Teachers’ Teaching Experience and Educational Qualification as Correlates of Academic Performance of Students in Public Secondary Schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria

The study examined the influence of teachers’ teaching experience and educational qualification on academic performance of students in public secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The purpose of the research is to find out the relationship between teachers’ teaching experience, educational qualification and academic performance of students in public secondary schools. The descriptive research of the survey type was employed for the study. The study revealed that there was significant relationship between teachers’ teaching experience, educational qualification and academic performance of students. The study had shown that teaching experience and educational qualification had influence on academic performance of students.


Introduction
Academic performance could be described as the scholastic standing of a student at a given examination. According to Omolayo (2009), the scholastic standing could be explained as the grades obtained in a course or group of courses taken. In collaboration with Omolayo (2009), Bello, Ibi and Bukar (2016) commented on the scholastic standing of students and argued that performance is a measure of output and that, the main outputs in education are expressed in terms of learning, that is, changes in knowledge, skills and attitudes of individuals as a result of their experiences with the school system. It has been observed that by the researchers that, performance of students in public secondary schools in Ekiti State is below expectation in the external examinations like the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) conducted by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC). According to Oluwole (2017), in 2014, West African School Certificate Examination result, Ekiti State public secondary schools were occupying 12 th position; in 2015, they managed to clinch the 11 th position and in 2016, they were occupying 11 th position against 28 th position in 2013. In 2017 and 2018, Ekiti State public secondary schools occupied 11 th position respectively (Ekiti State Ministry of Education).
Teaching experience of a teacher can be measured based on the teacher's ability around comprehension and transformation of knowledge, concept to be imparted to learners. Teaching experience suggests that the most significant gains in students' performance will likely be realised when students receive instruction from teachers with good teaching experience. The underlying assumption is that, experience appears to promote competence. It appears, students attain higher levels of achievement when taught by more experienced teachers.
It has been observed by the researchers that the newly employed graduates are placed directly in Senior Secondary School classes with little or no experience to teach. This seems to be wrong because, they are supposed to be monitored and mentored by the experienced teachers. In essence, they are not to be teaching higher classes until when they have gathered enough expertise. The penetration of this system into teaching and learning seems to hinder proper coordination of the students. Hence, it appears, academic performance of students may be negatively affected.
According to Darling-Hammond (2000), teacher qualification combines both aspect of knowledge about the subject matter with learning and teaching. It appears, teachers who have the required qualifications to teach are not considered for employment and this might be because of the financial implications. It seems, an unqualified teacher cannot prepare students for external examinations like, the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
Teaching experience includes participation in professional development activities geared towards equipping the teacher for better service delivery. Rodniques and Mckay (2010) defined experienced teacher as those who have taught for many years (five year and above) and are able to motivate students and hold their attention, know how they manage their lesson, classroom effectively and can change cause in the middle of a lesson. Boyd, Grossman, Lankford, Loab and Wyckoff (2008) believed that greater teaching experience will produce students with greater academic performance.
Report by Darling-Hammond (2009) showed that on average, teacher with more than 10 years of experience are more effective than teachers with little or no experience but are not more effective than those with 5 years of experience. Akpo (2012) examined the impact of teacher-related variables on students in Junior Secondary School Certificate Mathematics results in Namibia, found out that, teaching experience was related to students' academic performance in JSC Mathematics. In the same vein, Ewetan and Ewetan (2015) in their study, teachers teaching experience and academic performance in Mathematics and English Language in public secondary schools in Ogun State, Nigeria found that teachers' teaching experience has significantly influenced students' academic performance in Mathematics and English Language.
In a study conducted by Abu and Fabunmi (2005) on the relationship among teachers variables and adult learners' academic performance in the part-time sub-degree programme of the University of Ibadan, Nigeria; it was discovered that there was a significant and positive relationship between teacher's qualification, age, years of teaching experience, teacher-learners ratio and adult learners' academic performance. Adeyemi (2008) examined teachers' teaching experience and students' learning outcomes in secondary schools in Ondo State, Nigeria and revealed that teachers' teaching experience was significantly related to students' learning outcomes.
According to Darling-Hammond (2000), teacher qualification combines both aspect of knowledge about the subject matter with learning and teaching. Akinsolu (2010) also investigated teachers' and students' academic performance in Nigerian secondary schools and its implications for planning found out that teachers' qualification, years of experience and teacher-student ratio were significantly related to students' academic performance. Ngware, Oketch, Mutisya and Abuya (2010) countered that teacher may be qualified and trained but still no effective learning may take place in the classroom.

Methodology
The descriptive research of the survey type was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 203 secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria (Source: Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission). There were 7,538 teachers in public secondary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria as at the time of this study (Source: Ekiti State Teaching Service Commission). The sample for the study was 500 teachers.
Multistage sampling procedure was used for the study. The first stage involved simple random technique to select two local government areas from each of the three Senatorial Districts. The second stage involved the selection of 10 schools from the selected local government areas using stratified simple random sampling technique. The third and the last stage involved the selection of 10 teachers from each of of the 50 schools using purposive simple random sampling technique.

Results
The two hypotheses formulated for the study were tested as shown in tables 1 and 2.  Table 1 shows the relationship between teachers' teaching experience and academic performance of students. The result obtained from the analysis shows that the value of r-calculated (0.739) is greater than r-table value of (0.088). Therefore, the null hypothesis earlier formulated is rejected. This then means that there is significant positive relationship between teachers' teaching experience and academic performance of students.  Table 2 shows the relationship between teachers' qualification and academic performance of students. The result obtained from the analysis shows that the value of r-calculated (0.793) is greater than r-table value of (0.088). Therefore, the null hypothesis earlier formulated is rejected. This then means that there is significant positive relationship between teachers' teaching qualification and academic performance of students.

Discussion
The study revealed that there was significant positive relationship influence of teachers' teaching experience on academic performance of students. This means that teaching experience of teachers will enhance the academic performance of students. This finding is in support of Boyd, Grossman, Lankford, Loab and Wyckoff (2008) who believed that greater teaching experience will produce students with greater academic performance; Darling-Hammond (2009) who reported on average, teacher with more than 10 years of experience are more effective than teachers with little or no experience; and Ewetan and Ewetan (2015) who found out that teachers' teaching experience has significantly influenced students' academic performance in Mathematics and English Language.
The study also revealed that there was significant positive relationship influence of teachers' qualification on academic performance of students. This means that qualification of teachers will enhance the academic performance of students. This finding is in support of Akpo (2012) who found out that teacher educational qualification is related to students' academic performance in JSC Mathematics; Abu and Fabunmi (2005) who discovered a significant and positive relationship between teachers' qualification and adult learners ' academic performance.