THE CAUSES OF STUDENTS POOR PERFORMANCE  IN PRINCIPLES OF ACCOUNTS IN SENIOR SECONDARY CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION IN OVIA NORTH EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
OF EDO STATE
ABSTRACT
The continual decline in student’s performance in Principles of Accounts in the Senior Secondary Certification Examination in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State for some years necessitated the conduct of this research.
    A total of four (4) schools, two hundred and twelve (212) SS3 students and twelve (12) teachers were randomly selected for this work and the responses were carefully analyzed using the simple percentage. The result analyzed shows that the following factors contribute to the poor performance:
Teacher’s qualification.
Method of teaching the subject.
Inadequate teachers for the subject.
Parental and students’ perception.
Inadequate time allocated to the subject in the school’s time-table.
A minimum of three (3) periods in a week should be given to Principles
    of Accounts in the school time-table.
2.     Principles of Accounts should be made a compulsory subject for those seeking admission into disciplines in Faculty of Management Science in the University and other higher institution.
3.     Regular workshops and seminars should be organized for Account’s teacher by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the various examination bodies like WAEC, NECO and NABTEB so as keep them abreast of the current trend in the subject.
4.    Guidance and counseling service for parents, students and government should be intensified in other to disabuse their minds of the wrong view given to Principles of Accounts and thus arouse their positive interest.
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE:
1.0.    INTRODUCTION
1.1.    Background of the Study
1.2.    Statement of the Problem
1.3.    Research Questions
1.4.    Objective of the Study
1.5.    Significance of the Study
1.6.    Scope of the study
1.7.    Limitations of the Study
1.8.    Statement of Research Hypothesis
1.9.    Definition of Terms
    References
CHAPTER TWO:
2.0.    LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1.    Student’s Academic Performance
2.2.    Teachers’ Academic Qualification
2.3.    In-Service Training Course Attended by Teachers
2.4.    Teaching Methodology
2.5.    Parents’ Attitude
2.6.    Poor Environmental Condition
    References
CHAPTER THREE:
3.0.    RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1.    Introduction
3.2.    Research Design
3.3.    Population Study
3.4.    Sample and Sampling Technique
3.5.    Instrument of Data Collection
3.6.    Method of Data Analysis
    Reference
CHAPTER FOUR:
4.0.    DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1.    Data Presentation
4.2.    Data Analysis
4.3.    Test of Hypothesis
    References
CHAPTER FIVE:
5.0.    SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION.
5.1.    Summary of Findings
5.2.    Recommendation
5.3.    Conclusion
    Bibliography
    Appendix I /Questionnaires
    Appendix II
CHAPTER ONE
1.0.    INTRODUCTION:
Background of the Study.
Accounting has always been described as the language of Business and this underscores its importance.
Okoye (2000), Accounting is a common terms which people use freely and have basic knowledge of its meaning. To some people, it simply means “how to count money” to some others, it simply means “how to keep records of income and expenditure” while to some others, it means “how to check fraud or how to know if the organization is making profit or lost. This goes to show that Accounting is a universal language to individuals, homes and corporate bodies.
The importance of Accounting in a firm and its application to the social economic life of the people cannot be over-emphasized. Many groups such as shareholders, management, trade creditors, loan creditors, employees, government etc. utilize accounting information to enable them make wise decisions on financial matters affecting them.
Hence, future Nigerians who are to train prospective managers of the nation economy would need to be given the appropriate education in Accounting field and this has its basic from the Principle of Accounts.
The role of accounting in a nation’s economic development notwithstanding is very important. Yet an investigation into the performance of students in Principles of Accounts in the Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations (SSCE) for some past years revealed an alarming poor performance in the subject (Folajin¸ 1987). This trend does not augur well for the future managers of the nation’s economy.
Accounting as a skilled based subject at the Senior Secondary School demands the teacher to co-ordinate his potentials, abilities, skills and knowledge in such a way so as to positively affect the performance of students in SSCE.
Ehiametalor (1990) said that the need for highly trained manpower is necessary for the industrial and technological take-off of the country.
Statement of The Study.
Raymond and Ogunbameru (2005) on a research carried out on “A Comparative Analysis of Two Methods of Teaching Financial Accounting at Senior Secondary School attest to the fact that students’ poor performance in most examinations, both local and national examinations is affected by a lot of factors ranging from teacher’s method of teaching, instructional materials available and so on.
Today, attention is being paid to Senior Secondary School students’ performance in Principles of Accounts due to the fact that they don’t do well in Senior School Certificate Examinations (WAEC, Lagos, Nigeria, 2009). The factors responsible for student’s poor performance in this area are what this research work tries to find out and to proffer solution.
Research Questions.
In the process of this study the researcher bear in mind the following questions.
Do students perform poorly in Principles of Accounts in Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in Ovia North East Local Government Area?
Are students responsible for their poor performance in Principles of Accounts?
Are teachers responsible for the student’s poor performance in Principles of Accounts?
These and other seeming causes of poor performance in Principle of Accounts this research work seeks to reveal.
Objective of The Study.
The main objective of the study is to examine the causes of student’s poor performance in Principles Accounts in Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in Ovia North East Local Government. Specific objectives are to:
Find out the remote causes of student’s poor performance in Principles of Accounts in Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and made recommendation to findings on how to proffer solution.
Examine whether students are responsible for their poor performance.  
Examine whether teachers are responsible for the students poor performance.
Significance of The Study.  
It is hoped that the findings of this study will go a long way in helping to resolve the problems militating against students’ performance in Principle of Accounts. Like it is often said when the course(s) of a problem is know, it is 50% solved. This research work will help to equip curriculum planners with the material formation they need to be able to tackle these problems.
The study will also be useful for the following regards:
For educational administrators with a view of providing effective and efficient teaching and learning Principles of Accounts in Secondary Schools.
The study will provide enough information on the poor performance in the subject at the SSCE and show how the problems can be solved.
The study will be of great importance to teachers who are directly responsible for the teaching of the subject, as it will enable them to undergo self-evaluation with a view of adopting the correct methods of teaching the subject.
The findings will be of great significance to the learners who are to manage the nation’s economy, as it will provide them with appropriate education in accounts, thereby creating motivation towards the subject and knowing the steps in learning Principles of Accounts in these schools. It will also sample the opinion of both teachers and students in the local government area.
Scope of the Study
This study will be essentially carried out in four government secondary schools in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State. It is geared towards identifying the immediate causes of students’ poor performance in Principles of Accounts in these schools.
Limitations of the Study
In any work of this nature, there are bound to be various problems encountered during the course of the study. The major limitation of this work centers on the difficulty in obtaining data.
    Another problem encountered during the course of this study is financial constraints, human errors and time as the time given for it is too short to accomplish the task.
Statement of Research Hypothesis
Research hypothesis are theoretical statements that are yet to be tested for confirmation or with empirical evidence. In carrying out this research work, the following hypothesis statements were adopted.
Hypothesis I  
Ho: Students do not perform poorly in Principles of Accounts in Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in Ovia North East.
Hi: Students do perform poorly in Principles of Accounts in Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination in Ovia North East.
Hypothesis II
Ho: Students are not responsible for their poor performance in Principles of Accounts.
Hi: Students are responsible for their poor performance in Principles of Accounts.
Hypothesis III
Ho: Teachers are not responsible for the student’s poor performance in Principles of Accounts
Hi: Teachers are responsible for the student’s poor performance in Principles of Accounts
1.9.     Definition of Terms
    For the purpose of this study, the following meanings are assigned to the terms:
Poor Performance: It is a low level of performance that is below average.
 Causes: These are conditions that are responsible for the students’ poor performance in Principles of Accounts.
Student: A recipient of instruction given by teachers in Principles of Accounts.
Teacher: A competent and qualified person who had undergone teacher training education in Principles of Accounts.
Government: A body of persons empowered to manage the affairs of the nation on behalf of the people.
SSCE: (Senior Secondary Certificate Examinations). A body which certifies students at the terminal class of the senior secondary school.
L.G.A: Local Government Area






REFERENCE
Okoye A. E. (2000): Financial Accounting for Students and Managers.
Ehiametalor E.T. (1990): Implementation of the New National Policy on    
Education. Theoretical and Practical Approach.
Folajin S. O. (1987): Poor Performance in West African Certificate  
Examination: Causes and Solutions.
Raymond .U. and Ogunbameru M. T. (Journal 2005): Titled:
Comparative analysis of Two Methods of Teaching Financial Accounting at Secondary School.
Statistic Office, WAEC, Lagos, Nigeria, (2009).