POVERTY IN THE HOME AND ITS EFFECTS ON STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE (A CASE STUDY SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN OJO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA IN LAGOS STATE)
ABSTRACT
The study looked at the impact of household poverty on pupils’ academic performance in secondary schools in Ojo Local Government Area. The study included pupils who took the 2020 Secondary School Examination. The research had one overarching goal and two specific goals.
The study employed an ex-post facto research design and drew on both primary and secondary data sources. Data was obtained from senior students in the Ojo Local Government Area utilizing systematic random selection to choose students from each school to complete questionnaires.
The acquired data was analyzed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Cross tabulation and Chi square tests were also utilized in the study to determine a relationship between household income and student academic performance characteristics. The link was assessed for significance at the 0.005 level.
The study discovered that not all home money had an impact on secondary school pupils’ academic performance. However, some assets have a higher link with academic achievement than others, such as physical and human capital, which are more correlated with good performance than natural and social capital.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The Study’s Background
Education is a vital activity in the growth of any country. Education empowers people to make educated decisions about their life and to make a constructive contribution to society. It makes other rights more accessible, gives a way out of poverty, and strengthens social cohesion and integration (World Bank, 2001).
Investing in Nigeria’s education system has assisted the government in meeting its international obligations and commitments by adhering to protocols such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (1999), and the Millennium Declaration (2000). All of these declarations obligate its signatories to recognize every child’s right to an education. Nigeria, for example, incorporated this requirement in the 2001 Children’s Act, and education is now a fundamental right (Articles 43 and 53 of the Constitution of Nigeria, 2010).
According to the World Bank (2005), primary education is vital in human capital development because it ensures the acquisition of knowledge and enabling skills required for civic participation and economic success. Globally, it is believed that investing in primary education will have a direct impact on the endeavor to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 2 – Universal Primary Education.
According to UNESCO (2005), expanding secondary education provision and access serves as an incentive for primary school children to perform better in national examinations because there is an increased motivation for primary school graduation when a student has a realistic opportunity to continue with studies in secondary school.
Demand for secondary education is quickly increasing across Africa as citizens recognize the importance of education. According to Lewin (2008), this increase in demand is due to the awareness that breaking free of the low economic growth equilibrium will require African economies to invest extensively in secondary education. Despite this acknowledgement, access to secondary education in Africa remains a struggle for some households due to poor primary school performance and the high expense of secondary schools, as well as other obstacles that prevent students from enrolling and progressing to secondary school.
According to UNESCO (2011), the secondary school Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is 39.6 percent, compared to 70 percent globally, with many of those enrolled attending school irregularly and/or failing to complete. In contrast, North America and Western Europe have achieved universal primary and secondary education with GERs exceeding 100%. It is undeniable that low secondary school enrollment and poor performance in Africa have a negative impact on the region’s competitiveness and economic progress.
Since its inception, the Government of Nigeria (G.o.K.) has worked to promote access, equity, and quality in education through a variety of policies and programs (G.o.K, 2020). The reintroduction of Free Primary Education (FPE) in 2003 increased primary school enrollment to more than 95%, but less than 50% of qualified children continued to secondary school (MoEST, 2005).
The poor transition rate from primary to secondary school has been established as a result of the high cost of secondary education faced by households (MoEST, 2005). In response, the government implemented a free secondary education program in 2008 to ensure that all children who are academically ready for secondary education, regardless of socioeconomic status, have access to it.
The government pays tuition fees of Kshs. 10,265 per student per year for all pupils enrolled in public secondary schools under this scheme, while households pay for lunch, transportation, uniforms, and development projects. Furthermore, homes with children enrolled in boarding schools are obligated to cover boarding expenditures (MoE, 2008).
Despite the government’s affirmative duty, many households are unable to meet the fundamental needs for a primary school pupil to perform well in school and progress to the next level. According to the national fees standards, school costs in day schools have been decreased by 77 percent, and boarding school prices (district and provincial) have been reduced by 9.7 percent (MoE, 2008).
As a result, according to Ministry of Education statistics, more pupils are able to enroll in both primary and secondary school. For example, the rate of transition from elementary to secondary school increased significantly from 59.6 percent in 2007 to 64.1 percent in 2008, then to 66.9 percent in 2009, 72 percent in 2010, and 74 percent in 2020. (NECO, 2020). On the other hand, it is concerning to note that there were 671,550 registered candidates for secondary schools in 2005, and 337,404 pupils took SSCE examinations in 2009.
(NECO, 2020). While it is acknowledged that free basic education in Nigeria has boosted both primary and secondary school enrollment countrywide, vital statistics based on the aforementioned NECO figures highlight the country’s national level transition challenge. For example, where did the vast majority of the 334,146 pupils who did not complete secondary school in 2005 go?
What factors prevented these pupils from enrolling in secondary school? Regional disparities may be an issue since certain regions are more afflicted than others by calamities such as poverty, floods, and conflicts, which can hinder achievement in national tests. As a result, it is critical to explore how certain factors, such as household assets in such locations, affect academic achievement in such demanding situations as Ojo Local Government Area.
Nigeria, like many other African countries, has implemented an education system that aims to provide all children with a minimum of twelve years of basic education, which includes eight years of primary school and four years of secondary school (MoEST, 2001). Nigeria has consistently implemented policies to improve education’s quality, quantity, and accessibility.
The national committee on educational objectives and policies (NCEOP) or the Gachathi report (GoK, 1976) on education and employment opportunities, for example, stated that “the schools as they are today, do not have the capability, time, or even incentive to teach the ideals of society.” This is because the schools are solely focused on completing formal examinations.” The selection and placement of candidates in various institutions and stations in society is a major role of examination in an educational system.
The report also chastised the National Examination Council (NECO), claiming that “exams have been exploited to serve the highly selective objectives, structure, and content of the formal education system.” However, by citing the first two objectives of the 8.4.4 system and specifically NECO objectives, this study can debunk this complaint.
To rank candidates according on their knowledge, skills, and attitudes as defined in the different
To select students for high school and post-secondary technical training schools based on performance (Amutabi, 2003).
This study concentrated on the student’s family background characteristics, specifically the effect of affluence on achievement. While home wealth is highly related to children’s academic performance almost everywhere, the amount and patterns of the effect vary greatly. In Nigeria, little empirical evidence on the achievement disparity has been published. It is therefore vital to conduct extensive research on the impact of household wealth in terms of money on children’s performance in secondary school tests. This was one of the goals of the research conducted in the Ojo Local Government Area.
Statement of the Problem
The development of any nation or community is heavily reliant on the level of education provided. It is widely assumed that the foundation for any meaningful progress must begin with the development of human resources (Akanle, 2007). As a result, in any community, formal education remains the vehicle for socioeconomic progress and social mobilization.
Poor educational outcomes can be harmful to a country’s economic and social development. Individually, low learning success not only inhibits one’s ability to proceed farther in school, but it also has a detrimental impact on one’s future income and productivity (Hanushek and Pace, 1995).
Nonetheless, acknowledging the problem of poor learning outcomes has allowed achievement researchers to delve deeper into factors influencing academic performance. In Nigeria, for example, household background has been identified as influencing academic success, but very little study has been conducted to determine precisely what in the household context influences exam performance.
Because this association has not been studied, this study intended to analyze it. As a result, the purpose of this study was to fill that gap by empirically investigating and reporting data on the effect of household income on student academic attainment in (NECO. The research also looks into if there is a link between achievement and wealth in general.
Another difference is that most projects in emerging nations to improve educational efficiency focus on altering the educational system itself (Harbison and Hanushek, 1993). This has also been observed in Nigeria, where policymakers generally advocate for curriculum revision, increased school enrollment, and more equitable distribution of educational materials.
This kind of action ignores the significance of homes and personal circumstances in molding schoolchildren’s academic destinies. It is also important to note that some of these non-educational variables may also be the fundamental reason of poor exam performance, which is what the study attempted to identify. This research was chosen for the Ojo Local Government Area in Lagos.
Research Issues
The study’s overarching research question is, “What effect does poverty at home have on student academic achievement in secondary schools in Ojo Local Government Area?”
Specific inquiries:
What are senior students’ income levels, and how did they affect their academic success in the 2020 NECO?
How does a student’s household income effect his or her academic success in the 2020 NECO?
The Study’s Objectives
The study’s major goal is to look into the impact of home income on student academic performance in secondary schools in Ojo Local Government Area.
Specific research goals:
To research senior students’ financial levels and how they affect students’ academic performance in secondary schools.
To determine how household wealth affects a student’s academic performance in NECO.
1.5 Proposal
Ho1: Household income has a positive effect on secondary school pupils’ academic performance.
Ho2: A household’s physical capital has a good effect on a student’s academic achievement in secondary school.
Study justification
It appears to be a reasonable argument that if teachers deliver in class, students should be able to perform regardless of their family’s financial situation. However, this position is inaccurate because it ignores how home income features in our society influence primary school accomplishment.
Given the foregoing and the critical role that examinations play in students’ life, this study determines that it is crucial to investigate whether poverty in the home has any effect on student accomplishment in NECO examinations.
This gap has existed for nearly a century, and policymakers have avoided the obvious implications of this understanding, which is that raising the achievement of, say, lower-income children necessitates that public policy address the social and economic conditions of these children’s lives, rather than just school reforms.
Limitations
Due to time constraints, financial constraints, and distance, the study was confined to four schools chosen at random from the Ojo Local Government Area using stratified and purposive sampling procedures.
The scope of the research
The focus of this paper is on household income in Ojo L.G.A., Lagos state, as well as four secondary schools in the area.
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POVERTY IN THE HOME AND ITS EFFECTS ON STUDENT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE (A CASE STUDY SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN OJO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA IN LAGOS STATE)