AN INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF ACCELERATED PROMOTION ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF JUNIOR SECONDARY STUDENTS IN BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

The enrolment of primary four and five pupils into Junior Secondary School one also known as Upper Basic 1 in the Nigerian educational system and even in some parts of the world is astronomically on the increase. This has reduced the number of years required for pupils to sit for cognitive and placement examinations.  When these children passed the examination, they are moved to Junior Secondary school, or high school not taking cognizance of the fact that making them take the jump without completing the scheme of work for those classes they jumped will affect their performance in the future. This jumping or skipping of classes is known as acceleration or automatic promotion. Above all, will the children with this poor foundation be able to compete favorably with others who spent the required six years?. This study, therefore, investigated the effect of accelerated promotion on the academic performance of secondary school students in Benin City, Nigeria. The population consisted of primary four, five, and six, pupils admitted into the Junior Secondary School one (JSS 1) in the 2019/2020 academic session in Benin City. The sample size for the study was 600 students selected from primary four, and five pupils admitted into JSS1. The instrument for the study was a proforma designed by the researcher. The data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, mean, standard deviation, one-way Analysis of Variance, and two-way Analysis of Variance at a 0.05 level of significance.  The findings that emerged from the study showed that the rate of primary four and five pupils admitted into Junior Secondary School one was high, the pupils in primary six that were admitted into Junior Secondary School one performed better than those who were admitted into primary four and five. It was also revealed that school ownership, parents’ socio-economic status, and qualification had a significant effect on primary four and five pupils’ admission into Junior Secondary School one. However, students’ gender and school location did not yield significant effects. It was therefore recommended that stakeholders in education should be sensitized on the danger of accelerated promotion of students from lower class to higher ones, and privately owned secondary schools should be monitored on the issue of accelerated promotion of pupils from primary four, five to Junior Secondary School one.