Comparison of Boarding and Day Senior Secondary School Students’ Performance in Biology in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria

  • Mulkah Adebisi Ahmed University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
  • Nkechi Edith Oliver University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
  • Kunle Waheed Afolabi University of Ilorin, Nigeria.
  • Bolanle Taibat Danmole University of Lagos, Nigeria.

Abstract

Evidence from empirical studies has in recent time shown repeated poor performance of students in science subjects in Nigeria. This assertion called for the concern of stakeholders and findings from research studies linked this poor performance to school type, government, examination bodies, teachers, parents and the students themselves. In line with this general assertion, this study compared the performance of boarding and day senior secondary students in biology in Owo Local Government, Ondo State, Nigeria.The study was a descriptive research of the ex-post-facto type. A purposive sampling technique was used to select six schools. A total number of three hundred and ninety five (395) students’ results in West African Senior School Certificate examination conducted in 2012 were utilized. The data obtained were analyzed using t-test inferential statistics and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed that there was a significant difference in the Biology students’ academic performance in private and public boarding and day secondary schools. It could be deduced that significant difference does exist among the schools.  The calculated t-value for male and female students’ performance in boarding (t = 0 .091) and day (t = 0.257) schools are greater than p-value (p>0.05). This implies that significant difference does not exists between the Biology performance of male and female students in boarding and day secondary schools. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that parents should not discourage their children from going to either boarding or day school. Rather, they should encourage their children to study hard. Though parents’ financial capability determines the type of school a child attends; parents can still take the sole decision in making a choice between boarding and day school. Students should also be involved in decision making as this would help them to have a positive attitude towards learning process at school. Proprietors of schools should try to establish single sex boarding school which could either be mixed boarding or full boarding since students’ performance in single sex school differs significantly in the sampled schools in favour of full boarders. Public schools are encouraged to monitor learning achievement in schools; provide schools with adequate facilities and other fringe benefits so as to encourage and motivate students to learn more effectively and efficiently, thereby improving students’ academic performance.


Keywords:  Boarding, Day, School, Mixed Boarding, Performance.

Published
2018-06-25
How to Cite
AHMED, Mulkah Adebisi et al. Comparison of Boarding and Day Senior Secondary School Students’ Performance in Biology in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria. KIU Journal of Humanities, [S.l.], v. 3, n. No. 2, p. 195-203, june 2018. ISSN 2522-2821. Available at: <https://ijhumas.com/ojs/index.php/kiuhums/article/view/308>. Date accessed: 29 mar. 2024.