Project – EXTRA MORAL CLASSES AND THEIR EFFECT ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL

Abstract

This study examines the Extra moral classes and their effect on students’ academic performance in Junior secondary school. Extra moral activities are regarded as essential services in school system. Studies suggest that access to extra moral activities lead to students’ academic success. Literature shows that the use of qualitative approach to investigate extra moral activities is limited. In view of the foregoing, this study examined the perceived influence of extra moral activities on students’ academic achievement in secondary schools. Three Hundred (300) principals and teachers were selected from some secondary schools in of Kaduna State using using random sampling technique. Instruments used include interview and observation methods to collect relevant data from the participants. Specifically, observation method was used to complement findings from interview. The findings reveal that extra moral activities influenced students’ academic performance. The findings also revealed that inadequate availability of extracurricular facilities and personnel are the factors militating against effective provision of extra moral activities. This study recommends that adequate extracurricular facilities (football pitch, volleyball court, hall for social activities, etc.) should be available in schools. Lastly, adequate extracurricular services personnel should be deployed to schools to ensure active participation of students in various activities.

 

 

 

 

                                          CHAPTER ONE

                                         INTRODUCTION

1.1Background to the Study

Extra moral activities provide an environment for student’s development of new skills and ideas that help them develop academic performance. Though the importance of extra-curriculum activity is overwhelming for the development of academic self-efficacy, the child requires a moderate level of participation to boost self-efficacy, rather than a greater commitment that might encroach into the time for academic work. Extra moral activities have long been recognized for contributing many ways to the enhanced school experience as well as to the increased social skills of students. Besides creating a school culture and promoting school spirit, extracurricular activities have been found to have a relationship with students’ academic performance development of responsibility discovering their abilities and interest, self-discipline and leadership skills.

Extra curriculumactivities are the services provided in school which participate   apart   from   the necessity of gaining a certificate. These extracurricular activities (i.e. sports and social activities)provide additional advantages forstudents to manage stress and grow the level of their skills, experiences, and functionality (Adeyemo, 2010; Ensturk, Demir, Yilmaz& Ihan, 2016). Extra moral activities experience has become an important component of student’s school life as many students engage in various activities that they cherish. Different activities, in which students engage, both inside and outside the school environment, are among the numerous situations or agents that can have an influence on academic performance.

Although the expectation of every parent and teacher is to see children do well academically, physically, socially, morally and otherwise. But recording academic success is not only based on the premise of hard work and determination, it also  depends  on  the  child’s  personal  traits  and  characteristics  needed  for  quality  learning.  One of the most important traits of a good learner is the belief in his capability and power to perform a given task. Unfortunately, the variance in students’ self-efficacy reveals a downward prediction in their academic success. Though students have desires, they do not believe in their potentials to bring these desires to reality, and find it difficult to tackle challenging situations.  Students with  poor  self-efficacy  find  it  difficult  to  carry  out  advance  extra-curricular activities because they lack confidence in themselves.

Poor self-efficacy has over the years been observed by the researchers  who  are  educators  and  classroom  teachers,  as  being  a  worrisome  trend  of  a  high  proportion  of secondary school students in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Observation in recent times has shown that students do not believe they are capable of performing academic responsibilities. They are poorly equipped and do not think they can face the complexities of routine activities in the school.Aspects of poor self-efficacy observed among students, include social self-efficacy, physical self-efficacy, academic self-efficacy, language self-efficacy and moral self-efficacy. Bekomson and Ntamu (2019) stated that most secondary school students find it difficult to recover their sense of efficacy after failing.The feeling of inadequacy make students procrastinate, while most of them  without  attempting,  already  feel  that  they  are  not  capable  of  handling  any  given  academic  task.Poor self-efficacy has become a major threat to effective school learning. Bekomson and Mgban (2019) worried that students’ lack of belief in their abilities could be the reason why they find it difficult to answer abstract questions during examination.

There has been a growing concern by researchers, psychologists, school counsellors, school administrators and parents who have over the years made several efforts to help students improve on their academic performance. Extra-curricular activities are  organized interest building activities or skills that students’  take  part outside their basic academic lessons like sporting activities, music lessons, dancing/singing lessons, chorography, drama, debate, quiz etc. while self-efficacy according to Bandura (2000) is an individual’s belief in his own ability to perform well, cutting across his feelings, thinking, behaviour and self-motivation. From the above definition, Burr (2012) contends that extra moral activities provide an environment for adolescent development of new skills and novel ideas that help them develop academic self-efficacy. He further argued that though the importance of extra curriculum activity is overwhelming for the development of academic self-efficacy, the child requires a moderate level of participation to boost self-efficacy, rather than a greater commitment that might encroach into the time for academic work.

Involvement in a schools extracurricular activity can be an important learning experience for secondary school students as clubs, library and debating club; youngthe school day (Millard, 1999). It was not until recently that “Educational practitioners and researchers have taken a more positive arguing that extracurricular activities may have positive effects on life skills and may also benefit academic accomplishment” (Marsh and Kleitman, 2002). It is obvious that extracurricular activities have an impact on academic performance and education ever since their inception.

1.2 Statement of the problem

The ultimate goal for every student is to achieve academically at the highest possible level, and participation in sports, competitions, and other extracurricular activities might help improve student achievement. Over the years the costs and effect of extracurricular activities have generated many studies and numerous debates in their relation to academic performance. Parents and school Personnel alike have had controversies on whether a great deal of time and money should be devoted to these activities especially in this time of tight budget. They believed that students should focus solely on a narrowly defined traditional in class instruction that impact academic performance. Educationists are interested in the relationship between academic performance and participation in extra moral activities implying that these activities do have some sort of influence on how students perform academically (Stephen and Schaben, 2002). Whether or not there is a relationship between students participation in school based extra moral activities and students’ performance in science subjectsis yet to be undertaken empirically. The above led to the present study.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The primary aim of this study was to determine the Extra moral classes and their effect on students’ academic performance in Junior secondary school. The sub-objectives are;

1. To examine the significant difference between students who participate in extra moral activities and students who do not participate in extracurricular activities in terms of their academic performance.
2. To ascertain the significant interaction between gender and participation in extra moral activities on student’s overall grade point average.

• To determine the influence of extra moral activities on academic achievements of student’s in science subjects.

1. To find out the relationship between student’s participation in extra moral activities in secondary schools and academic performance.

1.4 Research Questions

This study seeks to find answers to the following research questions:

1. Is there any relationship between student’s participation in extra moral activities in secondary schools and academic performance in science subjects?
2. Is there any significant influence of extra moral activities on academic achievements of student’s in secondary schools in Kaduna?
3. Is there any difference between students who participate in extra moral activities and students who do not participate in extracurricular activities in terms of their academic performance?
4. What role do teachers in secondary schools have to play in extra moral activities to aid academic performance?

1.5 Research Hypothesis

The researcher formulated the following hypotheses to be tested in the course of the study;

H₀:There is no relationship between student’s participation in extra moral activities in secondary schools and academic performance in science subjects.

H₁:There is a significant relationship between student’s participation in extra moral activities in secondary schools and academic performance in science subjects.

H₀: There is no significant influence of extra moral activities on academic achievements of student’s in secondary schools in Kaduna.

H₂: There is a significant influence of extra moral activities on academic achievements of student’s in secondary schools in Kaduna.

1.6 Significance of the Study

Generally, it is believed that the outcome of this study would add to the existing knowledge on the effect of extra moral activities in secondary schools. This study could be useful to the Ministry of Education and policy makers in formulation policies and strategies to effectively implement the introduction of extra moral activities in the schools so as to increase student’s academic performance. The findings of this study will motivate teachers who are often passive in extra moral activities to be actively involved from henceforth. This study will also encourage secondary school students who shy away from extra moral activities with the notion that it distracts learning to have a rethink towards such ideology. The findings of this study will form a basis for further researchers who might be interested in advancing this study.

1.7 Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study examines Extra moral classes and their effect on students’ academic performance in Junior secondary school. This research work focused on effect of on the academic performance of secondary school students in science subjects in Kachia and Zonkwa educational Zones of Kaduna state. The study covered 10 secondary schools offering science subjects in the mentioned Zones. The schools were selected based on geographical locations. The study was limited to government senior secondary schools only.In the cause of the study, the researcher encounters some limitations which limited the scope of the study;

Staff Reluctance: In most cases the staffs often feels reluctance over providing required information required by the researcher. This result in finding information where the structured questionnaires could not point out.

Researcher’s Commitment: The researcher, being of full time student spent most of her time on other academic activities such as test, class work, assignment, examination etc which takes average focus from this study.

Inadequate Materials: Scarcity of material is also another hindrance. The researcher finds it difficult to lay hands on several required material which could contribute immensely to the success of this research work.

Financial constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

1.8 Definition of Terms     

Effect: This is a result is the final consequence of a sequence of actions or events expressed qualitatively or quantitatively. Possible results include advantage, disadvantage, gain, injury, loss, value and victory

Extra moral activities:An extracurricular activity or extra academic activity is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Such activities are generally voluntary, social, philanthropic, and often involve others of the same age.

Academic Performance:Academic performance is the measurement of student achievement across various academic subjects. Teachers and education officials typically measure achievement using classroom performance, graduation rates and results from standardized tests.

Sport:Sport includes all forms of competitive physical activity or games which, (SportAccord, 2011) through casual or organized participation, at least in part aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants, and in some cases, entertainment for spectators

Dancing Competition: this is a competitive dance which is a popular, widespread activity in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles

School Club:School Clubs are curriculum-related and sponsored by district Schools. School clubs give students an opportunity to showcase and hone their talents and also prepare them for Intra School competitions, various club activities are conducted through the year. Club activities not only help students shape their personal interests and hobbies but also improve their leadership and social skills.

Students: a person undergoing a course of study and instruction at secondary school or in any tertiary institution.

Parents Teachers Association: this refers to an organization where the parents of the students and teachers in that particular school discuss matters affecting and concerning the school and as well as the students.

Project – EXTRA MORAL CLASSES AND THEIR EFFECT ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL