CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Background of the study
Education is the best legacy a nation can give to her citizens especially the youths. This is because education is very important in the development of any nation or community. Education is the process of transmitting what is worthwhile to members of the society. According to Okafor (1981). Education embraces all those experiences of the individual through which knowledge is acquired and intellect enlightened. For Nwabachili and Egbue (1993) education is what goes on from one generation to another generation. In this context, education is the process of socializing the child to grow up as a fulfilled member of the society through informal, formal and non-formal process. Informal education is the process of acquiring knowledge about the environment and beyond through living with one another. According to Nwabachili and Egbue (1993) formal education is a consciously planned form of socialization in a formal setting such as school. They stressed that non-formal education involve all those systematic programmes and processes of education and training that is done outside formal education setting. All these forms of education cannot be achieved without the influence of the family. Family is the first social environment the child finds itself. According to Clifford (1981) family remains the primary environment of the child. The author emphasized that family environment has more chances of increasing or decreasing the intellectual achievement of the child. Akubue and Okolo (2008), defined family as a small kinship structural group with the key function of natural socialization of the new born. Similarly, in Okunniyi (2004), family is defined as a primary social group of parents, offspring and possibly other members of the household. 2 Family background refers to all the conditions and circumstances in the family which influence the child physically, intellectually and emotionally Muola (2010). Children coming from different family backgrounds are affected different by such family conditions, that is why some children have good family background while some have poor background. Citing fleege, Eke (1999) noted that with some families, the background way vary from time to time for the same individuals. Formal education therefore remains the vehicle for human development which must start from the family. There are different categories of families. The major categories of families according to Anderson and Taylor (2000) includes: Traditional families–where the father is the major breadwinner and mother at home rearing children; divorced families–families that have been reconstituted following the breaking of marriage; single parent families–likely headed by women; step families–with new siblings and new parents stemming from re-marriage. A family could also be categorized as extended or nuclear. Extended families are those in which large group of related kin in addition to parents and children live together in the same household. This is the type of families prevalent in African countries. Nuclear families are families where married couple resides together with their children. This type of family is common in Western countries (Andersen and Taylor 2000). Families are of various sizes. Family size has to do with the total number of people in a single family which may include the father, mother, children and even the extended members – all living in one hamlet. According to Alio (1995) family size has implication for education. The author emphasized that the size of the family determines to a great extent the relative amount of physical attention and time which each child gets from his parents. Large families are more common among the lower class of the society. Children 3 in large families may suffer poverty and lack parental encouragement and stimulus which motivate their academic achievement (Eamon, 2005). Similarly, smaller family size has been linked with high academic achievement (Majoribank 1996) Majoribank further stressed that students with fewer siblings are likely to receive more parental attention and have support that leads to better school performance Family (small or large size) remains the primary environment of every child. The families begin the process of education and provide physical and psychological needs of the child. This supports the view of Maduewisi (1982), that the environmental experiences from family, peer group and school location have great influence in determining child’s intellectual ability. She maintained that bright children from under-privileged family environment may turn dull due to impoverished family environment. She added that mental development influence intellectual development. This is in line with Hebb (1987) who observed that the innate potentials of children cannot be attained without adequate stimulating family environment because the child cannot do well intellectually. The implication is that a proper stimulating family environment with intellectual potential and appropriate teaching methods will definitely enhance maximum performance of the child. Durosaro and Durosaro (1990) in their study attempted to investigate the relationship between students’ family size and their academic achievement; they found out that family size influenced academic achievement. Their study reveals that children from small size families performed better at school than their counterparts from both average size and large size families. Furthermore, Yoloye (1989) conducted a study to see if the family background variables might be useful in explaining their academic achievement.
- STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
It is observed that parents of such families which are mostly illiterate are incapable of providing adequate motivation for their children in schools as compare with the literate nuclear families. The economic implication of large family size is better explained in Okunyi (2004) who observed from his study that as families get larger, parents cannot give their children the same amount of individual attention. They could not afford to provide them with so many of the things which will help them to make the best possible use of their years at school such as educational aids, and quiet comfortable rooms in which to do home work undisturbed by the television, outings to places of interest, leisure time pursuits, and opportunities for traveling. I is in lieu of this that prompt the researcher to embark on the study.
- objective of the study
The main objective of this study is to study family issues that affects students academic performance. But for the successful completion of the study the researcher intends to achieve the following objectives;
- To ascertain the effect of family challenges on students academic performance
- To ascertain the impact polygamy on student academic achievement
- To evaluate the effect of domestic violence on students academic performance
- To ascertain the relationship between family size and students academic achievement.
- RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses was formulated by the researcher
H0: family challenges do not have any significant effect on students academic performance
H1: family challenges do have a significant effect on student’s academic performance.
H02: domestic violence does not have any impact on student academic achievement
H2: domestic violence do have a significant impact on students academic achievement.
- significance of the study
It is believed that at the completion of the study, the findings will be useful to counselors and psychologist who are mostly engage with the victims of domestic violence and other family related issues, the study will also be useful to students who suffer he consequence of family unrest as the sudy seek to ascertain if there is any impact family irregularities on students academic achievement. The study will also be beneficial to researchers who intend to embark on study in similar topic as the study will serve as a guide to their study. Finally the study will be beneficial to academia’s students and the general public.
- scope and limitations of the study
The scope of this study covers a study on family issues that affects students academic performance in Kanu state. But in the cause of the study, the researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;
(a)Availability of research material: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study.
(b)Time: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
(c)Finance: The finance available for the research work does not allow for wider coverage as resources are very limited as the researcher has other academic bills to cover
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Parent
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where “child” refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A biological parent is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male through the sperm, and a female through the ovum.
Family
In the context of human society, a family (from Latin: familia) is a group of people affiliated either by consanguinity (by recognized birth), affinity (by marriage or other relationship), or co-residence (as implied by the etymology of the English word “family”) or some combination of these.
domestic violence
domestic violence (also named domestic abuse, battering, or family violence) is a pattern of behavior which involves violence or other abuse by one person against another in a domestic setting, such as in marriage or cohabitation. Intimate partner violence is violence by a spouse or partner in an intimate relationship against the other spouse or partner. Domestic violence can take place in heterosexual and same-sex family relationships, and can involve violence against children in the family.
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1.8 Organization of the study
This research work is organized in five chapters, for easy understanding, as follows Chapter one is concern with the introduction, which consist of the (overview, of the study), statement of problem, objectives of the study, research question, significance or the study, research methodology, definition of terms and historical background of the study. Chapter two highlight the theoretical framework on which the study its based, thus the review of related literature. Chapter three deals on the research design and methodology adopted in the study. Chapter four concentrate on the data collection and analysis and presentation of finding. Chapter five gives summary, conclusion and also recommendations made of the study.
This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research
A STUDY OF FAMILY ISSUES THAT AFFECTS STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN NKANU- WEST LGA OF ENUGU STATE>
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