The Effect Of Class Size And Over Popolation On The Academic Performance Of Secondary School Students

1.2  STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

According to the Federal Ministry of Education, as at 2004, the population of Nigeria secondary schools stood at one hundred and eighteen thousand, two hundred (118200) secondary schools while that of Imo state showed a total number of two hundred and five (205). Owerri Municipal council had about seven (7) secondary schools, with a population of Seven thousand, six hundred and fifteen (7615) students. This figure when compared with that of 1999 which was inclusive according to Federal Ministry of Education was very high because during that period, it was so in order to attract Federal Government attention. The present Nigerian population of secondary schools going by the above number is almost twenty one thousand, eight hundred and twenty eight (21828) secondary schools, with Imo state having three hundred and twelve (312) secondary schools and Owerri Municipal 9 government secondary schools. Over the years, there has been an increase in the population of students in urban secondary schools. This has been consistent, without the attendant increase in facilities, teachers and infrastructure, etcetera. With the decline in the quality of education and output, it therefore becomes imperative to find out whether the increase in population of students’ directly affect their academic performance and identify the causes of increase in population of students in government secondary schools in Owerri educational zone and what could be done to remedy the situation.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of this study is to ascertain the effect of class size and overpopulation on academic performance of government secondary students specifically, the study intends to:

1. Identify the students - teacher ratio in government secondary schools.

2. Identify the causes of increase in students’ population in government secondary school

3. Find out the impact of the increase in students population in government secondary schools on the academic performance of secondary school students

4. Make recommendations on how to curtail increase in students’ population.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

For the purpose of carrying out this research, the researchers intends to pose the following questions:

1. What is the student - teacher ratio in government secondary schools?

2.  What are the causes of increased students’ population in government secondary schools?

3. What are the impacts of the increase in population of students in government secondary schools on the academic performance of the students?

4. What measure has the government taken to put an end to overpopulation the school

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study will be of great benefit to the students, teachers, educational planners, government and society at large. For the students, it will motivate and increase their willingness to attend school and help improve their performance in school. To the teachers, it will help improve abilities of the teacher to manage the classroom efficiently because reduction in the number of students encourages teacher - students’ relationship and leads to effective and efficient academic performance. To the education planners, it will be a guiding material to enable them check the population of students in relation to the available schools to accommodate them. To the government, it will serve as a guide to identify the need to improve the infrastructure available for teaching and learning. The study will be of great significance to the society at large as it will help produce qualified citizens that will contribute positively to the growth of the society and it will also serve as a resource and reference material to future students.

1.6  SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study intends to cover all the schools in Imo state, Nigeria but due to financial and time constraint sample is take from one local government in Owerri, Imo state. the schools covered are: Government secondary school Owerri, Comprehensive Development secondary school Owerri ,  Emmanuel college Owerri , Government technical college Owerri , Ikenegbu Girls’ secondary school Owerri , Holy Ghost college Owerri, Owerri girls’ secondary school, Urban development secondary school Owerri , Boys’ secondary school New Owerri.

1.7 DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The main constraint that affected this research is limited time to complete the work, and insufficient fund to finance this project.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

OVERPOPULATION: the condition of being populated with excessively large numbers.

ACADEMIC: anything that relate to education

SECONDARY SCHOOL: the school in between basic school and college

PERFORMANCE: the result of a students is in his/her academic aim or goal

CLASS SIZE: refers to the number of students in a given course or classroom