CORRELATION OF SECRETARIAL STUDENTS’ PRE-ND AND ND FINAL EXAMINATIONS IN FOUR SECRETARIAL COURSES AT FEDERAL POLYTECHNICS IN NORTH-CENTRAL NIGERIA (1995/1996 – 2001/2002)

Abstract

Admissions  into  Diploma  programmes  in Nigerian  Polytechnics  are  in principle,    through    passing    the    Polytechnic    Joint    Matriculation Examinations,  in addition to possessing  a minimum of  four (4) credits including   English  Language   and  Mathematics.   Prospective   diploma candidates  with  the  required  qualifications  were  not  able  to  fill  the provisions made in the various Polytechnics and Monotechnics. This led to  the  introduction   of  the   Preliminary   National  Diploma  (Pre-ND) programme to upgrade ‘O’ Level passes to credit level passes in order to qualify deficient  candidates. This programme has been on especially in secretarial studied since 1989 preparing students for the ND programme in  lieu   of  JAMB  Examination.   As  a  means  of  evaluation  of  the programme   vis-à-vis   it’s  meeting   the  objectives   for  which   it   was introduced and its consistency with the ND programme objectives, there arose the need to correlate the students’ performance at Pre-ND and ND final examinations.  The purpose of this study therefore was to find the correlation  (relationship)  between  secretarial students’  performances  in Pre-ND and ND final examinations. Three selected Federal Polytechnics in the North-Central area of Nigeria, were studied. A population of 720 secretarial  students  who passed through the Pre-ND  programme  in  the three Polytechnics studies were used for the study, covering a period of five years. Five years Pre-ND and ND examinations results of secretarial students were used for data generation, while data were analyzed using mean,  Pearson’s  Product  omment  Correlation,  t-test  of significance  of correlation  coefficient  and  ANOVA.  It  was  found  that  there  existed positive correlation between Pre-ND and ND examination performances, though there were some variations in individual Polytechnics. It was also found  out  that  performance  in  Pre-ND  examination  could  serve  as  a

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predictor   of   secretarial   students’   performance   in   their   ND   final examinations.  No  significant  differences  were  discovered  among  the Polytechnics  studied  in  the  correlation  coefficients  of  their  secretarial students’ Pre-ND and ND examination performances within the five years studied. It was concluded that since positive relationship was established between   Pre-ND   and  ND  final   examination   performances.   Pre-ND examination  result  was  a  good  and  reliable  means  of  preparing  or qualifying candidates for the ND programme in secretarial studies as an alternative  to  JAMB  examinations.  It  was  recommended  that  Pre-ND result continues to  be used in admitting students into the ND secretarial studies as a remedial programme. Areas that could not be covered by this study were also suggested for further research work on them.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION Background of the Study

The  quest  for  acquisition  of  technology  and  other  technology-based education in Nigeria is as old as the day it dawned on the Nigerian people and government that the type of education bequeathed by the colonial masters is not enough for meeting the development needs of the nation. The educational legacy left by the colonial rulers in Nigeria was only viable in the world of classics. The realities of life as discovered later after Nigeria’s independence was that only technology and technological education  can transform the economic and social life of the people to the level that  can withstand the test of time. Interaction of Nigerians with the developed nations like United States of America, Japan, China and even other developing countries, has revealed that the key to development is in technology and  commerce; and certainly not in the literaries nor classics as

believed in the colonial era, (Thaku, 1981).

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Several   efforts   were   made   to   realistically   acquire   the   “key”   to development (technology and modern commerce). In 1977 the efforts at having a purposeful  policy  on education  was revisited  with a view to  concretizing  the previous  moves.  In  1981  the  policy  so  formulated  was  revised  with  some emphasis   accorded   vocational   education   –   a   foundation   for   technology acquisition. As a proof of government’s commitment to this

yearning,  a  conference  was  organized  by  the  government  to  fashion  out  a curriculum suitable for the development of technology. In 1989 a new curriculum was  introduced  for  Nigerian  Polytechnics  to  serve  as  guide  and  minimum standard for them, in order to actualize the much needed qualitative vocational education. To promote and maintain the standard  expected, the National Board

for   Technical   Education   (N.B.T.E.), 1the   body   responsible   for   regulating

vocational   and  pre-vocational   education   in  all  Polytechnics   spelt  out   the minimum entry requirement for admission into Nigerian Polytechnics and other allied tertiary institutions.

The Polytechnic education is comprised mainly of science/technology and business  studies.  Admissions  into  diploma  programmes  in  these  areas  are  in principle, through passing the Polytechnic Matriculation Examination, in addition to possessing at least four credit level passes at ‘O’ Level examinations (WAEC or  NECO)  which  must  include  English  Language  and  Mathematics.  Meeting these requirements proved difficult for prospective candidates due mainly to the ever  increasing  poor  performance   at  SSCE  or  GCE  and  of  late,  NECO examination,  and prospective  diploma  students’  inability to pass matriculation examinations. Hence the need for the introduction of the preparatory programme

known as Pre-National  Diploma (Pre-ND)  in both the science/technology  and

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business studies, which include the discipline of secretarial studies, now Office

Technology and Management (OTM) .

In  view  of  the  above-mentioned  militating  factors  against  the  direct admission  into  the  National  Diploma  programme,  and  the  fervent  desire  by Nigerians to produce people with vocational skills in both modern business and technology  through  the  polytechnic   medium,   the  Pre-ND   programme   was introduced to:

1.   Upgrade the ‘O’ Level pass grade to credit level passes so as to qualify the deficient   candidates   for   admission   into   the   National   Diploma   (ND) programme proper in the Nigeria Polytechnics and Monotechnics.

2.   Introduce  the  candidates  to  vocational  training,  which  may  lead  to  the acquisition of entry-level skills for employment purpose within the proposed field of study. (NBTE’s Minimum Standard and curriculum, 1989).

The pre-ND is a two semester programme of study at the end of which successful students are admitted into the ND programme,  having  thus met the required  qualification.  The Pre-ND  programme  in Secretarial  Studies,  like its counterpart disciplines is meant to solve the deficiency problem in its student’s intakes  for the ND programme.  It  is a discipline  that  is purely vocational  in content and context.

One of the objectives of the Pre-ND programme, especially in Secretarial Studies, apart from the upgrading of prospective diploma students’ qualifications, is to introduce the students to vocational training which may lead to entry level skills  for  employment  purpose  within  their  proposed  field  of  study  (NBTE,

1989). As a vocational discipline Secretarial Studies programme  includes  four

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principal courses, which are taken at both Pre-ND and ND levels. They include: English, Shorthand, Typewriting and Economics.

As at the time of this study, all the Federal Polytechnics  in the  North- Central States had adopted the system of admission into ND programme through the Pre-ND programme. In this way the Pre-ND programme seems to have been generally accepted as a dependable method of students’ admission into the ND programme   of   study   (including   Secretarial   Studies)   in   all   the   Federal Polytechnics in the North Central States. It could be opined therefore, that there is some level of positive relationship between students’ performances at both Pre- ND levels of study.

Whenever rational mankind or a group of them embark on any project or engage  in a process of accomplishing  a specific  task or objectives  they  have always found it necessary to halt at a point to look back at what they have done so far. This has always enabled mankind to review the extent to which they have fared, whether well or otherwise.

This describes what could be called evaluation. In the educational  field there are many opinions of evaluation, but in this study the concept is limited to the aspect that concerns the evaluation of programme objectives, particularly as it affects the operation of the polytechnic curriculum. It is in  view of the need to evaluate  educational  programmes,  in order  to  judge  the  extent  of success  or otherwise of the programmes that this researcher has deemed it an imperative to carry out a study of the correlation of the students’ performances at Pre-ND and ND levels, comparing their  performances  as measured by their mean scores in

both final examinations.

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In  view  of  the  nature  of  the  programme  being  purely  a  vocational discipline, and the expected consistency in its course content; the researcher has chosen secretarial  studies  as a sample  discipline  to be used  in the attempt  at establishing  the relationship  between  Pre-ND  and ND  examination  scores  by Secretarial  Studies  students.  The  four  selected  courses  in  Secretarial  Studies discipline   that   are   the   principal   courses,   were   considered   necessary   for determining the relationship between the students’ scores at the Pre-ND level and the ND level examinations in the three selected Federal Polytechnics in the North Central  States  from   1995/96  to  2001/2002   sessions.   The  researcher   also considered  it  necessary  to  seek  to  establish  the  level  of  consistency  in  the relationship between the students at both levels of examination in the four central courses.

Statement of the Problem

One  of  the  innovations  in  the  admission  policies  of  the  Polytechnic system in Nigeria was the introduction of the ‘Preliminary  National Diploma’ (Pre-ND) programme.  The innovation was aimed at  enhancing students’ intake into the Polytechnics outside the normal Joint  Matriculation Examination.  The Pre-ND, a two-semester programme is used to upgrade students’ qualifications, which  were  deficient  for  admission  into  the  ND  programme.  The  results  of students in the Pre-ND examinations are used to qualify students for admission into   the   ND   programme,   in   lieu   of  the   Joint   Admission   Matriculation Examination  (JAME).  This method has been in use in all Polytechnics  in the North Central State in Nigeria including the Federal Polytechnic Bida, Nasarawa and Offa. One may not contend the fact that any good method used for admission

of students should reflect some degree of consistency in their performances at the

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two levels of their evaluation. It is therefore expected that students’ mean scores at both Pre-ND and ND final examinations in the principal courses,  should be related and consistent to certain degree to justify the use of Pre-ND as a method of qualifying students for admission into the ND programme.

At the time of this study, it was not certain whether the performances at both levels of examination  were related.  If they were related,  it was  also  not certain whether the relationship was significant. Furthermore,  if there was any different  between  the  students’  performances  at  the  two  levels  of  the  final examination, it was still not certain whether the performances at both levels differ significantly in their relationship.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to correlate secretarial students’ performances at the Pre-National Diploma and National Diploma levels of final examinations in four selected principal secretarial courses, in Federal Polytechnics in the North- Central States of Nigeria. The study specifically sought:

1.   to  determine  the  type  of  relationship  existing  between  the  secretarial students’ performance in the Pre-ND and ND final examinations within the period under study;

2.   to  determine  the  degree  of  significance  in  the  relationship   existing between   secretarial   students’   Pre-ND   and   ND   final   examination performance;

3.   to determine the extent to which Pre-ND examination performance  is  a

predictor of students’ performance in ND examination;

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4.   to determine  if there  is any significant  differences  among  the  Federal Polytechnics under study in the correlation coefficients of their students’ performances in Pre-ND and ND final examinations;

Significance of the Study

The result of this study will be of immense benefit to the NBTE in  its programme review exercises since the study will reveal the strength or weakness of the Pre-ND examination  scores used as an alternative  means  of qualifying deficient students for the ND programme in Secretarial Studies. The regulators of Polytechnic education, the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) will also  find  the  results  of  this  study  useful  for  the  evaluation  of  polytechnic education  programme  generally.  Nigerian  Polytechnics’  authorities  and  the teachers in Secretarial Studies programme will find the result of this study as an eye opener and instrument for directing and redirecting efforts toward the goals and  objectives  of the  Pre-ND  and  ND  programmes  in Secretarial  Education. Educational programme planners and administrators of secretarial education will equally find the result of this study useful in their evaluation of the success and/or failure of the Pre-ND Secretarial Studies programme. Others who will find the study useful include educational researchers who would want to research further into the findings of this study.

Research Questions

This study was guided by four research questions according to the specific purposes of the study. They include:

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1.   What   type  of  relationship   exists   between  the  secretarial   students’ performance  in the  Pre-ND  and  ND  final  examinations  within  period under study?

2.   What is the degree of significance in the relationship existing between the secretarial   students’   performance   in   their   Pre-ND   and   ND   final examinations?

3.   What is the degree of Pre-ND examination performance of the secretarial students as a predictor of their final ND final examination performance in the individual Polytechnics?

4.   What is the degree of difference among the Polytechnics under study in the correlation  coefficients  of students’  performance  Pre- ND and  ND

final examinations?

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Hypotheses

Ho1                          There is no significant difference (P<0.5)    in    the    degree     of correlation   which   exists   between   the   Pre-   ND   and    ND performance of the students according to the years of study.

Ho2                          There  is  no  significant   difference   (P<0.5)  in  the  degree   of correlation   which   exists   between   the   Pre-   ND   and    ND performance of the students according to the various polytechnics.

Delimitation of the Study

This study was only concerned with determining the relationship between secretarial students’ scores in their Pre- ND and ND final examination from 1995 to 2002, in the three selected Federal Polytechnics in the North-Central States of Nigeria viz, Federal Polytechnics, Bida, Nasarawa and Offa.

The correlation of the performances was done only in the four principal secretarial courses (English, Economics, Shorthand and Typewriting), which are available at both Pre- ND and ND levels. The study did not include the methods of the teachers  at both levels, and the scoring  criteria  by the two sets of the programme course teachers in any of the  three polytechnics. The study did not include the performances of the students admitted through JAME. The study only examined  the performances  of students  at Pre- ND and ND programme  final examinations as measured by their mean scores in the two levels of examinations.

Assumptions of the Study

Three assumptions were held to ensure the validity and reliability of the study. They include:

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1.   That the approved results of the Pre- ND and ND final examinations were externally moderated by external examiners in each of the three  sample polytechnics studied.

2.   That  the  minimum  standard  as  prescribed  by  the  National  Board  for Technical Education (NBTE) was properly followed at both levels in each of the polytechnics under study.

3.   that the approval of the examination  results  by the different  academic boards of the selected institutions would constitute enough validation of instruments through which data were collected.

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