CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The Nigerian government in her National Policy on Education (2004) sees major subjects like mathematics, English language and economics as one of the core subjects to be offered at the senior Secondary School level. Despite this, there are some psychosocial factors that are affecting the teaching and learning of Economics. It should be noted that no great cornerstone of our understanding about the psychosocial factors affecting the teaching and learning of Economics is either erected or overthrown. Psychosocial factor is referred to the psychological and social factors that may or mar the study of a subject or course. The school, home background and the interest of the student stand out as strong variables in explaining variation in the teaching and learning of Economics in senior secondary schools.
Again, it could not be established that differences among school related arrangements bear any direct simple universal relationship to teaching and learning of Economics performance especially when the home and interest factors are held constant. Consequently, it should be noted that most students get a lot out of school, the highest variations in the teaching and learning of Economics is observed around that basic levels may be attributed more to home and interest than to school differences. Cultural and psychosocial learning theories have not been used to explain the factors aecting the performance of students in the teaching and learning of Economics. This is because no literature has been established in this area of study. However, in order to promote effective teaching and learning of Economics, the secondary school, home and the interest of the students are pertinent factors that must be considered. According to Cohen et al. (2003), school fees constitute an important for schools and represent potential for creating an enabling teaching and learning environment Cohen et al. further stated that school with few financial resources tend to perform poorly in relation to school with greater finances. Oyenuga (2007) linked poor teaching and learning to shortage of qualified teachers and this accounted for poor academics performances in senior secondary schools.