A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN WAEC AND NECO CHEMISTRY

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN WAEC AND NECO CHEMISTRY

 

ABSTRACT

This study presents the findings of the relationship between students’ achievement in Chemistry conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO) in four selected secondary schools in Enugu North Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria. The analysis showed that there is a significant positive relationship between chemistry in all the selected schools contrary to the hypothesis that says there is no relationship between WAEC and NECO chemistry results in the schools. It is therefore recommended that students should develop more interest in sitting for either of the two examinations since they produce equivalent results.

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page    –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         i

Approval page –     –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         ii       

Certification –        –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         iii      

Dedication – –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         iv

Acknowledgement –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         v

Abstract –     –         –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         vi

Table of contents – –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         vii

 

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

Background of the study –          –         –         –         –         –          –         –         1

Statement of the problem –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         3

Purpose of the study –      –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         4

Significances of the study –        –         –         –         –         –          –         –         5

Scope of the study –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         5

Research questions –        –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         6

Limitations –          –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         6

 

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Teachers’ perception of the conduct of external examination           –         –         8

The external examination bodies in Nigeria             –         –          –         –         13

External examination and assessment           –         –         –          –         –         17

 

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research design               –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         24

Area of the study   –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         24

Population of the study    –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         24

Sample and sampling techniques         –         –         –         –          –         –         24

Instrument for data collection    –         –         –         –         –          –         –         25

Method of Data analysis –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         26

Decision rule         –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         27

 

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA

Research question 1         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         28

Research question 2         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         29

Research question 3         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         31

 

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Discussion of findings     –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         36

Educational implication   –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         38

Recommendation   –         –         –         –         –         –         –          –         –         39

Summary and conclusion –        –         –         –         –         –          –         –         41

References

Appendix

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Scientists and researchers like Oyekan (1999) saw science and technology as basic tools for industrial and national development. These if properly harnessed could bring about economic and social happiness by providing and improving the welfare of the citizenry. Consequently, the teaching and learning of science have become a great concern to scientists and researchers.

As people think about the teaching and learning of science in our schools, the picture of the state of Science and Technology in a country like Nigeria becomes glaring. This was expressed in the annual conference proceedings of the Science Teachers Associations of Nigeria (STAN) in 1998 on the theme “winning more students for Science and Technology”. This theme came as a result of poor performance by students in science examinations. This poor performance often resulted in poor enrolment of students in science at secondary and tertiary institutions.

The poor performance of students could be attributed to a number of reasons including poor participation of students and poor level of exposure in the practical aspect of science especially Chemistry. Agbo and Mankilik (1999) quoted the then Minister of Education in Nigeria as saying that the performance of students in the sciences was not encouraging despite the huge amount of money expended on the purchase of science materials and equipment. Dajili (2001) also expressed his concern about the poor performance of students in science examinations. This concern arose from the increasing realization that the nation could not develop as rapidly as she aspired to without adequate tools of scientific and technological man power at all levels in her working populace. He (Dajili, 2001) maintained that the state of science at the secondary school level was very important. This is because the performance at this level determines the quality and quantity of intake into the tertiary institutions in the country. This is why the performance in science examinations at this level as observed by Agbo and Mankilik (1999) and Dajile (2001) should be investigated.

 

Measuring of academic performance of students is challenging since student performance is the product of socio-economic, psychological, and environmental factors. Education ought to be growing as a profitable industry with the prime objective of maximizing profit by delivering high-quality education that produces well-educated, skilled-mannered students according to the needs and requirements of the dynamically growing market. There are two groups of students as generally perceived, that is those who improve and those who don’t improve. Students’ performance is also affected by different factors such as learning abilities because the new paradigm about learning assumes that all students can and should learn at higher levels but it should not be considered as a constraint because other factors like race, gender, and sex can affect students performance Hansen (2000).

          Mishae (2001) explained the effect of age, qualification and distance from learning. Place on the student’s performance in his explanation concerns the readiness to do a particular discipline in the school; for instance, a student that is not capable of doing sciences in secondary school joins sciences because his/her friends are offering the subjects.  Winston et al  (2002)  added that the academic performance of students is also coined in the student’s impatience (this time discount behavior).  Yuonne (1998) further elaborated that students’ academic performance is very much dependent on SEB (socio-economic background) as per his statement, secondary school students’ performance has statically significant differences. Alexander (2001) explained that some of the practices adopted by secondary school administration can also influence their academic performance, such practices as organized study groups, debate clubs, media and culture clubs, etc.

          According to Bello Lawel, an Abuja-based educationist a member of the All Nigeria committee of Principals of secondary school (ANCOPSS). The truth is that the reading culture in Nigeria is generally poor. To make it worse, these days, mot of our students hardly read. Instead they waste their precious time watching televisions or films, listening to music, playing to music, playing video/computer games.

 

Another educationist Mohammed (2009) attributed the dismal performance on the external examinations to the lackadaisical attitude of the government and its refusal to adequately fund the education sector. According to him, on several occasions, we clamored for improved budgeting allocation to the education sector but all these have fallen on deaf ears. For instance, UNESCO recommends that 26 percent of any country’s budget should be allocated to the education sector but instead, what do we have in Nigeria?

The West African Examination Council (WAEC) for a number of decades has been the only examination body in this country especially for ordinary level examinations. Many concerns have been expressed by many concerned citizens on students’ failure especially in Chemistry. In the year 2000, the Federal Government of Nigeria came up with another examination board referred to as the “National Examination Council” (NECO). Is this new body efficient in its work? What about students’ performance if compared with that of WAEC? Is there any relationship between WASSC Chemistry results and NECO Chemistry results? These are some of the questions that shall beans asked during this research.

This study presents the findings of a study of the relationship between students’ achievement in Chemistry conducted by the West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and the one by the National Examination council (NECO), in selected secondary schools in Enugu North Local Government Area. It is a fundamental statement nowadays that we are in the age of science and technology and Nigeria has also imbibed the idea. The school curricula thus emphasized science subjects of which chemistry takes a higher rank. (Amini, 1997)

The suggestions and recommendations in this study will go a long way in determining which examination body should be preferred by the schools or students based on the results of the analysis.

 

Statement of the problem

Recently, there has been a lot of mounting public criticism of the fallen standard of education in the media and public places even though there has not been available or little data to back up this statement. There has also been criticism against NECO. Some even say their questions are tougher than those of WAEC. Some universities that once rejected NECO results now accept it. Many privately owned secondary schools now register their students for NECO. One of the reasons could be that WAEC and NECO have the same syllabus and each has a regulatory body. So, their results should be equivalent.

The importance of chemistry in studying science has long been recognized world-wide. Now that there are two major examination bodies, is there any relationship between students’ achievement in both examinations concerning chemistry? If there is, how strong or weak is it?

 

Purpose of the study

Based on the background and the problem of this study, the main purpose underlying the project is to compare the academic performances of the Senior secondary school students in Chemistry in external Examinations from 2003-2007. (A case study of Enugu North Local Government Area, Enugu State) specifically, the purpose of the study is to find out:

1. Why there is poor performance of students in external examinations
2. How students perform in external examinations
3. How did students perform in Chemistry in External Examination and when compared, which one among the listed did perform better than others?

Significance of the study

          The usefulness of the research work in the educational system cannot be over-emphasized if the result of the study is properly utilized. It is going to be a benefit to the students, teachers, parents, and government. This would help to provide some information for curriculum designers and classroom teachers to utilize relevant approaches to enhance meaningful learning and teaching of Chemistry. Thus, the knowledge of students’ cognitive styles and attitudes would be instrumental in both academic and career enhancement.

Scope of the study

          The study was based on the Senior secondary school students performance in external examinations in Chemistry in Enugu North Local Government Area, Enugu State. This specifically covers the following Senior secondary schools;

1. New Layout Secondary school
2. Days Secondary School Independent Layout
3. Government secondary school Enugu
4. Coal Camp Secondary School, Enugu

The schools mentioned above are used in this research work for better coverage and easy assessment.

Research questions

The following research questions were formulated to guide the study. These questions are:-

1. What are the causes of poor performance of students in external examinations?
2. In what ways can the performance of students in external examinations be improved?
3. How do students perform in external examinations in Chemistry and which of the three subjects did they perform better on?

Limitations of the study

For a proper project research to be carried out effectively, there should be some limitations along the line, these limitations include:

Time Constraint: This is the time consumed by students carrying out a particular project research topic.

First and foremost, for a student to achieve his or her goals on a project research, there should be an effective plan on how the materials needed can be obtained.

And this will be actualized by proper research which might involve moving from one place to another in search of these materials. By so doing time is consumed.

On the other hand, some students in a particular group may be giving excuses that the time fixed is not suitable for them, and some may complain that they usually do their domestic work for their parents during the project research exercise, which may demand all attention.

To balance the equation there should be proper plans on time management.

Money: This involves the money needed for the project to be carried out in a situation whereby the money needed becomes high, some students in a group will be affected and this may hinder their chances of participating and finally terminate their work since nothing good comes easy without money.

Difficulty Experiences: This is the experience we encountered in our group. Since everybody has his/her character coupled with an individual schedule for daily activity, things can never be done at the same time. Therefore, the schedule for a particular group to carry out their project research varies.

Insincerity in responding to questionnaire items: this is the inability of the supervisor to explain properly the most essential things needed and how he wants the project to be done. The project writer may find it difficult to cope.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN WAEC AND NECO CHEMISTRY. GET MORE CHEMISTRY EDUCATION TOPICS AND MATERIALS

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