Analyzing the Relationship between Students’ Level of Performance in Internal Geography Examinations and Cost of Programme, With Relevant Philosophical Thoughts in Kogi State University, Nigeria

In this study, we analyzed the relationships between the level of performance by students of Geography in internal examination and cost of programme in the department of Geography, Kogi State University, Anyigba, Nigeria in the last four years. The study was carried with both philosophical/methodological and statistical exploits by selected but renounced philosophers and Geographers, with a view to determining whether the students’ level of performance was determined by the increasing costs of running the programme. The contributions of Ogbonna David O. (2005 – 2008), Karl Marx (1818 – 1883), Lucien Febvre (1878 – 1956) and Ellen Semple (1863 – 1932), were explored to provide philosophical data for the study. The contributions of these ancient and contemporary geographers marked a significant milestone in the development of Geography curriculum across the globe and specifically in our study area, between the late 19th and early 21st centuries. We also traced the idea of environmentalism to Strabo, Hippocrates, Tatham, Bodin, Humboldt, Ritter, Haeckel and Buckle, Demolins and Frederic play, etc; whose unprecedented philosophic thoughts marked a significant development in fostering geographic knowledge. Their thoughts provided the understanding that man cannot be separated from his environment, and therefore, any injury done to the environment is essentially an injury to man. The result of the statistical test showed that the level of performance by students of Geography is influenced significantly by the cost of running the programme. Adopting the Chi-Square Statistics, it was thus determined that with the calculated value of 42.36 greater than the critical value of 12, the Contingency testing of the performance level of students of Geography against cost showed a significant result, confirming that the cost of running Geography programme in the department of Geography at Kogi state University, Anyigba influences the performance level of students in internal Geography examinations. To match words with actions that are in favor of environmentalism and sustainable Geography curriculum development, the outlined scholars have identified some priority areas, ancillary to Geographic education, where actions needed to be taken for sustainable geographic education: environmental education, population stabilization, natural resources management, human settlement and safety (health and welfare), environmental ethics and regulation, etc. The Geography curriculum must thus be expanded or reviewed to reflect the present needs of both the students and government, and above all, bearing in mind that the cost of running Geography programme in the department should be affordable to enable students get relieved from constraints brought about by their inability to pay school fees regularly and on time.