COMPLETE PROJECT-THE EFFECT OF OVERPOPULATION ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

With increasing population, the number of school going children is increasing much faster than the number of schools is increasing. The death of good schools and the greed of school authorities are filling up classrooms to the brim. Numbers of people complain about their children going to schools where children’s sit in classes where there is no place to keep chairs and tables.

Education plays a very important role in shaping the life of any citizen in his or her communities which he/she find him/her self. The school or learning to be environment must be conducive for learning to be effective, in other words, conducive environment assist students in their academics and pave way to learn. The classroom is the heart of any educational system. No curriculum planning is complete without implementation and evolution, both of which are mainly carried out in the classroom. Most of the class activities take place while students are seated. The sitting arrangement is therefore too important to suffer the kind of neglect being experienced by many secondary schools in the country. Overpopulation makes sitting arrangement in a classroom become so complex in the sense that the number of students will be greater than the seat available.

A place, community or society is said to be over populated, when the resources or facilities available cannot cater for the residence of that place or society. In educational settings or school systems overpopulation can be referred to as a situation whereby the number of students pupils available in the school system is greater than the resources available in that school. These include infrastructural facilities i.e. building etc ICT and so on. Performance in education means learning outcome, it is seen as the capacity of a student based on defined criteria. Simply put, students performance means the output or achievement after learning. Educational planning in Nigeria has always been thought of in terms of quantitative growth, which is usually above the financial capacity of the government (Adesina, 2000). A recent example is the implementation of t he current 6-3-3-4 system of education, which is seriously affected by lack of adequate funding and poor preparation. Even though the federal and state governments have shown serious commitment to educational development through their annual budgetary allocation to education in recent years, the attention given to physical facilities is far from being adequate. Overpopulated classrooms present a problem not just to teachers, but also to students. Teachers face problems controlling a dozen students at times because of unruly behaviour and lots of talking.

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.

According  to  the  statistics  department,  Secondary  Education Management Board (SEMB), there has been a rapid increase in the population of students in Owerri Education zone from seven thousand, six hundred and fifteen (7615) students to ten thousand, five hundred and seventy (10570) students. There is a constant increase in the population of secondary schools which runs contrary to the new encyclopedia Britannica, volume (A) assertion. Unlike population of insects, population rarely has been subject to explosive or collapsing numbers.

Overpopulation refers to a situation where the total number of people in an area exceeds the available resources. Overpopulation can also be defined as deficiency in resources development in relation to the available people Osuji (2008). This means existing resources can not march the immediate population number. Evidence has shown that the population of students in urban schools is on the increase. The steady areas to enjoy recreational facilities, which keeps them busy after studying is one of the factors that contributes to overpopulation of secondary schools in urban areas.

Under population of secondary school in Nigeria has had a negative impact in the Nigeria educational sector, and the output is devastating in terms of loss of standard and its attendant results. This situation of over population could be speculated to be speculated to be responsible for the untold hardship, corruption, social disorder, poor standard of living, crime etcetera. In this, there will be lower standard of education, inadequate instructional materials, production of poor or a few quality text books, congested classrooms and attendant education in characters (dropout as a product of the so called schools).

Statement of the Problem

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.

The researcher finds it difficult to gather data as there is no enough data for this research. Time and finance is also another problem. But in order to accomplish this task, primary and secondary data are used. These includes personal interview, observation, questionnaires and review of published materials in the form of journals, newspapers, handout, and textbooks for the gathering of information as it was limited to Uselu Secondary School  Secondary School.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of the study is to ascertain the impact of 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 students.

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

Research Questions

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

• What is the student – teacher ratios in government secondary schools?

• What are the causes of increased students’ population in government secondary schools?
• What are the impacts of the increase in population of students in government secondary schools on the academic performance of the students?

Scope of the Study

The study examines effects of overpopulation on the academic performance of students in government secondary schools. The study is limited to nine secondary schools in Owerri, Imo State.

Significance of the Study

This project work is of great importance in the sense that, it will reveal the extent at which overpopulation has affected student’s academic performance. Also it reveals other factors affecting student’s performance as a result of overpopulation. Furthermore, this study will help the school authority and teacher to design some measures to curb the effect overpopulation has on the academic performance of students. And to the educationist, education curriculum as school structures will be carefully observed to help students learning. Moreso, serving as a project that would be discovered that overpopulation affect the academic performance of pupils.

This study will be of immense benefit to 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.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Overpopulation: Can be defined as an increase in the number of people living in one geographical area and a place is said to be overpopulated when the resources available cannot cater for the amount of individual resident in a particular area.

Academic: Connected with education especially studying in schools and universities.

Performance: An action or achievement, considered in relation to how successful it is. The ability to operate capable of high effectiveness.

Classroom: A building or structure constructed for the purpose of organizing students for learning. It is referred to as the heart of any educational system.

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