SECONDARY SCHOOLS STUDENTS’ SOCIO-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN BUSINESS STUDIES IN ZARIA AND GIWA EDUCATION ZONES, KADUNA STATE

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Author

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Department of Education

ABSTRACT
This study investigated the ―Secondary Schools Students‘ Socio-economic Background 
and Academic Achievement in Business Studies in Zaria and Giwa Education Zones, 
Kaduna Stateâ€". To achieve the aim of this research, four objectives were formulated in line 
with research questions and hypotheses such as to; determine the secondary schools 
students‘ socio-economic background and academic achievement in Business Studies
between male and female, examine the secondary schools students‘ socio-economic 
background and academic achievement in Business Studies between boarding and day 
school and ascertain secondary schools students‘ socio-economic background and 
academic achievement in Business Studies between private and public in Zaria and Giwa 
education zones, Kaduna State. The study used survey method that covers all public 
secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones in Kaduna State. The population of 
the study comprised of 81 Principals, 684 Teachers and 648 school prefects making a total 
of 1413. A sample of 413 respondents which consisted of 24 Principals, 205 Teachers and 
195 School Prefects were used meaning that 413 copies of questionnaire were distributed.
The instrument used for the data collection was structured questionnaire. The instrument 
was validated by the researcher supervisors to ensure its reliability. Crombach Alpha was 
used during the pilot study. This yielded a reliability coefficient of r = 0.87 and significant 
level of 0.05. Four hypotheses were postulated and the testing was done by using Analysis 
of Variance (ANOVA). All the four hypotheses were retained. The study reveals that 
female students develop high interest in Business Studies than male students due to the 
initial business upbringing by the parents especially mothers who engage in petty trading
in secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones, Kaduna State. The study 
conclude that Female students develop high interest in Business studies than the male 
student and female students offering Business Studies do not most of the time go beyond 
secondary education unlike the male students in secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa 
education zones, Kaduna State. It was recommended that, parents should encourage both 
male and female students to develop high interest in Business Studies by provision of 
essential needs to aids studies such as relevant text books on related subjects and improved 
socio economic standard of the children and there should be proper provision of numerous 
basic amenities by the government for secondary schools in both rural and urban area that 
will contributes to academic achievement in Zaria and Giwa education zones, Kaduna State. 
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page i
Declaration ii
Certification iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgments v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables vii
Abbreviations viii
Abstract ix
Operational Definition of Terms x
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
11 Background to the Study 1
12 Statement of the Problem 5
13 Objectives of the Study 6
14 Research Questions 7
15 Hypotheses 7 
16 Basic Assumptions 8
17 Significance of the Study 8
18 Scope of the Study 9
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
21 Introduction 11
22 Conceptual Framework 12
221 Socio-Economic Background 12
222 Academic Achievement 13
223 Business Studies 14
224 Nature of School (Day and Boarding) 17
225 School Type (Public and Private) 20
226 School Location (Rural and Urban) 22
227 Students Gender (Male and Female) 27
23 Theoretical Framework 28
24 Historical Development of Business Studies in Nigeria 29
25 Importance of Teaching Business Studies in Junior Secondary schools 30
26 Methods of Teaching Business Studies 32
27 The Role of Technology in Teaching Business Studies in 
 Junior Secondary Schools 37
28 Resources for Business Studies Teaching 40
29 Empirical Studies 42
210 Summary 46
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
31 Introduction 48
32 Research Design 48
33 Population of the Study 49
34 Sample and Sampling Technique 49
35 Instrumentation for Data Collection 50
351 Validity of Instrument 51
352 Pilot Study 51
353 Reliability of the Instrument 51
354 Administration of Instrument 52
36 Procedure for Data Collection 52
37 Procedure for Data Analysis 52

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
41 Introduction 54
42 Answering of Research Questions 56
43 Research Hypotheses Testing 66
4 5: Summary of Hypotheses Testing 71
44 Summary of Major Findings 72
45 Discussion of Major Findings 72
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
51 Summary 79
52 Conclusions 79
53 Recommendations 82
54 Suggestions for Further Studies 83
 References 84
 Appendices 91

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
11 Background to the Study
Nigeria like any other country has witnessed series of political instability with various 
effects on educational policies at federal and state government levels This gradually laid the 
foundation of fallen standard in education at secondary school level which caused 
differential academic achievement of male and female students in secondary schools In the 
quest of finding survival, the nation has evolved services for socio-economic and 
educational measures but these have not improved the socio-economic status of families 
influencing students‘ academic achievement in Nigeria (Mailgram, 2000)
According to Olotu (1994), in the quest of finding survival, the nation has evolved 
serves of socio-economic and educational measures and policies such as Structural 
Adjustment Program (SAP), Austerity Measures, Universal Basic Education (UBE) and 
devaluation of Naira These measures have not improved the socio-economic and 
educational status of families in the country; they rather increased their suffering and 
widened the socio-economic gap between families (Chime, 2004)
Socio-economic status is often measured as a combination of education, income and 
occupation It is commonly conceptualized as social standing or class of an individual or 
group When viewed through a social class lens, privilege, power and control are 
emphasized Furthermore, an examination of socio-economic as a gradient or continuous 
variable reveals inequities in access to and distribution of resources Socio-economic is 
relevant to all realms of behavioral and social science, including research, practice, 
education and advocacy
Research indicates that students from low socio-economic households and communities 
develop academic (Morgan, Farkasa, Hillemeier, /&Maczuga, 2009) Initial academic skills 
are correlated with the home environment, where low literacy environments and chronic 
stress negatively affect a child‘s pre-academic skills The school systems in low socio-
economic communities are often under-resourced, negatively affecting students‘ academic 
progress (Aikens&Barbarin, 2008) Inadequate education and increased dropout rates affect 
male and female student‘s academic achievement perpetuating the low socio-economic 
status of the community
Business Studies is a unit of vocational and technical education According to Ohiwerei 
(2005), this programmes started late in Nigerian Educational system Vocational business 
studies stated as commercial clerical training centre that were needed in the office By 1995, 
both government and privately owned day and evening business schools were established in 
various part of the country According to Esene and Ohiwerei (2005), Business studies 
subjects have not been popular in Nigerian secondary schools because of the bias against 
vocational education The public perception of business subject, which form part of 
vocational education, is education for the school dropouts This further reinforced by the 
attitude of Nigerian parents who prefer the conventional grammar schools to business 
schools whose curricular were directed towards the training of secretarial and clerical 
personnel This erroneous impression was corrected by the release of the national policy on 
education
The National Policy on Education (1976), which recommended the 6-3-3-4 educational 
systems (Fabunmi, 1986) was instrumental to the inclusion of business subject in the 
secondary school curriculum The implementation of the 6-3-3-4 systems in 1982 brought
many reforms into the educational system in Nigeria At the junior secondary school level 
pre-vocational subjects were introduced to the curriculum while vocational educations were 
introduced at the senior secondary level The focus of pre-vocational was to exposed 
students at junior secondary level to the world of work through exploration Such exposure 
will enable junior secondary school students make intelligent career choice and also 
intelligent assumptions are practical Agricultural, Home economics, Introductory 
Technology and business studies Business studies consist of aspects of book-keeping, 
shorthand, typewriting, commerce, office practice and computer, which are integrated The 
National Board for Technical Education, while supporting the integration reported:
The new concept of pre-vocational course at the junior secondary school level is 
different from the traditional one Examples, the business studies component Transmit 
narrow commercial knowledge, which restricted pupils to take one of typewriting, 
shorthand, accounting, economics etc for five years The new approach emphasizes the 
integrated nature of business studies and includes of secretarial skills (ie shorthand and 
typewriting), accounting, business method and commerce
A school qualification is strongly associated with social disadvantages primarily 
determined whether the student accessed post-school education and if so, at what level 
participation It is a well known fact that secondary school students performance in 
academic activities vary, some students perform better than the other, many disadvantaged 
students feels the length of their students career would be limited by their finances, rather 
than by their academic ability and this makes them lack behind in their academic 
achievement Clemens and Oelike (1967) and Emeka (1984) in their studies shows the cause 
of academic achievement to a combination of personal institutional factors Personal factors relate to the individual intelligence knowledge and ability Institution factors are family or 
parental influence, school related factors
Enclosed within the institutional factors are teacher related factors and living condition, 
high level of illiteracy, poverty and low socio-economic status with high rate of paternal and 
maternal deprivation of student academic needs which was necessitated by poor socio-
economic situation of Nigeria has thrown many families into unhold financial problems such 
as poverty and lack of money to purchase text books, payment of school fees, transport 
services, television/radio, complete school uniform and provide the best for their children 
This poor parental care with gross deprivation of social and economic need of a child 
usually leads to poor students‘ academic achievement of secondary school students in Zaria 
and Giwa Education Zones, Kaduna State
In April, 1999 the Federal Government of Nigeria established the National Examination 
Council by the former Head of State Abdul Salami Abubakar to take over the 
responsibilities of the National Board of Education Measurement The services rendered by
the body include Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (Internal and External) 
with six years of basic education, three years of junior secondary education and three years 
of senior secondary education Junior secondary school certificate examination is intended 
for candidates in the third year of their junior secondary education in federal unity college 
and other federal secondary schools Private secondary schools also take part in junior 
secondary certificate examination
It is against this background that researchers tried to find out the Secondary School 
Students Socio-Economic Background and Academic Achievement in Business Studies in 
Zaria and Giwa Education Zones, Kaduna State of Nigeria
12 Statement of the Problem
In past few years, it has been noticed that students‘ academic performance from low 
socio-economic background is not as good as those from high socio-economic background, 
secondary school students are not enjoying an equal level of success within secondary 
education as their more advantaged peers due to the students' difference socio-economic 
background Chime (2004) Day and Boarding Junior Secondary School students‘ socio-
economic background can result to the many problems such as; truancy, accidents, 
unwanted pregnancy, lack of seriousness, favoritism, drug abuse, examination malpractice 
and so on But even those who are likely to have suffered from a number of barriers which 
may have hindered their academic progress and deterred them from continuing any further 
Despite the effort of researchers, parents, teachers and government, the poor performance of 
secondary school JSS students is still a recurring problem that is imperative at this time
Onasanya (2008) opines that Business Studies education in Nigeria for long had been 
criticized for not quite preparing JSS students for effective living in the society as result of 
inappropriate utilization of instructional methods in Business Studies classroom In support 
of the above, Okpalama (2008:65) maintains that the ―relationship between socio economic 
background of male and female JSS students achievement in business studies education 
enclosed with several related factors and poor socio-economic situation of the country has 
thrown many families into untold financial problems such as poverty and lack of money to purchase text books, payment of school fees, transport services, television/radio, complete 
school uniform and provide the best for their children This poor parental care with gross 
deprivation of social and economic need of a child usually leads to poor students‘ academic 
achievement of Junior Secondary School students in Zaria and Giwa education zones, 
Kaduna State
13 Objectives of the Study
The following objectives are designed to:
1 determine the relationship between male and female secondary schools students‘ socio-
economic background and academic achievement in Business Studies in Zaria and Giwa 
education zones, Kaduna State;
2 examine the relationship between boarding and day secondary schools students‘ socio-
economic background and academic achievement in Business Studies in Zaria and Giwa 
education zones, Kaduna State;
3 ascertain the relationship between private and public secondary schools students‘ socio-
economic background and academic achievement in Business Studies in Zaria and Giwa 
education zones, Kaduna State; and
4 find out the relationship between rural and urban secondary schools students‘ socio-
economic background and academic achievement in Business Studies in Zaria and Giwa 
education zones, Kaduna State
14 Research Questions
The following research questions are asked:
1 Is there relationship between Male and Female secondary schools students‘ socio-
economic background and academic achievement in Business Studies in Zaria and Giwa 
education zones, Kaduna State?
2 What is the relationship between Boarding and Day secondary schools students‘ socio-
economic background and academic achievement in Business Studies in Zaria and Giwa 
education zones, Kaduna State?
3 Is there any relationship between Private and Public secondary schools students‘ socio-
economic background and academic achievement in Business in Zaria and Giwa 
education zones, Kaduna State?
4 Are there relationship between Rural and Urban secondary schools students‘ socio-
economic background and academic achievement in Business Studies in Zaria and Giwa 
education zones, Kaduna State?
15 Research Hypotheses
In this study, the following null hypotheses were tested:
1 There is no significant difference between Male and Female JSS students‘ socio-
economic background and academic achievement in Business Studies in secondary 
school in Zaria and Giwa education zones, Kaduna State;
2 There is no significant difference between Boarding and Day JSS students‘ socio 
economic background and academic achievement in Business Studies in secondary 
school in Zaria and Giwa education zones, Kaduna State;
3 There is no significant difference between Private and Public JSS students‘ socio-
economic background and academic achievement in Business Studies in secondary 
school in Zaria and Giwa education zones, Kaduna State; and
4 There is no significant difference between Rural and Urban JSS students‘ socio economic 
background and academic achievement in Business Studies in secondary school in 
Zaria and Giwa education zones, Kaduna State
16 Basic Assumptions
This study will be achieved base on the following assumptions:
1 It is believed that junior secondary school students‘ achievement in Business Studies in 
secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones, Kaduna State is gender related
2 It is believed that the boarding students would likely have better academic achievement in 
Business Studies than the day students in secondary schools Zaria and Giwa education 
zones, Kaduna State
3 It is believed that relationship exists between private and public students achievement in 
Business Studies in secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones, Kaduna State
4 It is believed that relationship exists between rural and urban students achievement in 
Business Studies in secondary schools in Zaria and Giwa education zones, Kaduna State
17 Significance of the Study
This study will be significant in highlighting the role of socio-economic of parents 
towards their children‘s academic achievement in secondary schools by enlightening the 
teachers on the need for male and female students‘ participation in their lessons and their 
role will change from being passive listeners and excellence in their final examination in 
JSSCE

Policy makers and stakeholders in society will benefit from this study in the sense that 
the study will create awareness of providing all necessary needs for their children in school 
for purpose of their academic improvement in Zaria and Giwa education zones, Kaduna 
State
Teachers will also benefit from the study because as more male and female students are 
clarified of the meaning and purpose of business studies subject, many will embrace it 
thereby generating their job secured Generally the parents and society stands to benefit 
from the study as graduate of business studies will come back to serve the society thereby 
fulfilling the manpower requirement of the society
This study will be significant in the sense that government will be able to find out the 
relationship that exist between socio economic background of male and female students 
achievement on Business Studies subject As against the former oxford system which is 
limited to classroom setting, the knowledge of Business Studies subject extended beyond 
that in which a change of observable behavior is indicated in the students through 
manipulative, skills, techniques and attitudes 
Since small scale business constitutes the highest percentage of business establishment 
not even the local government area but also the whole nation if the above statement is true, 
then they are great importance to the entire nation‘s economy and industrial development
18 Scope of the Study
This study is to assess the Secondary Schools Students Socio-Economic Background and 
Academic Achievement in Business Studies in Zaria and Giwa Education Zones, Kaduna 
State The study was limited to some selected junior secondary schools in the area This is because the researcher resides in the state and as such had the knowledge of the area and its 
environs 
However, it is hoped that the result of this work was applicable to not only Zaria and 
Giwa education zones, Kaduna State, but to others state in Nigeria

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