International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) |Volume II, Issue XII, December 2018|ISSN 2454-6186 www.rsisinternational.org Page 514 Impact of Teacher Characteristics on Students‟ Academic Performance in Public Secondary Schools Paul Ekperi Institute for Development Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu Campus, Nigeria Abstract:-The study examined the impact of teacher characteristics on students’ academic performance in public secondary schools in Enugu North Local Government Area of Enugu State, Nigeria. The study adopted a descriptive survey design and a sample size of four hundred was selected from a population of nine hundred and sixty-eight using the Taro Yamane sample size formula. Two research questions and two hypotheses were proposed for the study in line with the study objectives. The Average Mean Score was used to analyze responses for the research questions while Multiple Regression Analysis was used to test the five hypotheses proposed for the study to ascertain the relationship that exist between academic performance and teachers’ characteristics. The findings of the study show that the independent variables (teachers’ knowledge of subject matter and teaching method) all correlated significantly and positively with the dependent variable (students’ academic performance). Among other recommendations, the paper recommends that government should embark on time to time monitoring and evaluation of teachers to ensure that teachers carry out their duties effectively in line with the guidelines of the teaching profession and that Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) should introduce tests and examination for teachers at regular intervals based on the subject they teach and general teaching practice. Furthermore, geography teachers should incorporate field trips and excursions as integral part of their teaching method, since geography is more of a field experience than classroom subject. I. INTRODUCTION ducation and its benefits can never be overemphasized as the root of economic, industrial, political, scientific and technological and even religious development. All aspects of development are centered on education. Every educational system at any level depends heavily on teachers for the execution of its programmes. Teachers therefore are highly essential for successful operation of the educational system and important tools for educational development. It is an acceptable fact that the teacher is the most important factor in the educational process and that teachers are instrumental to the success of any educational programme embarked upon by any government. This is because, apart from being at the implementation level of any educational policy, the realization of these programmes also depend greatly on teachers‟ dedication and commitment to work (Adeniji 1999). Adeogun (2001) opined that the quality of any educational system depends on the quality of its teaching staff and that without quality teachers; a school may not be able to achieve its goals and objectives. The National Policy on Education further stated that, “no educational system can rise above the quality of teachers in the system” (FGN, 2006). In view of the above statement on the pre-eminent role of the teacher in boasting the quality of education of a nation, the Federal Government of Nigeria has made several attempts and enacted laws concerning the development of education. Among such attempts is the law concerning the training and recruitment of teachers which was done in order to achieve qualitative educational outcomes. The National Policy on Education emphasizes that only qualified and skilled teachers should be recruited into the educational system of Nigeria (NPE, 2004). Geography as an essential field in every human endeavors consists of knowledge of the world around us. It goes from studying the physical environment we live in to studying interactions that goes on within this environment. Geography as a vast field of study should therefore be taught by a highly qualified and skilled teacher. The study of the distinctive characteristics of geography contributes to the balanced development of an individual. Harm (1999) opines that education that does not include geography will have a lot of social cost among which includes; deprivation of young students of early awareness of spatial relationships, denial of young students of their early exposure to maps and their uses and it engenders a geographic illiteracy that will last till adulthood among others. The knowledge of geography and the ability to think geographically aids the individual in understanding and interpreting the realities of the world. The increasing importance of geography in the society notwithstanding the trend of poor performance both in internal and external examinations has been partly attributed to the low level of geography teachers‟ competence in teaching. WAEC (2004 and 2005) chief examiners reports observed that different categories of teachers with varying academic qualifications, areas of specialization and teaching experience teach geography in secondary schools. The report further indicates that students could perform better if they are well taught and guided by qualified teachers. It is therefore to this end, that this study investigates the impact of teachers‟ knowledge of subject matter and teaching methods on students‟ academic performance in geography in selected public secondary schools in Enugu Urban, Nigeria. E