ENTRY QUALIFICATION AND ACADEMICS PERFORMANCE AMONG BUSINESS EDUCATION STUDENT: A CASE STUDY OF FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECH) GOMBE

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out on entry qualification and academics performance among business education student using federal college of education (Tech) Gombe, as a case study.. The survey design was adopted and the simple random sampling techniques were employed in this study. The population size comprised of business education students in federal college of education (Tech) Gombe. In determining the sample size, the researcher purposefully selected 160 respondents and 141 were validated. Self-constructed and validated questionnaire was used for data collection. The collected and validated questionnaires were analyzed using frequency tables. The result of there is any relationship between entry qualification and academic performance. Furthermore, the study revealed that entry qualifications to high extent predict academic performance among business education students in Federal College Of Education (Tech) Gombe. Therefore, relevant regulatory bodies should ensure that prospective student get credit passes in all the basic sciences as part of the requirements for admission. And other factors for instance working experience, age and past academic performances other than entry qualification should form part of admission criteria.To mention but a few.

 

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The development of every nation's economy, society, and scientific capacity depends heavily on the country's level of higher education. It supplies the trained labor necessary to convert the natural riches present in that nation into economic gain (Chathuranga 2016). One of the most significant indicators of the quality of an educational institution, including universities, is the quality of the students who graduate from that institution. According to the systems approach and the input and output model, it is considered that students who get a higher quality of input would have better performance in terms of their learning and their achievements. As a result, educational universities place a premium on enrolling students who have a greater chance of succeeding in degree programs that are directly applicable to their fields. In order to achieve this goal, universities establish specific requirements for student admission. The most common types of assessments include aptitude tests, standardized tests, entry qualification scores, an aggregate of previous academic performance scores, interviews, or a combination of any or all of these. Standardized tests measure a candidate's ability to perform well under timed conditions. The goal of all of these factors is to choose students who will have a higher chance of success in their academic endeavors. Researchers and professional educators from all around the world have been working hard to determine the elements that may accurately predict the level of success that students will have in their chosen degree programs (e.g. see, Durotolu, 1994; Hijazi & Naqvi, 2006; Jayanthi, Balakrishnan, Ching, Abdul-Latif, & Nasirudeen, 2014; and Kasworm & Pike, 1994).

Students' tertiary level scores have been proven to have a substantial positive link with their previous academic achievement in school as well as their admission qualifications by a number of researches. For instance, Ogbonnaya, Okpuruka, Iheanacho, and Ndu (2014) conducted research on the association between the admission qualification and academic performance of university students. They discovered a positive and substantial relationship between the two scores. Kapinga and Amani (2016) conducted a research to investigate the relationship between the admission requirements for undergraduate programs in Tanzania and the academic performance of the students enrolled in such programs. They discovered a strong and positive relationship between the two factors. The research conducted by Chathuranga (2016) looked at the prior academic qualification scores of students as well as their university Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) in the setting of Sri Lanka. This particular research did not uncover any association between the scores of primary level examinations and university CGPA; however, it did show a substantial positive correlation between the scores of O-level and A-level examinations and university CGPA. Cyrenne and Chan (2010) conducted research on the relationship between students' high school grades and their success in university at a single institution in Canada. They discovered a substantial link between the two factors. Zwick (2013) highlighted three large scale research conducted out in the United States. These studies were included in the education testing service (ETS) report on the effectiveness of high school grades and SAT exams in predicting students' ability at university level. It was observed that students' SAT scores predicted just 12-13% of their success at the postsecondary level, but their high school grade point average scores predicted 13% to 21% of such accomplishment. When taken together, the two different kinds of exams, namely high school grades and SAT scores, revealed a predictive value of between 21 and 22 percent. A qualification equivalent to that required for entry is also required of students majoring in Business Education.

On the to-do lists of many different governments are prominent items for the education of business professionals. These kinds of governments must rely heavily on the development of entrepreneurialism via the dissemination of knowledge in the field of business education in order to achieve economic success, growth, and development. It is a relatively recent idea that not only emphasizes the need of providing students with a high-quality education but also emphasizes the need to pay attention to the development of the students' specific practical abilities and levels of competence. It is also referred to as a novel instructional approach that fosters an inventive mindset, set of abilities, and mentality in students, hence increasing the likelihood that they would choose an appropriate line of work after graduation and become successful entrepreneurs. Ekwue, Udemba, & Ojuro, (2019) concluded. As a result, the purpose of this research is to determine how entrance requirements into Business Education impact the academic performance of students.

​​​​​​​STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Ali, Haider, Munir, Khan, and Ahmed (2013) conducted research at a Pakistani institution to investigate the elements that contribute to the overall academic performance of students. Previous academic results were compared to current degree qualifying scores, however they found no association between the two. On the other hand, they discovered that demographic factors had a substantial effect in the academic performance of the students.

Students who have high entrance qualification scores tend to have higher academic performance than students who have low entry qualification scores, according to a number of research that have been conducted on the correlation between admission qualification and academic performance (Adedeji, 2001; Aderson, Benjamin & Fuss, 1994; Alias & Zain, 2006; Zezekwa & Mudavanhu, 2011).

The research that was described above revealed that there was a lack of consistency in the association between the academic credentials required for admittance and the academic accomplishment scores of students. Using the Federal College of Education (Tech) Gombe as a case study, the researcher plans to investigate the ways in which admission qualification influences academic performance among students majoring in business education.