AN ASSESSMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ENROLMENT OF ISLAMIC STUDIES IN SSC EXAMINATIONS IN ABEOKUTA

ABSTRACT
This study assessed the Secondary School Students Enrolment of Islamic Studies in SSC Examination 2012-2016 in Abeokuta.
Simple Random Sampling Techniques was employed to select 100 Students as Sample. Questionnaire was administered to collect Data.
Three hypotheses was formulated and tested using Analysis of variance (ANOVA) Statistics.

The finding reveals that there was significant difference on the interest of Students and Enrolment of Islamic Studies in SSC Examinations.
Base on the findings; it was recommended that the interest of students need to be given serious consideration before their enrolment into Islamic studies class so that it will not have a negative effect on their performance.
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Islamic Education is a system which transmits the revealed and acquired knowledge to the younger generation of Muslims in order to prepare them for life and enable them to discharge their duties as the vicegerent of Allah on this earth
Education is the first duty of a Muslim, male or female. Knowledge of God is equated with the process of learning and teaching.

well-documented process of preserving Islamic scripture demonstrate the early emergence of a literate tradition of its transmission among Muslim community from the beginning to commit the words of God and the teachings of Muhammed (SAW) to memory and to writing.

(Douglas and Miner 2004).

According to them, Islamic education can literally refer to efforts by the Muslim community to educate its own, to pass along the heritage of Islamic knowledge, first and foremost through its primary sources, the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

This education of Muslims might take place in Mosques, Schools or Universities and other Organizations established by Muslims over the centuries.

Douglas and Muniru, 2004).
Islamic Education is defined as the process by which values spelt out in the Holy Qur’an and the Traditions of prophet Muhammad (SAW) are handed over from generation to generation (Abiri and Jekayinfa 2010).
Islam as a universal religion appreciated and recommends knowledge acquisition for human development and recognition of Almighty Allah as the creator of the cosmos.

This is why the very first revelation to prophet Muhammad (SAW) was specifically on seeking knowledge thus:
“ Read in the name of your Lord who creates.
He creates man out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood.
Read! Your Lord is the most Bountiful He who teaches (The use of Pen).
He teaches man that which he knows not” (Q96:1-5)
The above verses commended man to seek for knowledge not by reading alone but also by making use of pen for record purposes.

Aziz and Adeshina (2013).
Interestingly, the philosophy of Islamic education is to inculcate moral values that constitute a wide range of virtues of such as honesty integrity, tolerance, truthfulness, self discipline, humility, patience, industrious and others.

Hence, morality should be the basis for every education given by a country to her citizen in order to record success.

This is exactly what Islamic studies set out to achieve.

Furthermore, the acquisition of the knowledge of Islamic moral value transform life of a child to a meaningful one as he would be able to relate politely with his follow human beings which also make him to achieve Allah’s pleasure in the hereafter (Azeez and Adeshina (2013) Islamic studies is an academic study of Islam and Islamic culture.

A.(1997).
Islamic Studies is the totality of learning experiences which centre on the relationship between man and his creator and between man and his fellow man.

Islamic studies is aimed at the recognition of Allah as the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe and the sole source of values.

In the individual, it cultivates the sense of gratitude’s of Allah and submission to his guidance and moral law, both in our worship of Him and in our behaviour towards our fellow man.

Islamic studies awakens the faculties of the intellect and reasoning of the child in accordance with Qur’anic Injunction which says:-
“Will you not use yours reason?”
“ Will you not ponder and reflect?”
It encourages the pursuit of useful knowledge in accordance with the saying of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) thus:
“The search for knowledge is an incumbent duty on every Muslim, Male or Female”.
Islamic studies promotes the realization of human equality and brotherhood with emphasis on practical means of achieving social solidarity and ethic harmony in place of greed and selfishness.

It is the concern of Islamic studies to ensure a balance development of the individual and community by giving him physical, social, intellectual, moral and spiritual training.

Islamic studies instills in the heart the consciousness of the presence of Allah as a witness of all our actions, thought and behaviours.

This acts as a control on wrong doing, whether in public or private and as a motivation to a good behaviour.( National Teacher Institute, 2000).
Islamic studies is one of the major subjects for the Senior Secondary School Students in the Art Department in lieu of Christian religious studies.

is a subject that principally focus on good knowledge of the Holy Qur’an and Hadith. It is a subject that teaches moral and the words of wisdom from God through the Prophets.
Islamic studies is one of the basic subjects in the current National Senior Secondary School Curriculum and one of the subject entered for by students in the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination. This subject is sometimes made compulsory to be passed by students seeking admission into faculty of law Arts and Education in the universities for Muslim students while Christian religious studies is for the Christians Abdul (2011).
However, Nigeria being a “Multi-Religion” nation has not realized importance of religious education.

It regulates religions education to the background.

It makes Islamic studies an elective subject and provides no adequate teachers in secondary schools (Azeez and Adeshina, 2013).

According to National Policy on Education (2004), Islamic studies is not a core subject at the senior secondary schools, rather, it is an elective subject.
This gives the Senior Secondary School Students the option to either offer it or drop it.

This is a factor that led to the statement of Bidmos (2003) that Islamic studies is offered by less than one percent of student population of any institution where it is offered at all (Azeez and Adeshina 2013).
The use of examinations to carry out assessment according to Alonge (2003) has been on the increase worldwide with the establishment of examination bodies like:

African Examination Council (WAEC 1953), National Teacher Institute (NTI, 1975), National Board of Educational Measurement (NBEM, 1992), National Board of Technical Education (NBTE, 1993) AN National Examination Council (1999).

Examination Bodies were established to replace the activities of the colonial examination bodies.
WASSCE is a Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE) conducted by West African Examinations Council; together with NECO conducted by the Nigerian Examinations Council.

The choice of WASSCE and NECO results was due to its credibility and acceptance by tertiary institutions for higher education.

Kpolovie, Ololube, & Ekwebelem (2011) are of the view that because of the economic and social importance attached to Senior Secondary School Certificate and the opportunities for Higher Education for those who possess such Certificates, the awarding of this Certificate, one of the most importance event in the Nigerian academic calendar.
This utter disregard for Arabic and Islamic Studies as an instrument of education, social and moral development had caused incalculable damage to our corporate existence.
No nation can develop when moral decadence overthrow good virtue, because morality is a vehicle to success.

Religious studies in its character, therefore more relevant in passing good moral instruction from generations to generation. Azeez and Adeshina (2013).
Statement of the Problem
Islamic studies can be seen an a basic need for its learner for social refinement, spiritual upliftment and cultural integrity, since it contains divine guidance.

this and inspite of the numerous benefits attached to the study of Islamic education as it seems that students in secondary school show little or no importance to the subject.

feel that it is not lucrative in terms of income generation unlike the subjects that lead to Accounting, Engineering, Medicine courses etc.

Another problem is that they assume that Islamic course will only make them to become Islamic studies teachers.

Many researched work have been carried out on Assessment of Secondary School Students performance of Islamic studies and other subjects in SSC Examination.

This includes – Science, Mathematics and English, John and Badau (2015); Who wrote on An assessment of the trend of secondary school students academic performance in West African Senior School Certificate (WASSCE) in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematic and English as these subject are the germane to the attainment of the millennium development goals and vision2000-2020.
Another writer was Abdul (2011)who carried out research on an assessment of the performance of students of Islamic studies in the Senior Secondary school Certificate Examination (WASSEC) 2006- 2010.
To the best of the researcher knowledge no study have been carried out on assessment of secondary school students enrolment of Islamic studies in SSC Examination in Abeokuta from 2012-2016 this is the gap that this research intend to fill.
Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study is to assess the Secondary School students enrolment of Islamic studies in SSC Examination in Abeokuta.

Specifically, it found out
1. Interest of students on enrolment of Islamic studies in SSC Examination
2. Influence of parent on enrolment of Islamic studies
3. Influence of peer-group on enrolment of Islamic Studies on SSC Examination.