Examining Gender Differences in Test Anxiety and School Truancy Behaviour Among Secondary School Students in Dutsin-Ma Metropolis, Katsina State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined gender differences in test anxiety and school truancy behaviour among secondary school students in Dutsin-ma Metropolis, Katsina State, Nigeria. The study has 4 objectives, 2 research questions and 2 hypotheses. It adopted descriptive survey of research design. A total sample of three hundred and sixty five (365) was drawn from target population of five thousand two hundred and thirteen (5,213) senior secondary school students II through Research Advisor (2006). The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire titled "Test Anxiety and School Truancy Behaviour Questionnaire (TASTBQ).", it was validated by two experts. To determine the reliability of the Instrument, a pilot study was conducted using 20 students outside the study area. The reliability of the instrument was established using the test retest method and it was analyzed using Cronbach’s Alpha, which yielded a reliability coefficient of: Test Anxiety Scale = 0.82 and School Truancy Behaviour Scale = 0.80. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation and the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using t-test statistics. The study revealed that gender plays an important role in both test anxiety and truancy behaviour among secondary school students. The study revealed that female students exhibited a higher level of test anxiety than their male counterparts. It was also found that female students demonstrated a higher level of truancy behaviour than male students. There was a statistically significant difference in test anxiety based on gender .and there was a significant difference in truancy behaviour based on gender. The following recommendations among others were made; School counselors and educational psychologists should organize regular counselling programmes and stress management workshops to help students reduce test anxiety before examinations. Special intervention programmes should be developed for both male and female students, taking into consideration the differences in their psychological and behavioural characteristics.