Effects of School Location and Teachers’ Quality on Students Performance in Business Studies Examination in Public Secondary Schools in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State

The purpose of the study is to find out the effects of school location and teachers’ quality on students performance in Business Studies Examination in public secondary schools in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State Nigeria. Four research questions guided the study, and the expost facto research design was used for the study. The population of the study was 2579 students that sat for Business Studies in the Basic Education Certificate Examination in public secondary schools in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State for 2016/2017 Academic Session. No sampling was done population was used as sample for the study, as well, no instrument was develop for data collection, data were collected on request from Ministry of Primary and Basic Education, Sapele Field Office. Data collected were analysed using simple frequency count and percentage for the research questions. The results show that location does not have significant effects on students’ performance. Also, the findings revealed that qualification of teacher has significant effects on students’ performance. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that school location does not have significant effects on students’ performance in Business Studies examination in secondary schools in Delta State. As well, teachers’ qualification has significant effects on students’ performance in Business Studies examination in secondary schools in Delta State. Hence, it was recommended amongst others that Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education should employ qualified teachers to teach Business Studies in secondary schools in Delta State.


Introduction
Nigeria education pattern shifted from 6-3-3-4 to 9-3-4 system of education. According to Okolocha and Onyeneke (2013) Nigeria educational policy has been changing from one system to another in a bid to meeting local educational demands and international best practices in education. According to Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN, 2008), the 9-3-4 comprises of six years of primary school categorised into lower basic (1-3) and middle basic (4-6); three years of junior secondary school (JSS 1-3) now called upper basic and three years of senior secondary school (SSS 1-3) and four years of tertiary education. According to FRN (2004), the goals of the national policy on education for secondary education which stipulated that secondary education is an instrument for national development that fosters the worth and development of the individual, for further education and development. The role of secondary education is to lay the foundation for further education.
business and industry at the junior secondary school level. Business studies are taught as integrated subjects such as book keeping, commerce, office practice, shorthand and typewriting. These subjects are offered by students in secondary schools at the junior and senior secondary level of education. Akiri and Ugborugbo (2009) posited that the issue of poor academic performance of students in Nigeria has been of much concern to all and sundry. The problem is so much that it has led to the widely acclaimed fallen standard of education in Delta State and Nigeria at large. Okolocha and Onyeneke (2013) reported that the available records of some secondary schools visited revealed that, out of 1530 students that sat for business studies examination, only 699 got credit and above while others were either pass, failed or result withheld. As well, fieldwork carried out in selected Secondary Schools in Anambra State of Nigeria with respect to Nigeria Examination Council Organization (NECO), West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) and Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) results revealed poor performance of students in Business subjects (Nwogu, 2011).
The academic achievement of a school child in any school subject can be attributed to many factors. According to Nwachukwu, (2004) the factors responsible for low achievement could be associated to socio-economic, gender, teacher, and school location. These factors as expressed by these researchers could contribute positively or negatively to the academic attainment of a school child. In fact, two of these factors are of interest in this study, that is, the school location and teacher quality.
Over time pupils' academic performance in both internal and external examinations had been used to determine excellence in teachers and teaching (Ajao 2001). Poor academic performance of students in Nigeria has been linked to poor teachers' performance in terms of accomplishing the teaching task, negative attitude to work and poor teaching habits which have been attributed to poor motivation (Ofoegbu 2004). According to Afe (2001), teachers have been shown to have an important influence on students' academic achievement and they also play a crucial role in educational attainment because the teacher is ultimately responsible for translating policy into action and principles based on practice during interaction with the students. According to Ewetan and Ewetan (2015), the issue of teacher as a factor that affects students academic performance has received a lot of attention in the literature and findings have been mixed and inconclusive, while some literature revealed that a number of teacher variables which include years of teaching experience, academic qualifications, teacher development programmes, availability of qualified teachers, teacher-student ratio, teacher attitude, degree of job satisfaction, motivation and salary affect students learning outcomes. Whereas, other literature found that these teacher variables had no significant influence on students' academic performance. Akinfe, Olofinniyi and Fashiku (2012) reported that professionally qualified/trained teacher is an important teacher quality which enhanced students' academic performance. Similarly, Okoye, Momoh, Aigbomian, and Okecha (2008) study revealed that the teacher quality had positive significant relationship with performance in secondary schools in Delta State. Furthermore, Akpo (2012) reported that teacher educational qualifications have significant relationship with students' academic performance in junior secondary certificate Mathematics results in Namibia. However, Duze (2012) reported contrary view that teachers' qualification has no significant relationship to students' academic performance in public junior secondary schools (JSS) in Delta Central Senatorial District of Delta State.
Others believed that school location affects students' performance. The location of a school could be an urban or rural area. According to Funk and Wagnalls (1993) in Idialu (2013), urban areas are those thickly populated towns or cities with the basic amenities and facilities that make life comfortable, while rural areas are those places distinguished from towns and cities with little or no basic amenities or facilities. Nelson (2004) asserted that students from rural areas performed better than their urban counterparts in verbal aptitude, English language and total score using the National Common Entrance as a base. On the contrary, Reeves and Bylund (2005) do not see the relevance of school location whether urban or rural, to the academic achievement of students. They asserted that there is no clear evidence that rural school students are inferior to urban school students though there may always be differences in student academic achievement irrespective of where the school is sited. Similarly, Zappala (2002) in Idialu (2013) found out that location significantly influenced students' academic performance and there was significance difference in the performance of students from urban and rural schools in mathematics in Australia. As well, Idialu (2013) citing Onyeagu (2000) reported that, there is no locational influence on the performance of students.
It is against these backdrops that the researcher felt the need to conduct this research to find out the effects of school location and teachers' quality on students' performance in Business Studies Examination in public secondary schools in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State Nigeria.

Statement of Problem
The performance of students in Business Studies examination in public secondary schools in Delta State is worrisome, one may wonder why this is so. Some scholars believed that students from secondary schools in urban areas perform significantly better than their counterparts from secondary schools in rural areas because they felt that secondary schools in urban areas have quality human and material resources for the implementation of Business Studies curriculum. Hence, the need to conduct this study to find out the effects of school location and teachers' quality on students performance in Business Studies Examination in public secondary schools in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State Nigeria.

Significance of the Study
This study will be significant to Federal and State Ministry of Education, school principals, Business Studies teachers, and future researchers. To the Federal and State Ministry of Education, the findings from the study will reveal the effects of teachers' quality and school location on students' performance in Business Studies examination in junior secondary schools. As well, the findings from the study will help school principals and Business Studies teachers to know the performance level of students in Business Studies based on teachers quality and school location. Furthermore, the findings of the study will help future researchers to draw inference when conducting related research.

Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to find out the effects of school location and teachers' quality on students' performance in Business Studies Examination in public secondary schools in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State Nigeria. Specifically, the study seeks to find out:

Scope of the Study
The study was conducted to ascertain the effects of school location and teachers' quality on students' performance in Business Studies Examination in public secondary schools in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State.

Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study:

Methods and Procedure
Expost facto research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 2579 students that sat for Business Studies in the Basic Education Certificate Examination in public secondary schools in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State for 2016/2017 Academic Session. No sampling was done population was used as sample for the study. No instrument was develop for data collection, rather the researcher wrote a letter to the Chief Inspector of Education, Ministry of Primary and Basic Education, Sapele Field Office to request for students' examination scores in Business Studies for 2016/2017 Academic Session, as well as the distribution of Business Studies teachers based on schools and qualification. Data collected were analysed using simple frequency count and percentage for the research questions.

Results
The results were presented based on the research questions: Research Question 1: What is the performance of students from rural area in Business Studies Examination for 2016/2017 Academic Session in public secondary schools in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State?

Discussion of Results
The results will be discussed based on research questions: The results revealed that the performance of students from rural and urban area in Business Studies Examination for 2016/2017 Academic Session in public secondary schools in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State was satisfactory. The results show that location does not have significant effects on students' performance. These findings is in line with Reeves and Bylund (2005) who believed that school location whether urban or rural does not affect academic achievement of students. On a contrary, Zappala (2002) in Idialu (2013) found out that location significantly influenced students' academic performance and there was significance difference in the performance of students from urban and rural schools. As well, Idialu (2013) citing Onyeagu (2000) reported that, there is no locational influence on the performance of students.
Also, the results revealed that the performance of students in Business Studies Examination for 2016/2017 Academic Session in public secondary schools in Sapele Local Government Area of Delta State taught by teachers with N.C.E and B.Sc Ed was satisfactory. The findings revealed that qualification of teacher has significant effects on students' performance. This finding is in line with Okoye, Momoh, Aigbomian, and Okecha (2008) study which revealed that teacher quality had positive significant relationship with performance in secondary schools in Delta State. Also, Akpo (2012) reported that teacher educational qualifications have significant relationship with students' academic performance. However, Duze (2012) reported contrary view that teachers' qualification has no significant relationship to students' academic performance in public junior secondary schools (JSS) in Delta Central Senatorial District of Delta State.

Conclusion and Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that school location does not have significant effects on students' performance in Business Studies examination in secondary schools in Delta State. As well, teachers' qualification has significant effects on students' performance in Business Studies examination in secondary schools in Delta State. This implies that students' performance in Business Studies examination in schools that have highly qualified teachers performed significantly better than their counterparts who were taught by teacher with low qualification. Hence, the following recommendations were made based on the findings from the study: i. Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education should employ qualified teachers to teach Business Studies in secondary schools in Delta State. ii. Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education should introduce Business Studies teachers development scheme to enable teachers with lower qualification upgrade their knowledge. iii. Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education should evenly distribute teachers with respect to their qualification and school location. iv. Delta State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education should establish more secondary schools in rural areas.