ABSTRCT
This study investigated the Influence of student support services on students’ academic performance in College of Education Ikere-Ekiti.
A total of 200 respondents were randomly selected from Ikere-Ekiti College of Education.

An Instrument titled “Influence of Student Support Services on Students’ Academic Performance Questionnaire (ISSSSAPQ)” was administered to the respondents in order to gather relevant data.
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) Statistics was used to test the four null hypothesis formulated and where the result of ANOVA showed a significant difference a post-hoc analysis was used to determine the group(s) that contributed to the significant difference.

All null hypothesis were tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance.

The findings showed that the major factors that determine the academic performance of students in College of Education Ikere-Ekiti was “efficient student affairs unit in the college” with a mean score of 3.24, which ranked 1st , while the least factor was “ regular power supply in the college” with mean score of 21.77, which also ranked 21st.
The findings also reveled that there was no significant difference based on Gender, Age, Level and Schoo l. Based on the findings recommendations were made for implementation.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Education as a socialization process has been variously defined by various authors and writers and all of them agree that it is the basis for development. Ogunlade (2011) defined education as the process of not just acquiring knowledge, but the acquisition of the art of utilization of knowledge. It is indeed a life-long process that aims at imparting the skills needed to live a purposeful life.

In other words, it is a process by which a sound mind in a sound body is developed.

Therefore, for education to be worthwhile, it must be able to produce a refined mind, body and soul. Hence, education is a crucial factor in the social, economic, political and technological development of any nation.
The importance of education is to impart knowledge in learners and expected short or long term benefit.
In this regard, education transforms an individual from the state of ignorance and underdevelopment to a completely new person who is knowledgeable, cultured, well developed and self realized. It refers to social economic and political change, which make an individual to adapt to various changes in the environment such as technological and scientific change (Oyedeji, 2012; Jessica,2010)
Nigerian higher educational institutions are established with the aim of giving any student who enrolls a very sound qualitative education to be able to function effectively in any environment in which he/she may find himself/herself, so as to become more productive, self-fulfilling and attain self-actualization.
Colleges of Education, according to the objectives of their establishment, are meant to produce well-qualified teachers for the lower forms of secondary schools and the upper classes of primary schools (Ukeje 1996, NPE 2004). Colleges of Education to award the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE) to School certificate holders after three years of successful training.

NCE candidate spends three (3) years with Teaching Practice experience.

The Federal Republic of Nigeria in the National Policy on Education (2004) stipulated that the NCE will ultimately become the minimum qualification for teaching in the Nation. This implies that all primary school teachers must possess the NCE before they can be allowed to teach at that basic level. The year 1998 was set as the target date for realizing this policy objective but it was not realized.

As at that date according to
Ajayi (2007) over 40% of our primary school teachers were yet to be professionally qualified, many of them still possessed the teachers Grade II Certificate especially in the Northern part of the country. Again, the target date was shifted to 2006, yet, the target was not met. In the coming years, this policy thrust poses great challenges to our teacher preparation programme.
Section 9 of the National Policy on Education stated the purpose of Teacher Education as followings:
(a) To provide highly motivated, conscientious and efficient classroom teachers for all levels of our educational system
(b) To encourage further the spirit of enquiry and creativity in teachers
(c) To help teachers fit into the social life of the community and society at large and to enhance their commitment to national objectives.
(d) To provide teachers with the intellectual and professional background adaptable to any changing situation not only in the life of their country but in the wider world.
(e) To enhance teachers’ commitment to the teaching profession.
Nigerian Colleges of Education are finding it extremely difficult to achieve the highlighted goals because of the myriad of problems that are confronting them.

These difficulties are largely due to the problems which students who enroll in these institutions either face or cause irrespective of their family background.

This problem ranges from cultism, examination malpractices and a host of other anti-social behaviors.
It is a general belief that in the administration of College of education, students have one problem or the other as far as their academic work is concerned.

To solve these problems, there is need for the establishment of well organized student support services. Student support services aims at providing some services to the students so as to enhance their learning process.

These services includes: regular supply of water, electricity, accommodation, transportation, health, catering service, guidance and counselling services.
Student support services are provided in order to encourage positive thinking and actions that would compliment the attainment of their academic pursuit and choices of future career among the students. The importance of student support services cannot be over-emphasized in the socio-economic life of the student.

Those services are provided to find out student problems so as to proffer appreciable solution to the problems.

The Guidance and counselling services are the core–service of the students support services.
Also, a well equipped clinic will equally contribute to the health care of the students as it will help to solve their health problems. Adequate provision of water and electricity will enhance their wellbeing on campus, provision of catering services and accommodation is of great importance to the students.
If the above services and other services are satisfactorily provided, the academic performance of the students will yield positive result, it will also influence positive response from the students in terms of their performance.

That is, their performance would be in agreement with the norms of the services provided by the institution.

Inadequate provision of the above services might lead to poor academic performance and unruly behavior among the students, such as riot, unhealthy demonstration, destruction of school properties, break down of law and order thereby obstructing academic learning, hence leading to the closure of the school.
It can therefore be deduced that adequate provision of student support services plays a vital role in any higher institution as it helps to complement effective teaching and learning as well as students welfare on the campus. It is in the light of this, that this study seeks to examine student support services and its influence on academic performance of the students in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti.
Statement of the Problem
Students of tertiary institutions in Nigeria are facing myriad of problems of which students in College of Education Ikere-Ekiti are also included. The problems range from poor or irregular water supply, inadequate hostel accommodation, poorly equipped school library to poorly equipped health centre.
Similarly, irregular water supply is one of the major problems faced by the students of college of education Ikere- Ekiti.

During the dry season especially, most of the student will have to wake as early as 4 0’ clock in the morning and go into the town to fetch water, while they were suppose to be awake to read their books. Because of the daily stress most of them pass through in search for water, it becomes almost impossible for many of them not to be weak and lack concentration in the class during lectures and consequently this have negatively affected their academic performances.
However, it has also been asserted that inadequate hostel accommodation is one of the causes of poor performances among the students of College of Education Ikere-Ekiti. This was further proven when some students in the same institution attested that seven or eight of them were swaddled in a room meant for four students.

Consequently, this unhealthy situation has caused catalogues of misunderstanding among the students, between the students and the school management and also leads to students unrest and rioting in the school which in turn have aborted their aims of enrolling in the same institution and their performances is nothing to write home about.
Furthermore, poor transportation services provided to the students have also affected their academic performances negatively.

This is because the buses provided to convey the students to the school are inadequate, while most of them that live off campus complained bitterly that they do trek more than one hour every day before they could get to the lecture rooms and the service they paid for were not adequately provided to them.
Poor electricity supply is another bottleneck that have affected academic performances of the students of College of Education Ikere-Ekiti. Since the students are faced with constant epileptic power supply and most of them cannot afford to buy kerosene lamps, they are only left with the option of studying in the day time, while they use the whole night to sleep when they were suppose to be awake to read their books.
Not only that, the school library that is poorly furnished has immensely affected the academic performances of the students of College of Education Ikere-Ekiti, this is because enviable materials which the students needs to get solid or vital information for research during and after school examination and also for research project are not adequately provided.

Hence, the students are left alone to wonder about in search for such materials and in most cases they do not get them.
Finally, poor health services which cannot be overlooked have also been seen as one of the major causes of poor academic performances of the students of College of Education in Ikere-Ekiti.

In a normal school system the students has free access to medical services in the school, at least the medical center must provide health services round the clock, seven days in a week so that students suffering from one ailment or the other can be provided with drugs in respect to such ailment as suffered.

But these services are not adequately provided and its consequences tell negatively on the academic performances of the students.
The importance attached to student support services in school administration made the researcher to extend the frontiers examining student support services and students’ academic performances in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti.

Research Objectives
Based on the statement of problem ,the following objetives are raised
1.To investigate the influence of student support services on students’ academic performance in College of Education Ikere-Ekiti
2.To identify the student support services available and effective at College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti
3.To make adequate suggestion that will improve the workability of the student support services on the academic performance of the students in the college.
Research Questions
On the basis of the study objectives outlined above, five questions were formulated. These are:
1. What is the influence of student support services on students’ academic performance in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti?
2. Is there any difference in the influence of student support services on students ‘academic performance in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti on the basis of Gender?
3. Is there any difference in the influence of student support services on students ‘academic performance in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti on the basis of Age?
4. Is there any difference in the influence of student support services on students ‘academic performance in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti on the basis of NCE Level?
5. Is there any difference in the influence of student support services on students ‘academic performance in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti on the basis of School?
Research Hypotheses
The following research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study.
Main Hypothesis
There is no significant relationship between student support services and its influence on academic performance of student in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti.
Operational Hypotheses
HO1: There is no significant difference in the influence of student support services on students’ academic performance in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti on the basis of Gender.
HO2:There is no significant difference in the influence of student support services on students’ academic performance in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti on the basis of age.
HO3: There is no significant difference in the influence of students support services on students’ performance in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti on the basis of level.
HO4 There is no significant difference in the influence of student support services on students’ performance in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti on the basis of School.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between student support services and its influence on the students’ academic performance in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti.
Also to find out if inadequate provision of the student support services is significantly influencing the students’ academic performances in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti.
The study also aims at determining the adequacy or inadequacy of students support services that are provided in the College of Education.
Finally to find solutions to problems of student support services in College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti and to give recommendation based on the research findings.