STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN BASIC SCIENCE AS A PREDICTOR OF SCIENCE SUBJECTS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN SOUTH EAST GEO-POLITICAL ZONE, NIGERIA

Many academic environment, predicting student achievement, obtaining valid, accurate and useful information about students is vital not only to the students but also to their parents, sponsors, teachers, counselors and government. To this end, the role of examinations in the assessment of students in educational institutions cannot be over emphasized. It stands as a fundamental tool of providing crucial academic information on students to all stake holders. The primary purpose of a curriculum based examination is evaluation to find out how much the learner has learned based on what he or she has been taught (Anikweze, 2015). Science and technology have developed at an ever increasing pace in western and other advanced countries. At the secondary education level Bajah (2013), basic science teaching in Nigeria is in two parts; junior secondary school, and senior secondary school. At the junior secondary level, the basic science curriculum is designed to introduce all students to the world of science, while at the senior secondary level; students are introduced to different discipline of the natural and physical sciences. It is expected that the Basic science curriculum will provide the relevant foundation on which senior secondary school students will build carriers in science or science related disciplines.