CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF STUDY
The social and economic development of any country is correlated with the quality of students produced, which in turn is directly linked to the students’ academic performance. Students are most essential asset for any educational institute. The student’s performance in anay course of study plays an important role in producing the best quality graduates who will become great leaders and manpower for the country (Ali, Kamaruzaman, Ali, Mokhtar, Salamt & Syafena, 2009). Schools, colleges and universities have no worth without students (Mushtaq and Khan, 2012). The question of whether all students have the same chances to succeed at University is still a source of concern (Smeding, Darnon, Souchal, Toczek-Capelle & Butera, 2013). Meanwhile, it has been argued that the attitude of a parent influence the academic performance of a student. That irrespective of the equal opportunity provided by the university system for excellent academic performance among all the students, explicit difference can be observed between those students who belong to different financial status and different parental educational level as well as parental attitude (Musarat, Sundus, Faqiha, Fozia & Ayesha, 2013). These obvious differences in the student’s socioeconomic backgrounds are issues of concern in terms of student’s academic performance in the university system especially the accounting students.
Accountancy is now well established as an elite professional occupation in most parts of the world and most of this status has been afforded through an association with educational qualifications. However, while the numbers of students that are undertaking business degrees is on the rise in most countries, the number of business students that are majoring in accounting has been decreasing.
Knowledge explosion and information revolution of today provides an opportunity for acquiring global knowledge. This revolution however is placing serious demand for adequate investment in human capital development. This is because in a globalized world, natural resources are no longer the key to effective competition. The key is knowledge which is acquired through formal education. According to The American Accounting Association (AAA 1986) Accounting and finance education is that field of education that generates human resource capacity for the provision and application of qualitative information, primarily financial in nature, about economic entities that is intended to be useful in economic decisions. This information allows users to make reasoned choices among alternative uses of scarce resources in the conduct of business and economic activities. The need for accounting therefore arose in response to the desire to make judicious use of scarce resources, accumulate wealth and produce high quality of goods and services in a competitive economy. To perform these roles, accountants are needed both in number and in quality and this is a function of the level of accounting education available (Armstrong, 2010). An appropriate level of accounting education must embrace the development of the character of the aspiring accountant in such a manner as to engender in him or her a strong moral code; a sense of discretion; an almost total commitment to the confidentiality of information or data established as a result of work carried out; an enquiry and analytical mind consistent with providing clients with high standards of professional services; an ability to assess data and situations and to prepare reports in such a way as to impress upon users of accounting services that their problems have been addressed in ways consistent with the highest ideals of a true professional, a sense of dress and carriage designed to develop a confidence in the competence and probity of the practitioners within the profession (Kimmel, 1995; Maher,2000;Ravenscroft & Williams, 2003).The importance of Accounting and Finance education as a tool for the rapid socio-economic development have long been recognized by Nigerians. To justify this, reasonable efforts have long been made over the years for the advancement of the profession in the country. Prominently among such efforts is the establishment of the first indigenous professional accounting body, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). It was established by an Act of parliament in 1965. ICAN was and is still responsible for the training and certification of professional accountants in Nigeria. It participates in the regulation of general accounting practice in Nigeria. In 1993, another professional accounting body was formed via a decree No. 79 of 1993. The body is called Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN). The association is responsible for ensuring the best practices in the profession and also participates in the general regulation of accounting practice in Nigeria.Despite all these efforts however, Accounting and finance education in Nigeria is faced with series of challenges ranging from poor resource allocation, inadequate human capacity, narrow curricular e.t.c. (Arnold, 2000).Nigeria over the years have witnessed incidences of financial scandals. The Unilever Plc and Cadbury Nigeria Plc are cases in point. There are certainly other instances of financial scandals both in Nigeria and elsewhere that are not publicly discussed. The collapse of these corporations arising essentially from failures in their accounting practices has far reaching implications for accounting and finance education in Nigeria as well as for the accounting professional bodies. It is an indictment of the quality of the accounting education system and hence the need to evaluate the quality and relevance of accounting education delivery in Nigeria. (Ezeani, 2012).
Over the past several decades, scholars are concerned with the poor academic performance of children in general. The research studies revealed that various factors are responsible for scholastic failure of students, such as low socio-economic background, student’s cognitive abilities, school related factors, environment of the home, or the support given by the parents and other family members and parents attitude among others (Khan & Malik, 1999; Fan, 2001; Gonzalez- Pienda, Nunez, Gonzalez- Pumariega, Alvarez, Roces and Garcia, 2002) Generally, institutions are considered as places which provide appropriate learning environment for a child, but importance of parents attitudes and community cannot be ignored. Parents, adult family members, and siblings contribute significantly to various components of personality of the child particularly and in improving his/her academic performance.
The pivotal role of parents attitude still continues as it has been recognized by the teachers and parents themselves that they are essential for complete development of the personality and career of their children especially in accounting in higher institution. Gonzalez- Pienda, et al.,(2002) indicated that “without the children's parental support, it is hard for teachers to devise academic experiences to help students learn meaningful content” (p.281). In home settings, the learning processes occur explicitly or consciously, often in an informal way. Parents teach and train children early in their lives, the fundamental skills, attitudes and values necessary for day-to-day living (UNESCO, 1992). The unwritten knowledge being conveyed by parents to their children is specific and to a certain degree, specialized, i.e. that which would enable the children to cope successfully with the requirements of the immediate confines of homes and the community and the school as well.
Hence, the calls for this research an appraisal of attitude of parents towards accounting education as a course in higher institution.
- STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
In most Nigerian tertiary institutions today, academic performance is still not at its best which is evident from the grades that most students get at the end of a course of study which has continued to be on a steady decline. This has been the case at the Department of Accountancy, University of Nigeria, where records have shown that while the numbers of Nigerian enrollment into undergraduate accountancy programmes has been increasing, the proportion that tends to take it up to higher degree postgraduate levels is on the decrease. Some public analysts had from time to time expressed worries over this gap. In work place environments, questions are being raised regarding the quality of accounting graduates which calls for concern among all stakeholders in accounting education over the possible cause of this steady decline in academic performance of an accounting student. Some have fingered parental economic backgrounds, while others point to general decline in academic standards as the cause for this.
In the light of the above problem scenario, this study was focused on the parents attitudes, with special emphasis in the Department of Accountancy, University of Nigeria, bearing in mind that accounting as a core course in the university is still generally regarded as the language of business. It is still generally viewed as a social instrument cum device that enabled humans to better comprehend and control the world of business. It is a tool that enabled business people to quantify, summarize and interpret the abstract processes of businesses that could be evidenced by transactions captured within as an income statement or double entry accounting information. As such should be given a special attention especially from the parents.
This study therefore attempted to find out parents attitude towards accounting education as a course in higher institution of Nigeria.
- AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
The main aim of this research is an appraisal of attitude of parents towards accounting education as a course in higher institution. Other objectives of this study include:
1. to determine the relationship between parents attitude and accounting education as a course in higher institution.
2. to examine how parents attitude influence course of study of their children.
3. to identify the challenges towards accounting education as a course in higher institution.
4. to identify factors that influence a student’s choice of career and decision to pursue accounting study.
5. to investigate students attitudes towards accounting education in higher institution
6. to examine the perceptions students on accounting profession in higher institution.
7. to proffer solutions to the challenges towards accounting education as a course in higher institution.
- RESEARCH QUESTION
1. What is the relationship between parents’ attitude and accounting education as a course in higher institution?
2. How does parents’ attitude influence the course of study of their children?
3. What are the challenges towards accounting education as a course in higher institution?
4. What factors influence a student’s choice of career and decision to pursue accounting study?
5. What are student’s attitudes towards accounting education in higher institution?
6. What are the perceptions of students towards accounting profession in higher institution?
7. What are the solutions to the challenges towards accounting education as a course in higher institution?
- STATEMENT OF RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
1. H0: attitude of parents has no significant effect towards accounting education as a course in higher institution.
2. H1: attitude of parents has significant effect towards accounting education as a course in higher institution.
- SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The study will so much be of importance to Nigerian parents in understanding that whatever attitude they show or put will determine how far their child/children will go in life. It is important for parents to give a positive attitude towards any chosen career of their children; it will so much be a motivating factor to the child.
Accounting career is of utmost important to every society in terms of their socio-economic development as such students need to look towards that course of study with full support and confidence. This study will enlighten students who are studying or intending accounting students to understand the importance of accounting in the society and in our individual lives as well.
The study will further, help enlighten parents that a child should not be forced to study what he/she isn’t interested in or have passion for. If its accounting course he/she wants to study, the parents should have a positive attitude towards the child’s decision and offer necessary support.
More so, this study will help management of higher institutions to understand they have a major role to play too in the accounting department by providing the necessary instructional materials needed to study and make the study of accounting quite an interesting course to study.
Finally, the study will serve as an added knowledge to researchers who would want to further investigate on the topic of research.
- SCOPE OF STUDY
The study will cover an appraisal of attitude of parents towards accounting education as a course in higher institution.
- LIMITATION OF STUDY
1. Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
2. Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.
- DEFINITION OF TERMS
Appraisal: an act of assessing something or someone.
Attitude: a settled way of thinking or feeling about something. Attitudes are the views a person takes about objects, people group and issues. Overall attitude can be positive, negative, neutral and can be vary from situation to situation. Attitude is central concept in social science because it plays an important role in influencing much different behavior. Attitude is the broader term and an attitude represents general orientation of the individual. Interest on the other hand is more specific and directed towards a particular objects or activity. Attitude are acquired through experiences social interaction but once established they tend to be relatively enduring. People in their daily life interact with different people, the people views about certain thing change by interaction
Parents: a person's father or mother.
Accounting: Accounting is the process of recording financial transactions pertaining to a business. The accounting process includes summarizing, analyzing, and reporting these transactions to oversight agencies, regulators, and tax collection entities.
Education: the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.
Course: a course is a unit of teaching that typically lasts one academic term, is led by one or more instructors, and has a fixed roster of students.
Higher institution: Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education.
