This study atempted to determine the levels of academic performance of two groups of students admited with diferent entry certfcates to the Nigeria certfcate in Educaton (NCE) Technical Programme and to fnd out whether either group difered signifcantly in terms of performance. Seventy (70) frst year Technical students at the Federal College of Educaton (Technical), Omoku, were monitored during the 2011/2012 academic year for the purposes of this study. The data consisted of raw scores obtained by these students in fve (5) courses. | Journal of Technology and Science Education ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS ADMITTED WITH DIFFERENT ENTRY CERTIFICATES TO THE NIGERIAN CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION PROGRAMME AT THE FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECHNICAL), OMOKU Japo Oweikeye Morto Amasuomo Departament of Vocatonal/Industrial Educaton, Faculty of Educaton, Niger Delta University. Nigeria japoamasuomo@ Received December 2013 Accepted January 2014 Abstract This study atempted to determine the levels of academic performance of two groups of students admited with diferent entry certfcates to the Nigeria certfcate in Educaton (NCE) Technical Programme and to fnd out whether either group difered signifcantly in terms of performance. Seventy (70) frst year Technical students at the Federal College of Educaton (Technical), Omoku, were monitored during the 2011/2012 academic year for the purposes of this study. The data consisted of raw scores obtained by these students in fve (5) courses. The data were analysed according to their arithmetc means and a t-test. The reliability of t-test results were ascertained by the use of an f-test of group variances. The study established that the secondary school certfcate students performed signifcantly beter than their City and Guilds certfcate counterparts, and both groups difered signifcantly in other aspects of academic performance. Keywords – performance, academic qualifcaton, entry qualifcaton, prior educaton ---------- 1 INTRODUCTION Human civilizaton is quite ofen linked to technological advances and developments. Technical educaton is thus an instrument of technological advancement and industrialisaton (Amasuomo & Biebuma, 1990). This has been corroborated by Ifejika (1990), who reported that the key manpower needed for the rapid development of a naton is technical in nature. This is because it is the technical manpower that induces the acceleraton of scientfc and technological development; in order for a country to advance technologically, it .
