Effect of Divorce on the Academic Performance of Students in Some Selected Secondary Schools in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State
Chapter One
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The researcher is interested in the study of the effects of divorce or broken homes on the academic performance of students in secondary school.
In view of this, the study is geared towards identifying the cause and problems of broken homes and the effects on the academic performance of students in selected secondary schools in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State.
The researcher also hopes to education married couples and the general public of the consequences of divorce or broken home on the children and to encourage them to live harmoniously in order to bring up children who will successfully fit into the society and become useful to themselves and the society.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Marital stability refers to what constitutes stable relationship between husband and wife and children in a harmonious relationship that is within the nuclear family.
There are certain factors in our traditional and modern society which militates against marital stability, some of these factors can be discussed under vital headings like courtship, family organization, economic independence, age and education.
COURTSHIP
This is a period of serious preparation between a girl and a boy intending to get married in future the duration of a courtship depends on the two parties concerned, this courtship period affects the long run relationship between husband and wife since it might not necessarily end up in marriage but it is an important step in the selection of spouse.
In Goode, J. book in (1963) states that marriage was not just an event but a process in which visiting services and gifts were exchanged over a period of time as marriage relationship is strengthened and each spouse was more fully accepted by his relatives.
Social changes has contributed to marital instability, this does not mean that in traditional society, marital instability did not occur. There were also evidence of quarrels and divorces in traditional set up, but with social changes however, these evidence seen to be more apparent these days, our social set these days is a thing of much importance. Once the couple concerned are not socially compactable, there tends to be irritable behaviour in the home can speed up divorce.
FAMILY ORGANIZATION
So many families are physically separated from the extended family system. The physical separation has helped to create inter – dependence between husband and wife. It also help them to have a peaceful life with less interference from her extended family which is normally the cause of most break up of marriages, because the tension form the man’s family gets the woman upset and the man biased or vice – verse, there should be a limit to how the family organization affect marriage.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
When one partner tries to claim educational superiority over the other, there is bound to be conflict every now and than, when there is no similarity in their educational background, they tend to view things or issues differently which pose a problem to their marital status.
The man or woman should at least package in homely or formal discussion. No partner is happy if his partner is unable to keep peace with discussion, it is often a pride to watch one’s partner making good points in lively discussion or debates. The reverse is the case when the educational difference is such that militate against the one been unable to discuss in social gathering.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
RESEARCH DESIGN
The general approach adopted in executing this study is the case study research design; this has to do with collecting and finding results in some selected schools in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo state.
Population
The researcher used all the total number of student in Oredo local government area of Edo state. Students were given one hundred {100} copies of questionnaires.
SAMPLE AND SAMPLING PROCEDURE
The researcher selected the subject by random sampling. About 30 questionnaires were sent to each of the schools. These respondents were between the age ranges of 14 – 18years.
The researcher therefore based his findings on the ability of the respondents to give reasonable answer to the questionnaire collected on the spot. The area of study of this research work is carried out in four {4} secondary schools in Oredo local government area of Edo state namely:
- Baptist High School
- Idia College
- Edokpolor Grammar School
- Ihogbe College
All in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State.
CHAPTER FOUR
ANALYSIS OF DATA AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
The previous chapter aimed the researcher to be able to carry out these analyses and to investigate the effect of divorce on the academic performance of students in some selected secondary school.
The analysis of data in this chapter is based on the information received from the respondents in some selected secondary schools in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo state.
CHAPTER FIVE
FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS, CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDIES
FINDINGS
The study on the effect of divorce on the academic performance of students in some selected secondary schools in Oredo Local Government Area Of Edo State has revealed the following findings.
- That psychological an emotional disturbance to every great extent affects the students’ performance in schools, especially their academic and social life.
- That students from broken homes suffers too many restrictions and as such do not have the opportunity to plan with guidance what course to pursue in life.
- That the couples are not yet aware of problem associated with divorce as they affect the couples themselves their offspring and the society at large.
- That students from divorce home are made to do a lot of different work at home which do not allow them to study at home. In addition, they are not encouraged academically by the sponsors.
- That insecurity and un-ruling attitudes of step parents cause these students to “steal love” in school.
- Lastly, that the couple do not seem to realize the cause of problems in marriage which lead to divorce.
RECOMMENDATION
From the data collected and analyzed, the researcher was able to come up with some findings, in line with the study on the effect of divorce on the academic performance of students in some selected secondary schools in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo state in view to make the researcher deemed, it is necessary to make the following recommendations in Oredo to have a better performance in student academic work, which are,
- The parents of the couples should not over interfere in the affairs of their children as over interference can also lead to divorce.
- Parents should build the family on strong foundations of love, mutual understanding and good planning in order to bring up children who will be useful to themselves and to the society at large.
- Parents should try to be more loving, caring, show more dedication and affection towards themselves and to their children in order to help knit their family together.
- The parents should realize that family is the major agency through which socialization of children takes place and ensure person-to-person interaction among family members.
- Both parents and teachers should also discuss children development with the students and also promote personal relationship because these children who will one day enter into contract marriage sensibly and bring up children sensibly.
- Intending couple {youngsters yet to solemnize} should know and understand each other before going into marriage. This will help reduce causes of divorce.
- The planers of educational curriculum should include in the secondary schools curriculum, t hose things that will be useful to boys and girls in later life that is after their school day so as to meet the need and aspiration of the students.
- The government should establish a legal backing and stating the age at which the youths should go into marriage to reduce the frequent occurrence of divorce.
- The government should exercise should coercive power which will help carryout the function of maintaining social order, ensures unity and survival, so as to promote the social welfare of her citizens
CONCLUSION
From the findings of the study, the researcher detected the most of the students who perform woefully acmes from divorce home. Apart from this, truants and emotionally disturbed students/children mostly comes from divorced homes.
It was also found out that most children who play truancy come from divorced homes in which the mother has left the father and there is no adequate care and concern for the child.
Based on these information, it appears that the home contribute to a child’s academic performance. The type of home that a child comes from will reflect in both his academic work and behaviour, the problem of divorce homes from the results obtained in this research shows that it is peculiar to families that can be classified, the lower socio-economic status.
Conclusively, one can then say that the type of home a child comes from will go a long way in determining how well a child will perform in his academic work.
It should be noted that more research on this study is necessary. For example, the substitution of father and mother, the effect of divorce on the Nigerian society etc can be researched upon by somebody else.
SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDIES
The researcher wish to support that other researcher should investigate the effect of divorce on the academic performance of pupils in Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State.
Therefore, to develop on this research work, other researcher should conduct more research /investigation on the control or reductions of divorce among secondary school students in Edo State.
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