CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Education
has been described in numerous ways. One of these is that, it is a process for
the development of the totality of individual intellectually, physically,
socially, morally, spiritually and psychologically to enable him live an
effective and meaningful life and to be able to contribute towards the
development of the society in which he finds himself. That great hope existed
and still exists for utilizing education as a major lever to life from backward
social order to more satisfactory level is evident from the statements and
politics of governments throughout the world.
However,
education has been seen nationally and internationally as the key to progress
and development. This is simply demonstrated by the yawning gap which separates
the developed world from the so called `developing' nations. That gap according
to Jakande (1987) will never be closed, and the poorer nations will remain
permanently subservient and subordinate unless they embrace education. Thus,
education will open the door of prosperity, human development and national
greatness.
Consequently,
greater emphasis now appears to be placed on educational development because of
the realisation that education, especially in science and technology, is the
most powerful instrument for social transformation and economic development. It
is a universally accepted principle that the attempt to create a new social
order based on freedom, equality and justice can succeed only if traditional
education is revolutionized in content and context.
One
of the most revolutionary and dramatic indication of the place of education and
its relevance to national development may be found in a communication addressed
to the Soviet Leader, Lenin in 1919 by the Soviet economist, Strummin, on the
eve of the launching of the Soviet Union as cited by Ozurtunba (1987). he had
warned Lenin that the hydroelectric power grids, he was planning the huge
industrial enterprises about to be initiated, the steel drills, the machine -
tool factories and even the mechanized farms would all amount to colossal
wastes unless an equivalent investment in education was provided. The economist
arrived at this conclusion, because he saw that in his country there were
students which showed that primary education meant 19 percent increase in the
output and wages of a labourer; secondary education meant an increase of as
much as 239 percent and higher education or university education as much as 320
percent. Lenin took the advice and made a colossal investment in the education
of his people. The result was spectacular and one of its manifestations was the
Soviet industrial revolution of 1927.
Therefore,
it is the realization of the values and benefits of education that has led to
the development of the Nigerian National Policy on Education (1981 revised)
where it is entrenched that:
"... not only is education the
greatest force that can be used to bring about redress in lacking areas of nation
building, it is also the greatest investment that the nation can make for the
quick development of its economic, social, technological and human resources."
This
is why Harbinson and Mayers (1964) stated that human resources development is a
process of increasing the knowledge, skills, attitudes and the capabilities of
all the people in the society. Economically, education is the accumulation of
human capital and its investment in the development of the economy.
Secondly,
it Influences human interactions and co-existence. Politically, education
prepares the people for informed franchising and suffrage. Thus, human
resources development which comes through education, opens the door to modern
socialization.
There
has been a new focus of the Nigerian educational system on functionality and
universalization. Emphasis skilled from education for a few elites to the
provision of basic education for all by the year 2000, concerning at least the
first nine years of schooling.
Thus,
both the federal and state governments have been making huge investments in
education by allocating as much as 30 percent of their annual budgets to
education. This is to ensure that education is provided quantitatively and
qualitatively as well as effectively and efficiently. More focus is also on the
curriculum and the quality of instruction.
However,
these huge investments in education would be justified by the level of
performance of the students in their academic pursuits. It therefore becomes
necessary to study, analyze and drawn some conclusions concerning the
predictors of academic performance of the students. There are many such
predictors but this project deals or focuses on the social economic status as a
predictor of students' academic performance in some selected secondary schools
in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area in Lagos State.
1.1 BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY
An
understanding of the various factors affecting the performance of the child in
classroom with a view to maximizing such performance has been of great concern
to educators and psychologists over the years.
Also,
the plight of the "culturally deprived" child in our schools, causes much
concern for educators, but despite the concern, there are few practical
insights into the causes of the problems much of what we know is based upon
studies which show that children from the lower classes do not do as well as
their middle and upper class pears.
Margaret
(1997) quoting lpaye stated that Socio-Economic Status (SES) of parents has
been found to relate in a highly positive and negative way to their children's
performance in the school.
The
present educators, diplomats, teachers, psychologists, policy makers decried
the rise in falling standard of education especially in this country. The general
consensus of the above mentioned people on the reason for the fall in education
were as a result of the socio-economic background of the parents. They stressed
that some parents, to a large extent, have little concern about the progress
and performance of their children in the schools.
Some
parents do not care about their responsibility, and this may lead to low moral
and truancy and this may have a great effect on students' academic performance
leading to the present economic situation in the country. Many poor parents are
forced by circumstances to saddle the young ones with chores like hawking
wares, cleaning the house and doing other menial jobs which take much of their
time and deprive them of enough time to their studies.
It
is the belief of some parents especially the illiterates among them, that
students often waste time on watching the television and videos. They (parents)
are ignorant of the fact that radio and television programmes help immensely in
providing vital information and materials that can make students keep abreast of
events around and gain some academic exposures and consequently, help to
improve their academic performance in
schools.
Another
factor is that if the child is deprived of good nutrition; he may suffer ill
health and even find it difficult to make satisfactory adjustments at schools.
Family
size is another serious factor. According to Anastasi (2001), the family size
can affect the academic performance of the child. She opined that a large
family at least in certain socio-economic situation would reduce the per capita
funds available for education, recreation, proper food, medical attention, etc.
This means that any reduction in or non-availability of the item mentioned
above will normally affect the performance of the child in school. Ogunlade and
Fajuyitan (1994) said that academic aspiration of the school child is
positively related to the socio-economic of their parents career work, which is
the target of most parents as a means of livelihood, created more harm to the
development of their children. This assertion is based on the fact that career
employees use most of their time in their work place. The aftermath of this
trend is that children are left at the mercy of the housemaids and
schoolteachers to nurture. This ugly trend deprives children from learning the
norms, customs of the society. Inability of the parents to instill discipline
on the wards as a result of the work that occupied their time and this prevents
them (parents) from monitoring their academic performance. Hence; involvement
in career work is a bane to students' academic performance.
1.2 STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
There
has been an outcry of the fallen standard of education in Nigeria. This is because of the
poor academic performance of students in schools. The researcher believes that
the reason for this disparity of few students performing well while a good
number of them perform poorly, is as a result of socio-economic background of
parents.
With
the increased emphasis on academic Performance in Nigeria,
a lot of schools have been established and this has created pressure in
educational system in Nigeria.
There is a charming increasing in facilities such as textbooks, journals,
magazines, radio sets, television and video sets. Yet the home background of
these students, as well as the school background are to say the least are very
poor. With this type of situation, the country can hardly produce citizens who
can put the nation in the forefront of technological advancement.
1.3 RESEARCH
QUESTIONS
Socio-economic
status as a predictor of academic performance of the students among other
factors cannot be over emphasized.
Therefore,
thus study intends to answer the following research questions:
1.
What are the socio-economic factors which
are predictors of students' academic performance in secondary schools in Ifako-Ijaiye
Local Government Area?
2.
What are the effects of each factor on
students' performance?
3.
What is the degree of relationship between
income of parents and academic performance of students?
4.
Is there any significant effect of the
parents' occupation on students' performance?
5.
Is there any significant effect of the
parents' education on students' performance?
1.4 PURPOSE
OF THE STUDY
The
purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic
background or factors and studentsacademic performance in secondary schools
in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos State.
Also,
it is necessary to find out the different socio-economic factors that are
responsible for their academic Performance.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE
OF STUDY
It
is hoped, that the finding of the study would help in identifying the socioeconomic
factors affecting studentsacademic performance.
It
will enable teachers to know the roles, being played by the family or parents
in encouraging the students to perform better in academic work. It will also
help the teachers to know the necessary help to render to these children who
are less cared for by their parents.
It
will help the parents to know when, where and how to assist their children/wards
in order to improve their academic performance in schools.
It
will help the government, which serves as central authority to know its
responsibility with reference to the educational Performance of these students.
This may be in terms of bursary awards and procuring of adequate facilities.
1.6 RESEARCH
HYPOTHESES
The
following hypotheses will be tested in this study:
Hypothesis One
There
is no significant difference between children of white collar and blue-collar
parents relative to their academic Performance in schools.
Hypothesis Two
There
is no significant difference between children of literate and illiterate
parents relative to their academic Performance in schools.
Hypothesis Three
There
is no significant difference between children of prestigious and low occupation
parents relative to their academic Performance in schools.
1.7 SCOPE
OF THE STUDY
The
study is intended to examine the relationship between socio-economic status and
students' academic performance in some selected secondary schools in
Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos State.
1.8 LIMITATIONS
OF THE STUDY
This
study is likely to experience constraints like financial constraints, no easy
accessibility to information or data from schools, late collection of data like
questionnaire. Other constraints include time factor and attitude of the
respondents.
1.9 OPERATIONAL
DEFINITION OF TERMS
·
Socio-Economic
Status: This refers to social and economic class, level or
power of the parents of the students, which may be high or low. It also refers
to the parents' social and economic ranking by the members of the community
whether superior or interior position.
·
Academic
Performance: It connotes the marks which individual
student obtains in class tests or examination based on his or her learning
ability in schools.
·
Status:
This refers to indices such as occupation, income, education, etc. of the
parents.
·
Socio-economic
Background: This is the environment indicative of the
financial status of the home from which individual student comes.
·
Occupation:
It refers to as a group of similar jobs found in several establishments. That
is any job, business, profession or work done to earn a living.
·
Academic
Performance: It is the average scores of students in
examination in all the subjects taken by the students.
·
Academic
Performance: It refers to knowledge or skills developed
in the school subjects, usually designated by test scores or by marks assigned
by teachers or both.
·
Parental
Education: It refers to the educational attainment and
qualification a parent acquired over times.
·
Career:
It is defined as a sequence of positions, jobs, or occupations that one person
(including parents) engages in during his working life.