Influence Of Human Resource Management On Students’ Academic Performance In Public Secondary Schools In Zone A Senatorial District Of Benue State

ABSTRACT


INTRODUCTION
The recent deterioration in the excellence of secondary school graduates has given stakeholders much concern because their performance has not been good enough. The persistent poor performance of secondary school students in the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) in Nigeria and Benue State, in particular, is alarming. The human resources available in secondary schools in Education zone A of Benue State for students' academic performance in WAEC are known to suffer neglect. Although many scholars have researched the causes of poor students' academic performance, the current researcher is of the view that lack of good human resource management practices such as teachers' training, development, and promotion could be factors responsible for poor instructional delivery in e-ISSN: 2716-2338 IJEMI Vol.3, No.3, September 2022, pp. 237~246 schools, thereby leading to the student's poor performance in external examinations. It is also asserted that the high rate of failure stems from many factors, including the dearth of teaching aids, lack of infrastructure, poor remuneration for teachers, students' poor attitude to study, et., (The punch, April, 2009). Therefore, proper Human Resource Management is essential for education at all levels, particularly at the secondary school level, to enable them to carry out quality instructional delivery, which will enhance students' academic performance in WAEC and NECO examinations in Education zone A of Benue State. Armstrong (2011) asserted that Human Resources Management is the strategic and coherent approach to managing an organization's most valued assets-the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its goals and objectives. Maduagwu and Nwogu (2006) opined that Human Resource Management involves bringing suitable men and women into an organization, ensuring they work optimally with little or no discomfort in a friendly environment. To this end, there is a need for clear-cut policy concerning staff relations, duties, and most importantly, motivations in remuneration and other staff welfare-oriented policies, which are the core aim of human resource management.
Training as a human resource management practice could be described as the vehicle that takes organizations to their destination within a stipulated time frame. For any society to survive today's competitive world, it must train and retrain its human resources in consonance with its immediate and remote operational environment (Oyeniyan, 2010). Training is "a shortterm educational process aimed at equipping employees with essential skills required for efficiently implementing the functions for which he is hired (Nwachukwu, 2006). Training also refers to an organized procedure by which people learn or acquire knowledge and skills for a definite purpose. Training is a process to get the required skills for a particular subject. The training is a valuable practice for the teachers to enhance their teaching skills. A trained teacher has more skills and techniques to be applied for the better academic achievements of learners (Ulla, 2018). Training is a dimension of human capital development to help employees learn and improve their skills, talents, competencies, knowledge, and creative abilities (Obiekwe, 2018;Olaniyan and Ojo, 2008). According to Raja, Furqan, and Muhammad (2011: P. 7), training has become the most critical factor in the business world today because training increases the efficiency and effectiveness of both employees and the organization.
Training is a systematic restructuring of behavior, attitude, and skills through learning, education, instruction, and planned experience. Adesola (2017) added that training is designed to change or improve the behavior of employees in the workplace to stimulate efficiency. The cardinal purpose of training is to assist the organization achieves its short and long-term objectives by adding value to its human capital. Training and development are not undertaken for the sake of training but rather are designed to achieve some needs. Today, the need for the improved academic performance of students has become universally accepted, and it depends on teaching the ers' efficient and practical training. This high interest placed on the training of teachers is based on the current realization that teachers in any society are its most important assets and the bedrock for the organization's development (Nwaeke and Obiekwe, 2017). Similarly, teachers' performance in any educational system reflects the skills, abilities, knowledge, competency, and expertise the teachers have acquired over time during training and development programs. Obiekwe and Obiekwe (2021) studied imthe pact of teachers training on students' academic performance.
The survey research design was utilized. The sampling method used is the purposive sampling technique. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient was used to test the postulated hypothesis at a significance level of 0.05 percent. The study showed a significant relationship between teachers' training and students' success in external examinations, students' learning ability, and with students' performance in school extra-curricular activities.
Regular promotion is another variable of human resource management. The promotion of an employee involves the movement of an employee from one rank to the other, from a lower level to an upper rank within the same field (Aji, 2021). What employers give their employees as a reward for hard work and advancement in the job is promotion. Promotion can serve as a motivator or de-motivator for employees. It can also promote or hamper the desire of employees to be stable in the job or to leave the job for another one (Nwagwu, 2008).
The teacher's promotion could be termed goal-directed behavior (Ishaka & Waziri, 2019). The teacher's promotion influences an increase in salary packages are also concerned with the individual's desires and how they can be accomplished in the teacher work situations.
According to Luthans (2015), promotions are employed to motivate teachers for better job satisfaction when the other grade level is fully implemented. These are good motivations for work in salary increments, gratuity, and regular promotion, ensuring job security, and establishing cordial relationships among teachers. Ozidi (2008) sees promotion as a positive way employers can reward their employees for their efforts and services on the job. The author also observed promotion as a motivator that can boost the employees' morale and makes them work harder than before. When employees' promotion takes place, they work efficiently and increase productivity. If the promotion does not occur after an employee has worked tirelessly, it dampens their spirit, lowers their morale, and makes them feel frustrated (Ozidi, 2008). Edem (2007) opined that if teachers should notice that their condition of service, which includes promotion, is not in any way comparable to that of their counterparts in other job areas, the result will be a drastic movement of teachers from the profession to other jobs they will consider more lucrative. If teachers are promoted as when due, they will advance in their careers. Advancement in the job will come with higher wages. If teachers, wages are higher than there used to be, that will mean a change in status and prestige. In work (Nwagwu, 2008), the author maintained that the morale of promoted teachers is usually higher than that of those who are not promoted. Armstrong (2001) added that those who receive promotion when they are not expecting it usually is more rewarded than those who wish for it. Research by Udo (2012) revealed that regular promotion significantly influences students' academic performance. Similarly, Jones (2016) found a significant relationship between teacher promotion and students' academic performance. Hodgetts and Attman (2015) maintained that employees who get their promotions on seniority bases are not adequately motivated because they are not getting the promotion based on hard work. Academic performance has been seen differently by different authors. Ifeakor (2012) sees academic performance as a change in behavior exhibited at the end of a given period or within a given time range. Igoche, Ogugua, and Takor (2022) define academic performance as the degree of attainment by students in Schools, colleges, and Universities or fieldwork to which the student is sufficiently exposed. The authors added that academic performance is often associated with students' accomplishment of scientific achievements and skills, impressive test scores, extracurricular achievements, and students' ability to lead if assigned. Ballotpedia (2019), as cited in Igoche, Ogugua, and Takor (2022), defines academic performance as a measure of achievement in which students obtain results from various academic subjects. Academic performance lets us know how much a student has attained the criterion performance.
To achieve high academic performance, secondary schools must effectively manage the available human resources. The human resource management functions or variables such as training and promotion are not separated and distinct. They are highly interrelated.
Educational managers should recognize that decisions in one area may influence other areas.
Stakeholders have observed in education that human resource management, one of the essential ingredients of effective school management, is the most neglected aspect in public secondary schools. Akpakwu, Olaitan has observed, and Sanusi (2014) mentioned that all is not well with the system due to the poor academic performance of students in public secondary schools due to inadequate human resource management. The researcher observed that human resource management in secondary schools had been neglected, and this, more than any other thing, may have influenced students' poor academic performance in secondary schools in education zone A of Benue State. In light of this, the researcher felt the need to investigate the influence of human resource management on students' academic performance in public secondary schools in Benue State.

Purpose of the Study
The study focused on the influence of human resource management on students' academic performance in public secondary schools in education zone A of Benue State.
Specifically, the study seeks to determine the influence of teachers' training and development on students ents' academic performance in public secondary schools in education zone A Benue State and examine the impact of teachers' promotion on students' academic performance in public secondary schools.

Research Question
The following research questions guided the study; What are teachers' training and development influences students' academic performance in public secondary schools in Zone A Senatorial District of Benue State?; What is the influence of teachers' promotion on students' academic performance in public secondary schools?

Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses are formulated and tested at a 0.05 level of significance; there is no significant influence of teachers' training on students' academic performance in public secondary schools in education zone A of Benue State; there is no significant influence of teachers' promotion on students' academic performance in public secondary schools.

METHODS
The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The study population consisted of 1713 teachers in 119 public secondary schools in education zone A of Benue State (Benue State Teaching Service Board, 2022). The study sampled 400 teachers out of the total population of the study using the Taro Yamane Formula.
The instrument adopted for data collection for the study was a structured questionnaire titled "Human Resource Management and Students' Academic Performance Questionnaire" (HRMSAPQ). It is a 10-item questionnaire on a four Likert scale consisting of two sections, A and B. Section A contains the respondents' demographic data. In contrast, section B includes information on the variables of the study. The instrument was pilot tested by using 30 staff from the schools that were not part of the sampled population for the study but within the study population. A trial test was carried out to determine the instrument's reliability. Data collected was subjected to a reliability test using Chronbach Alpha which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.79.
Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions. The Chi-square test of goodness of fit was used to test the hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance.

RESULT
The result is present in line with research questions and hypotheses that guide the study: Research Question 1: What is the influence of teachers' training on students' academic performance in public secondary schools in Education Zone A of Benue State? students' performance, it helps teachers to become competent in their subject which tends to influence students' performance, training also updates teachers with current skills which allow them to improve on their instruction lead to enhance students' performance, training makes teachers creative which improve their efficiency in teaching for better students' performance and that training help teachings to master their subject areas and become effective in education, with the cluster mean of 3.29 also above the mean cut-off point. The result implies that teachers' training influence students' academic performance in public secondary schools.

Research Question 2:
What is the influence of teachers' promotion on students' academic performance in public secondary schools? When teachers' promotions occur, they work efficiently, and productivity will increase, improving students' performance.
400 3.57 .61 Accepted 8 Teachers' promotion motivates them to put in their best foe to enhance student academic performance. 400 3.80 2.85 Accepted 9 Promotion boosts teachers' morale and makes them work harder than before to improve students' academic performance.
10 Teachers' promotion makes them happy, committed, and dedicated to their teaching job, which enhances students' performance. 400 3.20 .66 Accepted Cluster Mean and Standard Deviation 400 3.52 1.05 Accepted Table 2 above shows that items 6-10 have mean scores as follows: 3.62, 3.57, 3.80, 3.39, and 3.20. All the mean scores are above the mean cut-off point of 2.50. this means that respondents have accepted that the prospect of getting promoted makes staff work very hard in the schools, which improves students' performance; when teachers' promotion takes place, they work efficiently, and productivity will increase, which improves students' performance, teachers' promotion serves as a motivator for them to put in their best for enhancing student academic performance, promotion boosts teachers' morale. It makes them work harder than before to improve students' academic performance, and teachers' promotions make them happy, committed, and dedicated to their teaching job, enhancing teachers' performance. With a cluster mean of 3.52 above the mean cut-off point, the result implies that teachers' promotion greatly influences students' academic performance in public secondary schools.

Testing of Hypotheses
Hypothesis 1: There is no significant influence of teachers' training on students' academic performance in public secondary schools in education zone A of Benue State.  Table 3 shows that x 2 = 35.060, p = 0.000 < 0.05 at df of 3. Since the p-value is less than the alpha level of 0.05, the null hypothesis that there is no significant influence of teachers' training on students' academic performance in public secondary schools in education zone A of Benue State is rejected. This result implies a significant influence of teachers' training on students' academic performance in public secondary schools.

Hypotheses 2:
There is no significant influence of teachers' promotion on students' academic performance in public secondary schools.  Table 4 shows that x 2 = 34.820, p = 0.000 < 0.05 at df of 3. Since the p-value is less than the alpha level of 0.05, the null hypothesis that there is no significant influence of teachers' promotion on students' academic performance in public secondary schools in education zone A of Benue State is rejected. This result implies a significant influence of teachers' promotion on students' academic performance in public secondary schools.

Discussion of Findings
Based on the analyzed data, the following findings are thus discussed: The first finding revealed that teachers' training influences students' academic performance in public secondary schools. This result was confirmed by testing the f hypothesis, which showed a significant effect of teachers' training on students' academic performance in public secondary schools. This result means that the activity of teachers acquaints them with skills for effective teaching, helps teachers become competent in their subject, updates teachers with current skills, and makes teachers creative, improving their efficiency and influencing students' academic performance. This finding is consistent with Obiekwe and Obiekwe (2021). Their study showed a significant relationship between teachers' training and students' success in external examinations and students' learning ability and performance in school extra-curricular activities.
The second finding showed that teachers' promotion greatly influences students' academic performance in public secondary schools. This finding was also confirmed with the test of hypothesis, which revealed a significant influence of teachers' promotion on students' academic performance in public secondary schools. This finding entails that teachers work efficiently when promotions take place. Productivity, teachers' promotion serves as a motivator for them to put in their best; promotion boosts teachers' morale and makes them work harder than before, and teachers' promotion makes them happy, committed, and dedicated to their teaching job, which ends up enhancing teachers' performance. This finding agrees with Udo (2012) that regular promotion significantly influences students' academic performance. Similarly, Jones (2016) found a significant relationship between teacher promotion and students' academic performance.

CONCLUSION
Based on the study's findings, it can be concluded that human resource management influences students' academic performance in secondary schools. Specifically, training of teachers acquaint them with skills for effective teaching; helps teachers become competent in their subject; it ate teachers with current skills an,d makes teachers creative, improving their efficiency and influencing students' academic performance. And when teachers' promotion takes place, they work efficiently; Productivity, teachers' promotion serves as a motivator for them to put in their best; advertising boosts teachers' morale and makes them work harder than before. Teachers' promotion makes them happy, committed, and dedicated to their teaching job, which ends up enhancing teachers' performance.

Recommendations
Based on the findings and observation of the study, the following recommendations are made: Government should organize seminars, workshops, and conferences to update teachers on the current trends in the teaching profession so that their performance could be enhanced; the ministry of education should work with the required boards so that teachers who are due for promotion should be promoted with its attendant benefits so that teachers could be motivated and also boost their morale to enhance effective teaching for better performance.
Completing this research paper would have been impossible without various sources' material and moral support. First, I thank the Almighty God for giving me good health and guiding me. I am greatly indebted to my lecturers, who were my editors, for their encouragement, availability, and professional advice. Thanks, too to the Department of Educational Foundations, Benue State University, Makurdi -Nigeria, for giving me the courage to write. Finally, many thanks go to all those authors whose work has been used and individuals who have helped me in many ways with my research.