School Certificate

Abstract: We study the impact of an innovative program in the Indian state of Bihar that aimed to reduce the gender gap in secondary school enrollment by providing girls who continued to secondary school with a bicycle that would improve access to school. Using data from a large representative household survey, we employ a triple difference approach (using boys and the neighboring state of Jharkhand as comparison groups) and find that being in a cohort that was exposed to the Cycle program increased girls' age-appropriate enrollment in secondary school by 32 percent and reduced the corresponding gender gap by 40 percent. We also find an 18 percent increase in the number of girls who appear for the high-stakes secondary school certificate exam, and a 12 percent increase in the number of girls who pass it. Parametric and non-parametric decompositions of the triple- difference estimate as a function of distance to the nearest secondary school show that the increases in enrollment mostly took place in villages that were further away from a secondary school, suggesting that the mechanism of impact was the reduction in the time and safety cost of school attendance made possible by the bicycle. We also find that the Cycle program was much more cost effective at increasing girls' secondary school enrollment than comparable conditional cash transfer programs in South Asia.

Abstract: 2 Abstract: This study analyzed the science process skills in West African senior secondary school certificate physics practical examinations in Nigeria for the periods of 10 years (1998-2007). Ex-post facto design was adopted for the study. The 5 prominent science process skills identified out of the 15 used in the study are manipulating (17.20%), calculating (14.20%), recording (13.60%), observing (12.00%) and communicating (11.40%). The results also showed high percentage rate of basic (lower order) science process skills (62.80%) as compared to the integrated (higher order) science process skills (37.20%). The results also indicated that the number of basic process skills is significantly higher than the integrated process skills in the West African senior secondary school certificate physics practical examinations in Nigeria. It is recommended that the examination bodies in Nigeria should include more integrated science process skills into the senior secondary school physics practical examinations so as to enable the students to be proned to creativity, problem solving, reflective thinking, originality and invention which are vital ingredients for science and technological development of any nation.

Abstract: This paper examined the number of qualified teachers and its relationship to students' academic performance in public secondary schools in a sample of Local Government Areas (LGA) of Osun State. This descriptive study used a post-hoc dataset. An instrument titled “Quantity and Quality of Teachers and Students' Academic Performance” (QQTSAP) was used for the study. Twenty-one (21) public secondary schools, one in each LGA from a population of thirty-one (31) LGA in the State, were sampled. The Senior School Certificate Examination results from 2000/01 to 2004/05 were used to analyze students' academic performance and reflected some concerns in the school system. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and Spearman rank correlation coefficient to test the three operational hypotheses. Findings of this study showed teachers’ qualifications, experience and teacher–student ratio were significantly related to students’ academic performance. These findings can be used to guide planners about the need for qualified teachers to facilitate effective teaching and learning in secondary schools in Nigeria.

Abstract: List of Illustrations Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations A Note on Sources Introduction: Themes and Problems History Goes to School, 1900-18 History in Peace and War, 1918-44 History and the Welfare State, 1944-64 History for a Nation 'In Decline', 1964-79 History in the National Curriculum, 1979-2010 Conclusion: Perspectives and Suggestions Appendixes: A. Names of interviewees B. Names of lenders and donors C. School Certificate examination syllabuses in 1923 D. History syllabuses from the 1970s onwards E. History examination results, 1919-2010 F. Principal education ministers, 1900-2010 G. A Note on the History in Education website Notes Index