CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background Of The Study

Government teachers training colleges are institutions set up by the government to train teachers to teach in primary schools. According to the National Educational Policy, the quality of education is directly related to the quality of instruction in the classrooms. It is a fact that the academic qualification, knowledge of the subject matter, competence and the skills of teaching and the commitment of the teacher have effective impact on the teaching learning process. yadred and Singh (1988) state that the quality improvement in education depends on proper training of teachers. The teacher cannot play any of the roles except he is properly trained. According to Crytal (1997), a teacher is an art; it can be refined by training and practice. The availability of competent teachers is central in the re-construction of the educational system.

Teacher training colleges constitute part of secondary education. These institutions admit candidates through a competitive examination that is made up of written and the oral parts. Candidates are usually those who have completed first and secondary school cycle of education. The duration of entry as prescribed by the 1998 law, is 2 or 3 years depending on the entry qualification.

Before the introduction of western education, Africans had their own system of education and Cameroon was not an exception. This implied in the south west region as well and Fako Division in particular. This system of education is derogatorily called Traditional Education. The greater portion of this system of education was informal. It was acquired by the youths from the examples of the elderly people in the society (Dewey in Ornstein and Lewine, 1998). This system of education grew from the environment of the people and it was related to the pattern of work in the society.

Despite its apparent informal nature, traditional education has clear goals. It believes that education is for every child and exists for the purpose of strengthening the community. There were no dropouts because steps were taken to ensure that there was promotion from one step to the next in child’s education and well tested teaching methods such as games including riddles, legend and acting all related to culture and tradition of the tribe (Farrant, 1980).

The success of this method of teaching depended on the quality of adult (teacher) who taught. Technical skills were learned by apprenticeship and principles and the teacher pupil ratio were good relative to the traditional methods in education in Africa and Cameroon in particular and the need for different teachers as the children matured was reorganized. Hence, the quality of a teacher was of great importance in the African Traditional Education (Cameroon in particular) as it greatly influenced the youths’ (students’) achievement.

Rodney (1972) has shown that among the Bamba of Zimbabwe, for example, children could be the age of 6 (six) and are able to name 50 species of tree plants. This was an indication of the quality of adult (teachers) who handed down this knowledge to the youths. The knowledge of the trees was necessary in an environment of, “cut and burn agriculture” and in a situation where most of their daily needs were satisfied by tree products. Hence, the important features of the system were in sharp contrast to the system imposed by colonialism.

The following aspect of pre-colonial education has been considered outstanding. Rodney (1972) identified these features; its cooperate or collective nature, its many sidedness and its progressive development in conformity with the successive stages of the physical, emotional and mental development of the child. Thus through purely informal means, pre-colonial African education correlated with the realities of the society (Rodney 1972).

The fact that the pre-colonial African society produced well rounded personalities meant that they had quality adults (teachers). This explains why they were able to produce well rounded personalities, which goes to confirm their educational achievements. After the traditional education, came the “Western” education with Christian missionaries as their agencies. Education from this period moved from informal as practiced by Africans to formal as practiced by the western European countries. Gwei (1975) stresses that, “education shifted from informal to formal with the introduction of schools, students and teachers”.

The first formal institution in Cameroon was opened in 1844 by Reverend Joseph Merrick who was later joined by Alfred Sakar in Bimbia (Victoria) present day Limbe, and the second primary school was opened in Bethel (Douala) competence.

The aim of schooling at this time was the provision of basic skills in, Arithmetic, Writing and Reading (3Rs) which were meant to foster evangelization. Even though emphasis was placed only on arithmetic, writing and reading (3Rs), teacher quality was significant especially as he or she was seen as an exemplary character for learners to emulate. For example, the teacher’s physical appearance as evidenced in his or her dressing, movement and manner in which he or she spoke, his or her interactive skills with learners and the community and his or her caring nature, all had an impact on students’ academic achievement.

During the post-colonial period, educational policy in Cameroon like in other African countries underwent a radical change. Whereas in the colonial era education was designed to serve colonial interest, in the years following the achievement of independence; education has been designed to meet the needs of national development.

The opening of the government teachers training colleges in the Fako Division, precisely Buea was an attempt to improve on the quality of the teacher and the quality of education in Cameroon. Generally, there were varied opinions as to the meaning of teacher’s quality. Some people see teacher’s quality in terms of knowledge of the subject matter. Others see it in terms of teacher qualification, attitude, classroom management, lesson preparation, methodology and physical appearance.

The concept of teacher quality as seen by Hammond (2000) includes knowledge of subject matter, general academic ability, intelligence, behavior and practice. Rowe (2002) sees teacher’s quality in terms of class size, qualification and school size.  Santrock (2004) sees teacher quality in terms of professional knowledge and skills. This means that, teachers should have good command of their subject matter and a solid core of teaching skills.

From the point of view of the National Goal Panel in America (1988), teacher’s quality is seen in the light of recruitment strategy and professional development. From the Cameroonian perspective, recruitment of public secondary school teachers is carried out through selection. This selection or recruitment of teachers can be done through interviews, study fields, but especially and preferable through competitive written examination (Tsafac,2003). The above assertion is also supported by decision number 04/0252/MINESUP/DDES/PEEX of May 2004, which launched the competitive entrance examination and the selection for admission into year one, second cycle of Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS) Yaoundé.

As concerns professional development, a teacher should be able to know pedagogy, that is, the various methods of teaching and evaluation. He or she should be able to know educational psychology, administration and legislation and rules governing schools, to be qualified as a quality teacher (Tsafac, 2003).

In Cameroon context, teacher quality can be seen in terms of academic qualification, professional training, seminars, and longevity of service and pedagogic practice. In terms of academic qualification, a secondary school teacher in Cameroon should be a holder of a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent. Professionally, a public secondary school teacher is expected to have undergone training in a professional school. He or she is expected to be holder of diplome pour les professeur de lycee` d`enseignement General (DIPLEG). Meaning Diploma for assistance teachers of training colleges (Tchombe, 2000).

Teacher quality can also be seen in terms of lesson preparation, methodology and evaluation strategies. Tsafac (2003) points out that everyone can teach, but to teach well we must of necessity master the general and special didactics specific to our subjects. Given that assessment is to be closely linked with the teaching processes, the teacher must equally study and master methods of assessment of the syllabus and of learning by the students.

This therefore means that the teacher should know how to set a faithful and valid examination, know how to conduct it and how to mark and interpret it. Besides the above, teacher’s physical appearance as seen in his or her attire, the language he or she uses, his or her social and moral rectitude also account for teacher quality. In the context of this study, teacher`s quality will be seen in terms of teacher teaching experience, teacher`s academic qualification, teacher’s personality traits and motivational aspects.

Statement Of The Problem

Adesina (1988) states that, the quality of education in a given country is reflected by and related to the men and women who serve as teachers in the school system. In 1990, the Nigerian National Curriculum Conference described a teacher as a key man in the educational program. This declaration shows that the teacher is the main actor as regards educational achievement.

This definition does not show whether the teacher is an ordinary level holder, advanced level holder, a postgraduate student, or a properly trained teacher from a training college; this brings us to the variables of teachers` academic qualification.

Also, the definition does not state how long a teacher has taught before he or she can be called a teacher. This brings the factor of teaching experience, also the where and how the teacher was trained also determines the quality of the teacher which greatly affects the academic performance of students. Also, it is clear that there are also many institutions which award certificates to claimed teachers. Some of these institutions are state universities, private universities, professional universities, and vocational institutions.

The kinds of certificates awarded in these institutions are: Degrees, Master’s Degrees, Ph.D (Doctor of philosophy), HNDs (Higher National Diploma), Advanced level certificate and Ordinary level certificates. Research has proven that the qualification of a teacher has not been clearly defined whether he or she is a holder of a specific certificate of those mentioned above. Thus, the various qualifications or certificates awarded to teachers in non-professional training institutions also greatly proves the competence of the teachers, thus greatly affecting students’ academic performance or achievement. Whereas the definition of a teacher does not bring out the distinction between the various teachers as far as the certification is concerned. It has been defined (Wikipedia) training is teaching or developing oneself or others with skills which have as its goals, improvement on ones capacity, production and performance. By this statement, it is clear that teachers qualification needs to be looked at if it bears the following characteristics of training because the various training fields will impact information to students differently thus, differences in students’ academic performance.

Tcombe (2000) in Ndongko and Tambo (2000) assert that, by 1967, the poor performance in the educational system were attributed to the quality of teachers in view of the fact that, the success of any educational system depends on the quality of the teachers. This therefore places the teacher at the helm of the educational system.

More and more teachers are being trained in the Government Teachers Training Colleges (G.T.T.Cs), but despite this the academic performance of students is still not improving. This has motivated the researcher to investigate teacher quality and its likely effects on students’ academic achievement.

Objectives Of The Study

General Objective

To find out how teacher’s qualification affects students’ academic performance, government policy on education, teachers competence and examination policy.

 Specific Objectives

1. To find out if teacher’s teaching qualification affects students’ academic performance or achievement.
2. To find out if teacher’s training affects students’ academic achievement.
3. To find out if non-professional qualification affects students’ academic achievement.

Research Questions

General research question

Does teacher’s qualification affect students’ academic achievement?

Specific research questions

1. Does teacher’s teaching experience have an impact on students’ academic performance or achievement?
2. Does teacher’s training affect students’ academic achievement?
3. Does non-professional qualification affect students’ academic performance or achievement?