the institutions on yearly basis. The quality of the products of education is part of that accountability (Oladokun, Adebanjo & Charles-Owaba, 2008). Education imparted through quality instruction is not only for good grades alone but also for the acquisition of the right values, skills and competences to make an individual a useful member of the society. For education to achieve its aim, it must have high quality which should not only consist of passing examinations (which is usually the first priority) but should also include the acquisition of skills (in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains) through improved schools’ ability to facilitate and support the work of teachers and students. The school can only achieve this loy objective through the use of the services of qualified teachers who have all it takes to give quality instruction through interaction with students in the teaching-learning situation. Muhammad, Rashida, Riat and Fayyaz (2011) who found out that there was no much difference in the quality of teachers of schools with higher academic achievement and that of the schools with lower academic achievement.

However, Daso (2013) in a study had found out that there was a significant relationship between teachers’ method of teaching, teachers’ attitude and students’ achievement in mathematics. Secondary school education is a very critical level of educational system because this is the bedrock on which higher education is built, as the foundation of whatever a child wants to become in life academically is laid here. It is sad to note that the academic performance of students at this level is very poor all over the country in Nigeria (Adebule, 2011). The quality of secondary school leavers has continued to deteriorate each year and a practical example is the 2014 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) where only 31.28% of the candidates that sat for the examination had 5 credits in five subjects and above including English Language and Mathematics (WAEC, 2014). It is the craving to succeed and avoid the frustration and embarrassment associated with failure that makes students engage in examination malpractices which have threatened the very foundation of our educational system. This may not be unconnected with the quality of teachers we have in the educational system. This has an adverse eect on the quality of instruction because no educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers (Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), 2011). The most important person in a school setting is the teacher and he is the pivot of the education process. The teacher is the most important person in the entire education programme and he can make or mar the best educational programme in the world. Education therefore is what teachers make of it.

Thus, competent, devoted and professionally qualified teachers are part of essential foundation for a good education system. In other words, the attainment of national objectives for the adequate preparation of students for their examinations and achievement of educational objectives depend largely on quality teachers. Uche (2012) in a study indicated that the students rated the quality of the academic sta high, especially in terms of professional competence, but rated their supervision low. In view of the above, and in order to improve teacher quality, it is necessary that eorts are made to provide adequate and functional educational services for teachers. These services should include the provision of e-library services, distance learning programmes, in-service training, teachers’ resource centres services and the promotion of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). These services tend to facilitate the implementation of the educational policy, the attainment of policy goals and the promotion of effectiveness of the educational system. Taking a critical look at the secondary schools in Jalingo Metropolis, the non-availability of these services has adversely aected the quality of teachers in the schools. The staffing position in many secondary schools has been of great concern to many researchers and other educational stakeholders.

The teaching personnel in Nigeria’s secondary schools are not only inadequate but also professionally-unqualified as observed by the researchers. This may be very similar to what is obtainable in secondary schools in other parts of Taraba State. However, this work was limit to teacher quality. It has been rumoured among a large number of people that teachers in public secondary schools are more academically qualified than teachers in the private schools. Meanwhile, parents continue to take their children or wards to the private schools for those who can aord the tuition. The reason oen adduced is that the quality of teaching in the private schools are better than those in public schools and also that the academic performance of students in private schools is better than that of their counterparts in public secondary schools. This is a major gap this study was to cover.

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

Teaching is a career that provides challenges, excitement, personal reward and chance to encourage and support others to achieve their goals Johnson, Kahle and Fargo (2007).Good teachers work with their colleagues, parents, other professionals and community members to inspire their students to learn. Through the rigorous training teachers go through during their pre-service training, they acquire qualities such as strong knowledge in particular subject areas, patience, good sense of humour etc. These qualities are essential to ensure a permanent change in students’ behaviour.

With such qualities, teachers are expected to motivate and encourage students to study hard to improve the standard of education. Since one of the purposes of education is the acquisition of knowledge and skills, students’ performance aer graduation can be seen as a reflection of their performance in school. This also borders on the quality of human and material resources which are available during their schooling. For many years, educators and researchers have debated on which of the school variables that influence students’ performance (Asikhia, 2010; Ayodele & Ige, 2012). As policy-makers become more involved in school reform, greater attention is given to the role teachers’ quality plays on students’ performance. These are pointers to problems in quality and this raises the question of whether quality instruction is given to students. Also, one wonders if the stakeholders in education are doing what is expected of them. The question then is does that mean the qualities teachers’ possess do not impact positively on their students’ performance? If that is the case, what might have been the possible causes? This study sought to determine the relationship between the quality of teachers and the academic performance of the students in Jalingo Metropolis.