Principals' Suspension Threat as Correlate of Academic Engagement and Adherence to School Regulation in Uyo Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria: Gender and Age Assessment

Abstract:

This study investigated the principals' suspension threat as a correlate of students' academic engagement and adherence to school regulations in Uyo Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria using gender and age as predictor variables. Four research questions were raised. Ex-post facto research design was adopted. The population comprised 5200 senior secondary two students in the 14 public secondary schools in Uyo, from which a sample of 725 was derived using a multistage sampling approach. The researcher's developed 'Suspension and Students Engagement and Adherence Scale (S-SEAS), was used for data collection after face-validated by three experts. The content assessment reliability approach was used to test for S-SEAS reliability, and the data generated was calculated using Cohen's Kappa statistics, which resulted in the estimate of 0.87. The collated data was analyzed using percentages, charts, means, and graphs. Results revealed that males were the majority (58.1%) in the study, while in terms of age, those within 16 years of age were the majority (69.1%). The majority of the sample assessed were suspended, especially in the cadre of males and those within 17-20 years of age. The categories of suspension were mostly from the classes, followed by those suspended from the school. Majorly, the reasons for the suspension were lateness to school, insubordination, and violence-related issues in order of prominence. Results showed that the contribution of suspension to the students' academic engagement (SAE) was low (x̄=2.23). The extent to which suspension encourages male students' academic engagement was very low. It has been shown that the prevalence of utilization of suspension as a disciplinary approach in schools was high. The most often suspended set of students were the males, and those within 17-20 years of age experienced a greater number of suspensions. However, the effect of suspension was negative to the promotion of students' academic engagement but positive to students' adherence to school regulations. On the aspect of students' academic engagement, suspension affected the male more negatively than their female counterparts, and especially among the students aged 21 years and above. Concerning students' adherence to school regulations, suspension negatively influences older students (21 years and above). It is recommended, among others, that school managers (principals and teachers) should be strategic in understanding when, who, and how suspension should be administered to avoid its negative contributions in severing students' interest and student-staff relationships.