THE EFFECTS OF QUALIFICATION OF BIOLOGY TEACHERS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN EXTERNAL EXAMINATIONS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

The quality of education is directly related to the quality of instruction in the classrooms. It is a fact that the academic qualifications, knowledge of the subject matter, competence, and skills of teaching and the commitment of the teacher have effective impact on the teaching learning process (National Education Policy 1998-2010). Quality improvement in education depends upon proper training of teachers. The teachers cannot play any of the roles unless properly trained (Yadved and Singh, 1988). The performance of students especially in external examinations goes a long way to show the level of preparedness of the student definitely by qualified teachers.

Teaching is an art. It can be refined by training and practice. The availability of competent teachers is central in the reconstruction of the educational system. Biology has acquired the status of a global language (Crystal, 1997). Keeping in view the growing need and importance of Biology in every walk of life, Biology is made a compulsory subject in Nigeria from the very beginning of the academic career. This increasingly necessitates good quality initial preparation for non-native speaker teachers in the school system (Cullen, 1994).
Biology is taught as a compulsory subject and also the whole teaching learning process is carried out in Biology language. In other words, Biology is also the medium of instruction in Nigerian schools. This enables the students of these schools to learn Biology in an environment where most of the interaction between the teacher and the students is in Biology (Fuller & Clark, 1994). As a result, the students of these schools are more proficient in Biology and perform well in the external examinations.

THE EFFECTS OF QUALIFICATION OF BIOLOGY TEACHERS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN EXTERNAL EXAMINATIONS