Inter Relationship of Factors Impacting Academic Performance The Case of Senior High School Students at The Bekwai Municipality of Ghana
Inter Relationship of Factors Impacting Academic Performance The Case of Senior High School Students at The Bekwai Municipality of Ghana
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his or her strengths and limitations, to identify his or her interests, to aid him or her in
planning for attaining realistic goals". She further regarded it as a process of helping the
individual to be aware of her or her personal identity and to build interpersonal
relationships. Guidance can thus help an individual to realise himself or herself, his or er
potentialities, attitudes, capabilities, interests, abilities, needs and aspirations in order to
formulate his or her own goals and make adequate plans for realizing those goals.
Guidance and counselling is the bedrock for achieving self-actualisation.
Effective guidance and counselling services in schools cultivate in the students
good attitudes and behaviour leading to a fruitful life. A student who loses confidence in his
or her ability and who devalues himself or herself lacks concentration and this may lead to
continuous academic failure (Rutondoki, 2000:63). The provision of guidance and
counselling services in schools may help curb these problems. UNESCO (2002:1) states
that "where there is no guidance and counselling, schools lose those children who are
not able to cope with specific academic standards". Guidance and counselling service
enhance students' performance, improve students' attitudinal determinants, reduce
student dropout rates and prepare students for the world of work and life (Chireshe
2006:28). Brock (2010) state that students who receive guidance and counselling services
have shown significant increases in academic persistence and achievement, school
attendance, classroom behaviour, better self-concepts and improved attitudes towards
school work and peers. In the light of the above discussions, we can deduce that guidance
and counselling affects the formation of attitudes of students.
Various studies (Dikko, 2008, Bakori, 2008 & Kagu, 2002) have shown that
academic achievement is linked with a number of variables. Such variables may include
motivation, level of intelligence, teachers' professionalism, self-concept, study habits,
attitude to school and attitude to an academic subject. There is no doubt that these
factors constitute an integral part of educational success. Study habits are said to be "all
the skills and techniques put together in devotion to acquire more knowledge" (Dikko,
2008:113). Owusu-Acheaw & Larson (2014) once defined study habits as a well-
planned and deliberate patterns of study which has attained a form of consistency on
the part of students towards understanding academic subjects and passing
examinations. Kagu (2002) and Acqyuino (2011) viewed study skills as instrumental to
effective learning and subsequent higher academic performance. Study habits of the child
definitely play an important role in his/her academic achievement.
A number of empirical studies revealed that students’ study habit is related to mass
failure. Abayomi (2008) in his study of the factors responsible for effective study habits in
high schools in Kebbi State, Nigeria, found that some students performed woefully in
examination not because they are not intelligent but because they were too anxious and
also lacked the techniques for developing effective study habits. He recommended the
development of study habits right from primary schools as this will give a more lasting
effect under the use of effective study skills. Dikko (2008) in his study; an analysis of
different study habits and their effects on Academic performance of students in Federal
College of Education Katsina discovered that, there is a significant relationship
between students’ study habit and their academic performance. Similarly, Adane (2013)
in her studies among students in Junior High School in Aburi, Ghana, found that
poor study habits ranked high when compared with other factors responsible for poor
academic performance. Attitude to school plays an important role in the development
of the child's behaviour and thus in the academic achievement of the child. One can
also see that the way a child views his school, his teachers and the school environment
has significance in shaping academic achievement.
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3. Hypotheses
This study tested the following null hypotheses:
1. There is no significant relationship between guidance and counselling awareness and
study habits of SHS students in the Bekwai Municipality of Ghana.
2. There is no significant relationship between guidance and counselling awareness and
students' attitude to school of SHS students in the Bekwai Municipality of Ghana.
3. There no significant relationship between study habits and academic
performance of SHS students in the Bekwai Municipality of Ghana.
4. There is no significant relationship between attitude to school and academic
performance of SHS students in the Bekwai Municipality of Ghana.
5. There is no significant relationship between academic achievement and students'
attitude to school of SHS students in the Bekwai Municipality of Ghana.
4. Methodology
4.4 Instrumentation
Four different sets of questionnaires were employed as instruments for the study.
The questionnaires were adopted from the Federal Ministry of Education Questionnaire,
Attitude to School Scale (ATS"), Study Habits Inventory ("SHI") by Dikko (2008),
Guidance and Counselling Services Provision Rating Scale ("GCSPRS")
constructed by Kolo (2000) and Self constructed Achievement Tests in English and
Mathematics.
5. Research Findings
From 1, the correlation index of r-cal stands at 0.676 while r-crit stands at 0.345. The
high value suggests that the degree of relationship between scores from guidance and
counselling and those of study habits is significantly high. The positive value
of the r-cal coefficient is an indication that the two variables are positively
related, that is the nature of movement between the variables is direct. The value
also indicates fairly strong degree of correlation between the two variables under
study. While the high value of correlation coefficient remains very important.
In view of the above, the null hypothesis was hereby rejected. This meant
there is significant relationship between guidance and counselling awareness and
students' study habits.
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As shown from table 2, it can be seen that the correlation coefficient between
scores on attitude to school and those of guidance and counselling awareness is both
significant and positive. The value of the r-cal stands at 0.690 while r-crit stands at
0.346. This indicates a strong and positive relationship between the variables. This
discovery also leads us to reject the null hypothesis. Therefore, there is significant
relationship between guidance and counselling awareness and attitude to school.
From table 3; the value of correlation coefficient is value of the r-cal is 0.791
while the r-crit is 0.326. As can be seen, the r-cal is high which indicates a relationship,
the null hypothesis is hereby rejected. Meaning there is significant relationship between
academic achievement and guidance and counselling awareness.
From table 4; it can be seen that the r-cal is positive and stands at 0.702 while r-
crit stands as 0.428. Following this finding, the correlation coefficient is high, thus
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Results from table 5, shows r-cal is 0.706 and r-crit is 0.428. The findings
indicates that the r-cal is high and positive, therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected.
In other words, there is a significant relationship between academic achievement and
attitude to school.
6. Discussion
The findings in this study indicated that there was a significant relationship
between guidance and counselling awareness and study habits. In other words the
provision of guidance and counselling in these SHS has made the students to develop
effective study habits. This can be seen from the analysis of hypothesis one. Therefore,
guidance and counselling if well planned, guided and effectively provided has the capacity
of improving the study habits of students. This finding is in line with Dikko (2008) who
discovered that students study habit have a significant relationship with guidance and
counselling.
From the result of the findings of hypothesis two, it was observed that a significant
relationship exists between guidance and counselling and student attitude. This study also
observed that there is a significant relationship between guidance and counselling and
students' attitude to school. This can further be seen from the result of the analysis of
hypothesis three. This indicated that the provision of guidance and counselling in these
SHS has made the students to develop a positive attitude towards the school. This is in
agreement with Gysbers & Henderson (2014) who states that guidance and counselling is
considered an important part of the educational process as it enables the student to adjust
better and fit in the SHS system. When a learner is well adjusted in school and is assisted in
finding his or her way around the complicated curriculum, the individual will definitely
develop a positive attitude towards the school.
It was observed from the analysis of hypothesis four that there is a positive
relationship between guidance and counselling and students' academic achievement. This
means that the educational information on their ability, aptitude and interest they get
through guidance and counselling awareness adds knowledge to improve their performance.
Lehr & Sumarah (2002) also concur with this finding when they state that schools with
fully implemented guidance and counselling services had students who earned higher
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grades. In relation to this finding also, Kay, Muola & Ondima (2019) found that
underachieving students who received guidance and counselling improved significantly in
their grades and self-rating scale of classroom behaviour.
The fifth hypothesis showed no significant relationship between
students’ academic achievement and their study habits was also rejected. That is to say
there was a significant relationship between students’ academic achievement and their own
habits. In other words, positive study habits, improve students' academic achievement. This is
in agreement with Rabia et al., (2017) who in their study found that poor study habits is
responsible for poor academic performance among students. Similarly, Kagu (2002)
emphasized that faulty or defective study habits are responsible for mass failure and
examination malpractices in Nigeria. Sambo (2008) also agrees with this finding when he
stated that students' academic problem include failure to learn how to study well. Abayomi
(2008) is also in agreement with this finding as he states that students' poor study habits is
related to mass failure. This means that when one has a positive attitude towards school, he or
she is likely to perform better academically and when he or she has a negative attitude
towards school he or she is likely to perform poorly.
7. Conclusions
From the findings of this study, it is concluded that guidance and counselling has a
positive relationship with students' study habits, students' attitude to school and students'
academic achievement. Guidance and counselling also assists students to overcome negative
parental expectations. It is also concluded that students' study habits and students' attitude to
school have a significant relationship with their academic achievement. In sum, students in
SHS need guidance and counselling and that these services should be provided by
professionally qualified counsellors.
8. Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are proposed:
• The Ghana Education Service should also monitor and supervise the efficiency
with which the guidance and counselling services are rendered. Since guidance and
counselling has a significant relationship with students' study habits.
• Headmasters and headmistresses should provide adequate resources for the
effective running of guidance and counselling in their schools. This includes
providing office space, time slots on the time-table during which students will be free
from regular teaching-learning chores to seek guidance on individual or group basis.
• Guidance Counsellors should give maximum attention to students no matter the class
level. The students need to understand themselves, their individuality, their aptitude,
attitudes and abilities to plan, decide and choose to succeed in life. They should
provide relevant and useful materials. These materials should include information
that is valid and accurate, which will assist the student in making a choice and
adjustment.
• The Guidance counsellor needs to provide the right therapeutic atmosphere during
counsellng sessions to encourage students to open up to them. This will help them
to feel free to discuss their challenges pertaining to study habits, choose of subject
combinations and other personal issues which may service as a barrier to good
academic performance
confidentiality. Before each respondent was given a set of all the questionnaires to
fill, their written informed consent was sort and they were made aware that
participation was voluntary.
Conflicts of Interest
The author do hereby declares that, no conflict of interest regarding the publication of
this paper exist.
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