ANALYSIS OF ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SCIENCE- RELATED GRADUATES ADMITTED THROUGH UTME AND UTME/POST- UTME IN NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA

Abstract

The main focus of this study is to examine the entry mode that has yielded better academic performance of graduates, an analysis on academic performance of Science-related graduates admitted through UTME only and those admitted through UTME/post-UTME in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka became of great essence. It was an ex-post facto research type. The study was guided by three research questions and three null hypotheses. The study covered eight academic sessions, four years before the introduction of Post-UTME from 2001 – 2005 and four years after the introduction of Post-UTME from 2005 – 2009. The population of the study was 35,308. The sample was 1928 drawn from the department following the admission and registration lists of those who were admitted through UTME only and those admitted through UTME/Post-UTME respectively. Two instruments were used for data collection, which included Admission list and student’s academic records. Mean statistics was used to analyze the research question while the null hypothesis was tested using z-test at 0.05 level of significance. The finding revealed the following; the academic performance of science-related graduates admitted through UTME/post-UTME from 2005-2009 was higher than that of their counterpart admitted through UTME only from 2001-2005. Based on the findings the study recommended among others that; Federal government and National university commission (NUC) should mandate every Nigerian universities to conduct post-UTME screening exercise for its obvious reason of producing graduates with better academic performance. Also post –UTME should be reinstated as a functional screening exercise for admission into Nigerian universities.