1.0 Introduction
Mathematics being the bedrock of all sciences is a core requirement in many areas of endavour such as engineering, medicine, statistics, computer science, economics, building technology, to mention but a few.
A candidate seeking admission on into any higher institution in the above mentioned fields must at least pass mathematics at credit level.
Mathematics has be become a terror to many students. This is not only challenging but also a threat to our educational institutions and the future of our society. It became worth while to questions the reasons behind the poor performance of students in this core subjects for a health improvement and meaningful contributions to the progress of the secondary education and the society at large.
Due to the poor performance of state secondary school students in mathematics, many students end up studying courses they never had interest on.
The know fact is that many researches has been carried out to uncover the factors affecting the performance of state secondary school students in mathematics with some solution being aimed at, but no statistical test and analysis has been carried out to uncover the relationship between these factors and the schools. For some years now, most secondary school students perform poorly and quite below expectation in mathematics this study therefore seeks to investigate into the factors that give rise to this shabby performances, and analysis then and make valid recommendations based on the findings.
1.1 Statement of Problem
The research is much concerned with the poor performance of state secondary school students in mathematics. The research want to find answers to the following questions.
- Does the coverage of syllabus affects the performance of state secondary school students in mathematics.
- Is the performance of students dependent on their schools. What is the level of interest the students have in mathematics.
1.2 Aims and Objective of Study
The aims of this whether study include.
- To investigate whether state secondary schools cover their mathematics syllabus.
- To investigate whether the performance of students in mathematics is dependent on schools.
- To investigate the level of interest the students have in mathematics.
- To recommend lasting solution to the problem
1.3 Research Question
- Does the students failure on mathematics depend on the mathematics teacher's inability?
- Does the student's failure on mathematics depend on student's inability?
1.4 Statement of Hypothesis
- Ho: The performance of state secondary school students are dependent on schools.
- H1: The performances of state secondary school students are dependent on schools.
- Ho: The level of interest a student has in mathematics is dependent on class.
- Hi: The level of interest a student has in mathematics is dependent on class.
- Ho: Teachers' and students opinion on the coverage of syllabus is dependent on schools.
- Hi: Teachers' and student's opinion on the coverage of syllabus is not dependent on schools.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The significance of this study can be highlighted as follows:
- With this study, it will be possible to find out the contributing factors to the failure of state secondary school students.
- This study will reveal if the problem is from the nature of the syllabus or from the way the subject mathematics is being taught.
- This study will also reveal whether the number of mathematics teachers is adequate for the number of students.
- This study will also reveal other underlying factors that have in the one way or the other affected the performances of state secondary school students in mathematics.
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