Abstract: The research was conducted on School Location and Academic Performance of Pupils in English Language in Primary Schools. Survey research design was adopted in carrying out the study. The population of the study consisted of 3561 primary four (Pr. 4) pupils in 34 public primary schools in the Area. The sample of this study consisted of two hundred primary four (Pr. 4) pupils from ten public primary schools selected through simple random sampling technique. Two instruments were used for the collection of data for the study. These were a oral interview and the pupils’ raw scores in English Language in the First Terminal Examination of 2017/2018 academic session in primary four classes. The data collected were analyzed using t-test statistics.
School Location and Academic Performance of Pupils in English Language in Primary Schools
The results showed that there is a significant difference in the academic performance of pupils in urban and rural primary schools in English Language; also that there is no significant difference in the academic performance of male and female pupils in urban and rural primary schools. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the Head Teachers should ensure that enough facilities are provided in the schools for effective teaching and learning and consequently improvement in the academic performance of pupils irrespective of the location and gender of the pupils.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
It is universally accepted that education enables individuals to contribute to the development and improvement in the quality of life for themselves, their communities and the nation as a whole. Primary education is no doubt the foundation of education and has prominently been regarded as a fundamental human right in Akwa Ibom State for every child. It is an essential component of human capital and it plays an important role in economic growth and development of a country. Primary education, therefore, remains an important area that should be carefully managed. In Akwa Ibom State, the government has put up measures to ensure all public primary schools have all the required physical facilities, instructional materials among other variables that may lead to effective teaching-learning process.
Education at the primary school level is supposed to be the bedrock and the foundation towards higher knowledge in secondary and tertiary institutions. It is an investment as well as an instrument that can be used to achieve a more rapid economic, social, political, technological, scientific and cultural development in a country. School can only carry out such function when the location of the school is made conducive for such role. The need to motivate pupils and increase the academic performance in schools has led to researchers like Akpan (2017) to identify the range of variables in the school that could affect the academic performance of pupils. Such major school variables to be considered according to Ajayi (2014) is school’s location which determine the physical surroundings such as the classroom facilities, libraries, technical workshops, laboratories, teachers quality, school management, teaching methods, peers and buildings.
The location of the school whether urban or rural school location may affect pupils’ academic performance either positively or negatively depending on the facilities and standard of teachers available in the school. Hence the school location remains an important area that should be studied and well managed to enhance the academic performance of pupils. The participation of pupils in school depends on the location of the school and the facilities within the school compound. The structure of their classroom, availability of instructional facilities and other accessories which may be determined by location of the school influence the pupils’ academic performance.
A well-planned school should be geared towards expected outcome of pupils’ education, and well facilitated good social, political and economic emancipation. This seems not to be easily achievable if the school environment is not the one that supports the pupils’ participation in the teaching/learning process. This therefore formed the background to investigate school location and academic performance of pupils in primary schools in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area.
School Location and Academic Performance of Pupils in English Language in Primary Schools
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The Government of Akwa Ibom State commitment to education is noted from Akwa Ibom State Child Right Law (2008) in Lazarus (2014) which guarantees every learner the right to free quality and relevant primary to secondary education. These efforts are mostly noticeable to be effective in the urban areas where there are several economic activities encouraging the pupils to go to schools and the rural areas are faced with certain backdrops were children still fail to attend school on a regular basis.
Similarly, schools in the some areas in the State have facilities such as library and cyber cafes which may assist the pupils to learn effectively while other areas such as the rural areas do not have these facilities and these may influence the teaching/learning process. These therefore motivated the researcher to ask “could the location of the school influence the academic performance of pupils?” The quest to provide answer to this question motivated the researcher to find out the difference in academic performance of pupils in difference school locations in Primary schools in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area.
