INFLUENCE OF TEACHER ADEQUACY ON STUDENT ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

This study investigated the influence of teacher adequacy (student-teacher ratio, teacher subject qualifications, and teacher professional development) on Student Academic Achievement (SAA) in public senior secondary schools in Southwestern Nigeria. The study used a correlational descriptive survey research design and adopted a multistage sampling procedure. Three states (Oyo, Ogun, and Ekiti), among the six in Southwestern Nigeria, were selected using a simple random sampling technique, with one Senatorial District (SD) from each state. The proportionate-to-size sampling technique was employed to select 40% of the local government areas in each SD, and 50% (101) of the schools within the selected local government areas were sampled. A class of 3,030 students from Public Senior Secondary School II was used; 202 mathematics and English language teachers and 202 heads of department were purposively sampled, and 101 school administrators were enumerated. The instruments used were teacher subject qualification and professional development questionnaires, as well as English and mathematics achievement tests. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a t-test with a significance level of 0.05. The level of SAA was low, and the level of teacher adequacy was low against the threshold of 2.50. There was also a significant difference in SAA in schools where teachers were adequate compared to where they were not. The influence of the inadequacy of teachers on the SAA cannot be underestimated; hence, this variable should be given adequate attention by all concerned education stakeholders to improve the SAA