INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL AND PERSONAL FACTORS ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF UPPER BASIC EDUCATION SOCIAL STUDIES STUDENTS IN ABAKALIKI EDUCATION ZONE,EBONYI STATE

Abstract

This study examined influence of social and personal factors on the academic performance of upper basic education Social Studies students in Abakaliki Education Zone, Ebonyi State. The study was guided by two purposes of study, two research questions and two hypotheses. Descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population of study was 71Social Studies teachers in Abakaliki Education Zone and that was used as the sample. The instrument used for the data collection was a questionnaire tagged: ‘Questionnaire on Influence of social and personal factors on the academic performance of upper basic education Social Studies students’ structured by the researcher. The questionnaire was face validated by three experts: two from Social Studies and one in Measurement and Evaluation in Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki. The reliability of the instrument was determined by trial testing it using 30 teachers from Onueke Education Zone which was outside the area of study. Coronach Alpha Statistical analysis was used to determine the internal consistency coefficient of the instrument and that yielded the coefficient value of 0.81. This value was considered high enough indicating that the instrument was reliable. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the two research questions, while t-test was used to test the two null- hypotheses at an alpha level of 0.05. Findings of the study include that social factors influence the academic performance of upper basic education Social Studies students in Abakaliki Education Zone; and personnel factors influence the academic performance of upper basic education Social Studies students in Abakaliki Education Zone. It was therefore, recommended that: government should provide the necessary factors that are needed in schools to improve learning and promote performance of students in academics, both in internal and external examinations; and the government and school administrators should maintain and monitor the school factors to avoid misuse and punish offenders.