SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS SELF-CONCEPT AS A CORRELATE OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN BASIC SCIENCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN AWKA EDUCATION ZONE, ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated Secondary school students’ self-concept as a correlate of academic achievement in Basic Science in Awka Education Zone in Anambra State, Nigeria. The research design adopted for this study was correlational survey. The population of the
study consists of 5,388 students in junior secondary schools in Awka Education Zone, Anambra State. Simple random sampling technique was used to draw a sample size of 150 junior secondary schools students of 2022/2023 academic session from different schools in Awka Education Zone, Anambra State. The data used for the study were collected using questionnaire and the past annual records of students in Basic Science in 2022/2023 academic session obtained from the sampled schools. Three research questions guided the study and three null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data collected were analyzed using simple Linear Regression analysis. The findings of the study revealed that there is a moderate positive and significant relationship between secondary school students’ self-concept and their academic achievement in Basic Science. The study also revealed that there is a moderate positive and significant relationship between male secondary school students’ self-concept and their academic achievement in Basic Science and also there is a moderate positive and significant relationship between female secondary school students’ self-concept and their academic achievement in Basic Science. Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations among others were made: Educational guidance services should be made mandatory in schools and educational stakeholders should equally focus on the self-concept of both high and low achieving students.