CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Education is very important in our country of today because the economic, social, political, and cultural development of every individual living within the country is thanks to education. In Cameroon, education has contributed to the economic growth rate of the country.

Education can be defined as a process of acquiring knowledge, skills, and attitudes for the complete functioning of an individual-Education can be informal (at home, church, media) or formal (takes place in the classroom). In the classroom setting, education has various subjects in the teaching-learning process. These subjects help students to learn and to know their strengths and weakness on these subjects.

It also gives feedback to the teacher about the intellectual skills of the students and what they know as far as the subject is concerned. One of the subjects studied in secondary schools in Cameroon is history and world history in particular.

Education is viewed as an instrument for achieving national unity, political stability, equality and mobilizing all the potentials of a nation and education is a top priority and is provided by the state and private individuals (Ryburn and Forge, 1995).

World History is taught today in many of our secondary schools particularly it begins in form four and is written in the GCE Ordinary level and advanced level. History is therefore the study of past, present, and future events. World History in particular is the study of the past, present, and future events occurring in the universe.

World History for more than 20 years has been written in the GCE Ordinary and Advanced Levels in section C of the History. The performance of students in World History has varied because sometimes students perform well and most at times they perform poorly in the examinations. For this reason, the parents, teachers, students, the educational society, and the Ministry of Secondary Education have been seeking ways to remedy this situation.

Attitude is defined as a tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain idea, object, person, or situation. There are four components of attitude: the affective, the cognitive, the conative, and the evaluative attitude. Attitudes influence students’ choice of subject and responses to challenges. This influence students attitude towards World History, and their achievements in the subject.

Statement of Problem

History and World History in particular is one of the subjects taught in our secondary schools in Cameroon. World History has a great impact on each individual and helps in development since, through our past, we can correct the present and perfect the future leading to development. Also, histories are things that are happening around us and things seen listed and watch on TV and radio that are occurring in the world.

Even though world history is things that we have seen, hear or watch students still perform poorly in world history which is section C of History. Worried by this, the researcher seeks to know secondary school student’s attitudes towards world History and its impact on their achievement.

Purpose of the Study

General objective

This study seeks to investigate secondary school student’s attitudes towards world History and its impact on their achievement in the Buea Municipality.

Specific Objectives

1. To investigate the impact of numerous dates of events in world history in secondary schools and its impact on student’s achievement
2. To investigate the broad nature of world history in secondary schools and its impacts on student’s achievement
3. To examine the names of people and places in world history in secondary school and their impact on students achievement

Research Questions

The following research questions were raised to guide the study

1. How does the broad nature of World History affect secondary school student’s achievement?
2. How do dates of events in World History affect secondary school student’s achievement?
3. How do names of people and places in World History affect secondary school students’ achievements