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INDUSTRY- RELATED MATHEMATICS SKILLS ACQUISITION FOR JOB PERFORMANCE BY SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA.

 

Prof. Sam O.C. Okeke

&

Dr. Carol I. Nkanyimo

 

 

Abstract

 

The study investigated industry-related mathematics skills acquisition for job performance by senior secondary school students in Anambra State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. Two research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study was carried out in secondary schools in Anambra State. Sample comprised 2,495 SS3 mathematics students drawn from a population of 42,002 SS3 mathematics students in Anambra State. One instrument, Industrial Mathematics Skills Acquisition Test (IMSAT) was used for data collection. The IMSAT was validated by three experts. Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 was used to establish the reliability of IMSAT which yielded a reliability index of 0.89. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions one and two while t-Test and analysis of variance were used to test hypotheses one and two. Findings of the study indicated that; both public and private students, irrespective of school type had good industry-related mathematics skills acquisition for job performance; there was significant difference between the mean scores of secondary school students’ industry-related mathematics skills acquisition based on their school type (single-sex boys, single-sex girls and co-educational schools) in favour of single-sex school students with high mean score for job performance. It was concluded that in Anambra State senior secondary schools, students were sufficiently exposed to industry-related mathematics skills for gainful employment in industries. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that the good industry-related mathematics skills acquired by both public and private students should be maintained by engaging the services of industrial staff as part-time teachers. This will ensure interconnectedness between schools and industries.

 

Keywords: Industry-related mathematics, skill acquisition, job performance.

 

Introduction

Unemployment remains one of the most critical problems facing African nations today. Nigeria which is the most populous nation in Africa and second largest economy in the continent with a population of over 180 million is endowed with diverse human and material resources.

 

According to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS, 2018), each year, about 1.8 million young Nigerians enter the labour market. Meanwhile, unemployment in Nigeria is estimated at 22percent while youth unemployment is significantly higher at 38% (World Bank, 2018). In addition to the detrimental effects of a nation’s economy, unemployment and poverty are the primary causes of addiction and substance abuse by teenagers and young adults in Nigeria. Though the Nigerian government had made efforts to create jobs, it must be realized that to reduce unemployment in any country, all hands must be on deck, individuals, private sectors and government at all levels.

 

Ogbe (2006) stated that job creation acquired through youth empowerment is expected to reverse the structural weakness and imbalance in the economy. This could be achieved by providing strategic focus, direction and inculcating in the youths the right ethics, discipline, value, hard work, honesty, respect and humility among others. To meet up with these challenges facing the youths, the government had embarked on youth empowerment programmes.

 

Youth empowerment according to Okafor (2015) is a process where children and young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. This, the youths can do by addressing their situation and taking action in order to improve their access to resources and transform their consciousness through their beliefs, values and attitudes.

All these efforts of initiating skills acquisition programmes to empower the youths seem not to have yielded desired results. From research, Uka (2015) found that both students and teachers need knowledge of mathematics skills to be good entrepreneurs which implies that there is strong positive relationship between mathematics skills and industrial skills acquisition. This has lent anchorage to this study on industry-related mathematics skills acquisition for job performance by senior secondary school students in Anambra State.

 

Industry-related mathematics skills are the basic mathematics skills that industries are willing to pay for. Mathematics skills are defined as necessary and appropriate skills a mathematician should acquire that can be transferable to job. Enhancing the young person’s employability through sound mathematical skills helps business gain more from the work experience (Kilpatrick, Swafford and Findell, 2011).

 

Simply put, job performance is defined by Natasha, Mariano, Rego, Campos, Ladilucy and Francisco (2018) as all the behaviours empoyees engage in while at work. The acquisition of industry related mathematics skills by senior secondary school students may be related to school ownership and school type.

 

On school ownership and school type, Oredein (2016) showed that both public and private school students can compete on a fair ground with the outcome not being one sided, and that co-educational school students outskilled single-sex students. Also, on school type and ownership, Adeboye (2009), Afolabi (2004), Knudson (2005), Philias and Wanjobi (2011) indicated that type of school and school ownership had effects on the skills acquisition of physics students. Odeleye, Oyelami and Odeleye (2012) revealed that the public school students still outshine their private counterparts in skills acquisition in science subjects.

 

These set of conflicting findings have created the need to embark on this study which seeks to determine the industry-related mathematics skills acquisition for job performance by senior secondary school students.

 

Statement of the Problem

Universities world over are charged with the responsibility of producing the high level man-power in their countries. Regrettably, though, most products of the Nigerian universities are considered to be unemployable in the labour market. This has warranted that Nigerian graduates are now being re-trained as artisans in order to be employed gainfully in industries. It is this inconsistency in policy implementation which has raised a fundamental issue that borders on the adequacy of secondary school curriculum to produce school leavers who are functional and capable of earning their living. Could this inadequacy be routed in the global dread for mathematics and possibly in the inability of the Nigerian students to acquire mathematical skills required for jobs in industries? The problem of this study therefore is ‘what industry-related mathematics skills acquisition have senior secondary school students for job performance in Anambra State?

 

Purpose of the Study

 

The main purpose of this study was to determine industry-related mathematics skills acquisition for job performance by senior secondary school three (SS3) students in Anambra State.

Specifically, this study sought to determine:

Industry-related mathematics skills acquisition by SS3 students in public and private secondary schools.

Industry-related mathematics skills acquisition by SS3 students based on their school type (single-sex boys, single-sex girls and co-educational).

 

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

What are the industry-related mathematics skills acquisition mean scores of public and private secondary school students?

What are the industry-related mathematics skills acquisition mean scores of secondary school students based on their school type (single-sex boys, single-sex girls and co-educational)

 

Hypotheses

There is no significant difference between the mean scores of public and private SS3 secondary school students on industry-related mathematics skills acquisition.

There is no significant difference in the mean scores of secondary school students’ industry-related mathematics skills acquisition based on their school type ( single-sex boys, single-sex girls and co-educational)

 

Method

The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The study was carried out in secondary schools in Anambra State. The population for the study was 42,002 students. The sample for the study comprised 2,495SS3 students in Anambra State. One instrument tagged Industrial Mathematics Skills Acquisition Test (IMSAT) was used to collect data for the study. The IMSAT was validated by three experts. Single administration method was used to establish the reliability test.

 

Reliability estimate of 0.89 was obtained using Kuder-Richardson 20 formula. The IMSAT was administered to 2,495 SS3 students from the sampled schools but only 2154 items were recovered and used foe data analysis. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions while t-Test and analysis of variance ANOVA were used to test the null hypotheses. The decision rule is Mean ≥ 50 is good acquisition .

 

Mean < 50 is poor acquisition for the research questions. In testing hypothesis 1, the decision rule is to reject the null hypothesis if cal. t> crit. t, otherwise, do not reject the null hypothesis for hypothesis 2, reject the null hypothesis if p <0.05, otherwise, do not reject hypothesis.

 

Results

Research Question 1: What are the industry-related mathematics skill acquisition mean scores of public and private secondary school students?

 

Table 1: Mean Scores on the Industry-Related Mathematics Skills Acquisition of Public and Private Secondary School Students.

 

Group

N  

  

 SD

Remark

Public

766

60.96

 14.64  

Good Acquisition

Private

1388

54.75

 13.35

Good Acquisition

 

Table 1 reveals that public students had mean score = 60.96 ( SD = 14.64) while private students had mean score= 54.75 (SD = 13.35).Both public and private secondary school students had scores which are greater than the criterion score of 50, hence, they were considered to have good industry related mathematics skills acquisition in secondary schools.

Research Question 2: What are the industry-related mathematics skills acquisition mean scores of secondary school students based on their school type (single-sex boys, single-sex girls and co-educational schools)?

 

Table 2: Mean Scores on the Industry –Related Mathematics Skills Acquisition of Single-sex and Co-educational Secondary Schools.

 

Group

N  

  

 SD

Remark

Single-sex

432  

64.07

 15.27               

Good Acquisition

Co-educational  

1722               

54.66                 

12.76               

Good Acquisition

 

Table 2 indicates that single-sex schools had mean score= 64.07 (SD = 15.27) while co-educational schools had mean score= 54.66 (SD = 12.76). Now, since both single-sex schools and co-educational schools had scores which are greater than the criterion score of 50, they were considered to have good industry-related mathematics skills acquisition in secondary schools.

Hypothesis 1: There is no significant difference between the mean scores of public and private SS3 secondary school students on industry-related mathematics skills acquisition.

 

Table 3: t- Test of Significant Difference Between the Mean Scores of Public and Private Students on the Industry –Related Mathematics Skills Acquisition.

 

Group

N

 

Sd

df

Cal.t

Crit.t

Decision

Public

766

60.96

14.64

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2152

9.99

1.96

S

Private  

1388

54.75

13.35

 

 

 

 

 

Table 3 indicates that public had mean score = 60.96 (SD = 14.64) while private had mean score = 54.75(SD = 13.35). This has yielded t –value= 9.99 while the critical t = 1.96 at df = 2152. Now, since the calculated t value is greater than the critical t value, the calculated t value of 9.99 was considered to be significant at 0.05 level of significance. This has warranted the rejection of null hypothesis and the acceptance of the alternative hypothesis which states that there is significant difference between the mean scores of public and private SS3 secondary school students on industry-related mathematics skills acquisition. Public schools’studentsoutskilled the private schools’ students with high mean score.

Hypothesis 2: There is no significant difference in the mean scores of secondary school students’ industry –related mathematics skills acquisition based on their school type (single-sex boys, single –sex girls and co-educational schools).

 

Table 4: Analysis of Variance ANOVA on the Mean Scores of Secondary School Students’ Industry-Related Mathematics Skills Acquisition Based on School Type.

 

 

Source of Variation  

SS

df

MS

Cal.F  

Cal.p

Decision

Between Groups  

28281.248  

2

14140.623  

75.693  

0.000               

S

Within Groups  

401839.909  

2151

186.815

 

 

 

Total

430121.156  

2153

 

 

 

 

 

Table 4 shows that at 0.05 level of significance 2df numerator and 2151 df denominator, the calculated F= 75.69 with calculated P value = 0.00 which is less than 0.05.This has warranted the rejection of the null hypothesis and the acceptance of the alternative hypothesis which states that there is significant difference in the mean scores of secondary school students’ industry-related mathematics skills acquisition based on their school type (single-sex boys, single-sex girls and co-educational schools).Single-sex schools students outskilled their co-educational counterparts with high mean score.

 

Discussion of the Findings

 

The findings of research question 1 and hypothesis 1 revealed that both public and private secondary school students had good industry-related mathematics skills acquisition in secondary schools. There was significant difference between the mean scores of public and private SS3 secondary school students on industry-related mathematics skills acquisition, in favour of public school students with high mean score.  The finding of hypothesis 1 concurs with the finding by khun-Inkeere, Omar-fauzee