THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS
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THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS
INTRODUCTION TO CHAPTER ONE
1.1 Background Of The Study
The impact of colonialism on Nigeria cannot be overstated. The arrival of white explorers, traders, and missionaries resulted in the establishment of settlements that were distinct from the customary residential setting. These artificial communities were intended to represent the colonial masters’ norms, morals, and economic policies.
Africa, the blessed race’s continent, where opportunists came to build in order to colonise their resources for their benefit, was then abandoned in hopeless hope (Allen, 2011).
Although they were originally constructed for European immigrants, the new settlements known as urban areas or townships also served as a haven for a significant number of Africans who had freed themselves from the confines of traditional society.
Professional men, clerks, and shopkeepers with at least a rudimentary education were among them, as were an increasing number of wage-earners and a substantial number of farmers getting cash income from cultivating crops for the world market (Fage, 1978).
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The spread of industrial capitalism in Africa resulted in well-defined urban classes with technical capabilities. They desired to enter the twentieth century, humbly represented by radios and bicycles, and to experience independence based on knowledge and a more advanced style of production.
These ambitions could only be realised in a city. Aba is well-known as a major commercial centre. It is mostly populated by merchants of various stripes, including traders, full-time technicians and craftsmen, importers and exporters, transporters, and so on.
Even a few professionals, such as teachers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, and engineers, have unknowingly absorbed the majority group’s commercial heritage.
You are either a businessman or a nobody in Aba. Indeed, the influence of trade is so pervasive in Aba that market unions have come to denote the de facto government or power broker.
The extinct Bakassi Vigilante Group was made up of traders and artisans. Most inhabitants’ attitudes and lifestyles have been influenced by Aba’s commercial nature. The rat-race syndrome is particularly noticeable. Everything is measured in terms of monetary value.
People have no time for anything other than money. Parents have no time for their children. In some circumstances, children are surrounded by paid cooks, drivers, and houseboys/maids who attend to their needs while their parents work. This opens the door to child abuse through parental neglect and indulgence.
As other less fortunate children are abused through exploitation, we can see that the environment regulates the child’s social, religious, academic, and cultural preferences. Those working as shop assistants, for example, may sleep in the stores.
A normal day for such children begins at 5.30 a.m. Because there is no legislation in Nigeria governing shopping hours, the business continues till 9 p.m. Children who work as housekeepers are in a similar scenario. They get up at 5:30 a.m. and work on domestic tasks until 7:30 a.m. or later.
Some of these employees who attend school arrive at school exhausted. In some circumstances, they walk a long distance to school, exacerbating the situation. When school ends at 2 p.m., they go home to finish up household duties or carry garments to sell on the streets.
They return late at night, exhausted, and sleep off. This pattern is carried out virtually every day, at the expense of the children’s schoolwork. The child who aspires to be a professional has social limitations that are likely to stymie his progress.
Child employment, street hawking, street begging, early marriage, child desertion, child prostitution, child battering, sexual and physical abuse, and therapeutic abuse by imposters are among the restraints (Ebigbo, 1988; Echezona, 1991). Models that cherish aggression act-rich syndrome, substance level ambition, and contempt for education characterise the environment.
It is equally important to note that a student’s surroundings or environment influence their performance. Although learning and reading begin at school, the child’s foundation begins at home (Binkley 2008).
1.2 Problem Description
The poor academic performance of students in Aba’s schools has recently become a source of great worry. The researcher discovered that some senior primary school students are unable to write or read a letter. Others attend as many as three schools during their elementary school experience to escape the embarrassment of repeating a class.
The researcher has also discovered that in Aba and other parts of Nigeria, private school proprietors tend to increase the population of their schools by admitting students without a testimonial or statement of result and awarding fictitious results in order to ensure the promotion of such students to the next class.
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Many factors have been attributed to this dreadful development, including teachers’ poor attitude towards work, poor infrastructure, examination misconduct, a lack of trained teachers, absenteeism, weak motivation, non-payment of salary, and teachers’ neglect of instructional media, among others.
The elementary school has the greatest number of impressionable learners and consumes the greatest proportion of the government’s budgetary allocation to education, highlighting the necessity to research the impact of environment on the academic achievement of kids in Aba North L.G.A.
1.3 Research Questions
To guide the investigation, the following research questions were developed.
1.) Does noise pollution impede students’ development of memorising skills?
2.) Does the presence of wealthy but uneducated businessmen deter great academic performance or classroom behaviour?
3.) Do students who do a lot of housework fare worse in school than students who don’t?
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1.4 Objectives Of The Study
The overall goal of this study is to look into the impact of the environment on the academic performance of primary school students. The study will be guided by the following precise objectives:
1. To ascertain the extent to which a noisy atmosphere impairs primary school students’ development of remembering skills.
2. To discover how the presence of illiterate but wealthy businessmen affects the attitudes of primary school students towards studying.
3. Determine how the home environment influences primary school students’ academic achievement.
1.5 Importance of the Research
This research on the impact of the environment on primary school students’ academic performance will aid learning by increasing parents’ awareness of the negative effects of child work and hawking on learning. It will raise awareness about the necessity of interaction and collaboration between parents and teachers in ensuring students’ success in learning activities.
It will improve students’ attitudes towards academic study by utilising internal and external 7 motivation from instructors and parents. It will add to the body of knowledge on the impact of environmental influences on student learning. It will help improve teachers’ awareness of the underlying causes of various academic issues in primary school. The knowledge gained will aid in the selection of a better solution to the problem.
It will encourage elementary school students to acquire a work ethic, self-reliance, and self-control.
The findings of this study will push the Ministry of Education to do its job by making infrastructure available for the establishment of a better learning environment.
This study will emphasise the necessity of community participation in school issues through the P.T.A. in order to curb deviant conduct caused by the environment. Finally, it will emphasise the dangers of a monetized value system, as well as the attendant ‘corruption,’ because money is only useful and valuable in the hands of an informed person.
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1.6 Definition Of Terms
The following terms have been defined:
Influence:
The Sun Mobile Dictionary defines influence as the “power to affect another.” According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, influence is “the effect that someone or something has on the way a person thinks or behaves, or on the way something works or develops.
” The idea of influence, as it relates directly to this study, refers to the power of the environment on the academic performance of students, particularly in Aba North Local Government Area of Abia State.
Environment is defined as “surrounding, things, conditions, etc.” by the Sun Mobile Dictionary.
It is defined as “the conditions that affect the behaviour and development of somebody or something; the physical conditions that somebody or something exists in” by the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. In essence, the term environment refers to the area around primary schools in 9 Aba North LGA.
It can also be defined as the conditions that influence students’ behaviour and development, particularly in primary schools.
The notion academy is referred to as a “school” by the Sun mobile dictionary. A school, on the other hand, is a location where students can learn. (Oxford Mini School Dictionary: 2007) A school is a location where students are educated. As a result, a primary school can be referred to as an Academy.
The Oxford advanced learner’s lexicon defines performance as “how well or poorly you do something.” As it relates to this study, performance can also be described as how well or poorly primary school students perform in their academic tasks.
Academic performance is defined as the score obtained by a child or individual in a test or examination based on his or her learning experiences.
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The complete state of an individual based on inequality in terms of occupation, degree of education, and other societal issues established by the environment is referred to as socio status.
Socio-cultural background: An individual’s social and cultural makeup in relation to his or her environment.
Education is the formal education or training that a kid receives in school. It is a process of teaching, training, and learning, particularly in schools or colleges, according to the sixth edition of the Oxford dictionary.
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