Overview
This paper is across examination of a specified primary school education experience on the overall academic performance of junior secondary school students’ one, in Egerton Junior high school, Ndeffo, Naks. The private schools that are used in this study used instructional materials in a teaching and learning experiences in class. The materials varied from charts, tables and other audio visual aids used in a normal class setting. A sample class size of a 100 students of the school with 50% having come from government public primary schools and the rest of the students from private primary school institutions. In both types of institutions teaching materials came in handy in a teaching and learning experience. A test in English and Mathematics was made for this study. The data was collected and analyzed using t-test statistical analysis. The level of significance was 0.05. Analysis of the study shows that students from the government public primary school set up were outperformed by their counterparts from the private institutions in both subjects, English and Mathematics. It was highly recommended that the improvements in public government primary schools to be initiated for the students who could not afford fees for the expensive quality private school education.
Introduction
In every education system all over the word, primary education plays a crucial role in the foundational stage of the career in the education. It is from the experiences at this level which have a significant effect in the performance in the secondary school and especially at the initial stages of secondary school life.
The significance of teaching learning materials in a teaching-learning process has been discussed in the literature reviews previously made. Instructional materials help conceptualize concrete concepts of mathematics and put impracticable ideas into reality when carefully and correctly employed in a teaching and learning process. The use of instructional materials also improve the learner’s memory in the sense that what is taught in class is easily recollected especially in an exam situation. In the primary school setting, these instructional materials are more helpful since children have a short concentration span. Children at this stage love to play a lot and love touching things and seeing pictures. Scholars have confirmed that different types of instructional materials employed at different levels and stages enhance the students’ academic performance in all subjects taught. These instructional materials occur in various forms which include charts, models, video clips and realia just to mention a few of them. It is not only enough for the instructional materials to be present in a normal school setting. Instructional materials need to be put into proper use for them to enhance learning on the part of the students and teaching any particular concepts on the part of the instructor.
Instructional materials can be classified based on their criteria of their choice like Agun and Imogie (1988). The most common and the cheapest of all time is classification of instructional materials as visuals, audio or audio visuals. These materials include charts, posters, models, realia, flash cards, abacus, DVDs and audio cds’.
Depending on the number of teachers, pupils and facilities available there, government public primary schools can be classified as class I or class II. On the private sector there exist no criteria for the classification of the private schools. Parents who patronize the private schools hold diverse subjective views about such schools. Their views are like:
- The moral behavior of children at home
- Children’s proficiency in their county in spoken English
- The schools plants and property
- The entry performance test in the entry into secondary schools
Private schools differ from another in terms of the quality of the teaching learning process just like the case of public schools. In private schools, the proprietors pay more attention to their teachers input into their students than in the cases of public schools. In private schools substantial amount of money is spent in provision of instructional materials for the teaching and learning process. Outdoor activities like field trips, excursions is a common advantage over the public schools.
Objective of the study
The main aim of the study is to find the significance of the teaching aids and other instructional materials in nursery primary education has on the academic performance of students in Egerton Junior High school Ndeffo. Other questions to be answered include;
- Will the students in junior school one from public schools will outperform those from the private institutions in a Mathematics?
- Will the students from private primary school perform better than the public school products in an English test?
- Will the students from the public schools perform better than the private school students in both subjects, Mathematic and English?
Hypotheses of the research
Intelligent guesses generated for this study include;
- There is no any significant difference in the performance in Mathematics of junior school I between the students who attended private primary schools with adequate teaching materials than in public schools where teaching materials are inadequate.
- In the English test, there is no much difference between pupils who attended private schools with adequate instructional materials than in public schools.
- In both subjects, Mathematics and English there is no significant difference between performances of students from private school setting and those who attended public schools.
Methodology
In this study since there is no control group and there is also no special treatment given to the subjects. All the hundred students from Egerton Junior High School constitute the population for the study. The sample students were stratified whether they had the access to the instructional materials at Nursery school level before joining Egerton high school or not. From each stratum fifty students were sampled out from each stratum regardless of the arm of Junior school I they belonged.
Data collection and analysis
An English and a mathematics test was administered to the sampled out students. The two test had objective questions which had five alternative answers. The test covered content learnt in Junior School I. External examiners with Mathematics and English expertise vetted the two tests.
Results
Hypothesis 1.There is no any significant difference in the performance in Mathematics of junior school I between the students who attended private primary schools with adequate teaching materials than in public schools where teaching materials are inadequate.
The above table shows the mean scores of the products of the scores from private and public schools. The calculated t value (19.39) is greater than the obtained actual value from the results, t (1.98).hence this first hypothesis is rejected at the alpha level and degree of freedom. Clearly there is no significant difference in the scores from the private schools rich in instructional materials
Hypothesis 2. In the English test, there is no much difference between pupils who attended private schools with adequate instructional materials than in public schools.
The table below shows t-test of difference between the means of the products public schools and students from private institutions.
t-cal 5.38 is greater than t-critical 1.98. From the table, observe that the t-calculated is greater than the t critical. This leads to rejection of our second hypothesis. There is difference between the performances of public students compared to private students.
Hypothesis 3. In both subjects, Mathematics and English there is no significant difference between performances of students from private school setting and those who attended public schools.
The table below shows of two tailed t-test of difference between English and Mathematics for pupils in private schools where instructional materials are employed in a teaching and learning experience.
Observe that the t-cal 5.38 is greater than t-critical 1.98 that is why we reject our third hypothesis. There is a significant difference in the scores of pupils from private schools where instructional materials are used in teaching Mathematics and English.
Discussion
- In private schools where instructional materials are used before joining junior high school, students perform better than students from public institutions.
References
Agun, I & Imogie, I. (Ed.) (1988). Fundamentals of educational technology, Y-Books
Abimbade, A. (1999). Principle and practice of educational technology,International Publishers.
Adedapo, Y. A. (2000). Socio economic effect of increase in wages and salaries Unpublished B.Ed Project of the Department ofEducational Management, University of Ibadan, Nigeria retrieved from https://unilorin.edu.ng/journals/education/ije/aug2005/Comparison%20Of%20Private%2 0And%20Public%20Schools%20Products%20Performance%20In%20Mathematics%20 And%20English%20Language%20From%20Educational%20Technology%20Perspectiv e.pdf
