DETERMINANTS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS IN OYO STATE

Abstract

The study examined home environment, school environment and attitude of government to academic performance of Biology students. These three factors were observed as determining factors of secondary school students performance in Biology in Oyo State, Nigeria. The aim of this research work is to confirm the importance of home environment, school environment and government attitudes toward academic performance of Biology students. Three research questions that were meant to guide the study were raised and three null hypotheses were formulated and tested at a 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a survey research design that is purely quantitative, using an adapted questionnaire that was administered to200 respondents randomly selected: parents, teachers, education officers and Biology students of senior secondary school two,in Oyo State, Nigeria. Data collected was analysed using mean rating and Chi-square. The findings of the study revealed that home environment, school environment and governments attitudes influenced the performance of secondary school students in Biology significantly. By implications, the high rate of failure or poor performance recorded among Biology students of secondary school in Oyo State, especially in the Senior School Certificate Examinations can be reduced. The study further recommended that adequate conducive environment should be provided at home and school. Also, government should provide physical resources and regular payment of teachers salaries in all secondary schools in Oyo state as these will reduce the failure rate in Biology, improve students performance in the subject and allow students to get the requirement for admission in Biology and related courses at the higher level of learning.