Quality of teaching mathematics and opportunity to learn standards provided for Junior High School pupils on their performance in Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the Kadjebi district of the Volta region

Abstract

Performance in mathematics by students has persistently been poor. This study sought to investigate the impact of quality of teaching mathematics and opportunity to learn standards provided for Junior High School pupils on their performance in Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE). The study also sought to establish the strategies that could be adopted to improve performance in the subject by students in Kadjebi District of the Volta Region. The population for the study was two-hundred respondents which comprised of third year students from ten(10) randomly selected Junior High Schools, 10 Mathematics teachers and twenty (20) parents or guardians. The data for the research was collected by the use of questionnaires, test items, interviews and observation guides. The design used in the study was mixed method research design which emphasized qualitative and quantitative methods. Simple random sampling was used to select the sample for the study. Descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation were used to analyse the data. It was found that the major factors that contributes to poor performance are, inadequacy of teaching and learning materials, lack of textbooks and resources such as computers, projectors, chalk, and others, parents or guardians socio-economic status, methods employed by mathematics teachers and inadequate opportunity to learn standards provided to pupils. It was recommended that mathematics teaching and learning should be based on student-centred and discussion approaches coupled with problem solving techniques.