THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS

THE INFLUENCE OF ENVIRONMENT ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The influence of colonialism on Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized. The influx of white explorers, traders, and missionaries led to the development of settlements that differed from the traditional domestic environment. These new settlements were designed to reflect the norms, values, and economic policies of the colonial masters. Africa, the land of blessed race, where the opportunists came to develop to colonize their resources for their good, was then left in vain hope(Allen, 2011).

Although primarily established for white settlers, the new settlements known as urban areas or townships also served as a refuge for an appreciable number of Africans who had to some substantial degree emancipated themselves from the constraints of traditional society. Among them were professional men, clerks, and shopkeepers with at least primary education, growing numbers of wage-earners, and a large number of farmers receiving cash income from growing crops for the world market (Fage, 1978).

The projection of industrial capitalism in Africa produced well-defined urban classes of people with technical skills. They wanted to lift themselves into the twentieth-century world modestly symbolized by radios and bicycles and to enjoy freedom based on knowledge and a more advanced mode of production. These ambitions were feasible only in an urban settlement. Aba is reputed as a big commercial city. It is predominantly inhabited by businessmen of various persuasions traders, big–time technicians and craftsmen, importers and exporters transporters, etc. Even a few professionals like Teachers, Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants, Engineers, etc. have unwittingly imbibed the commercial tradition of the dominant group.

In Aba, you are either a businessman or are nobody. The influence of commerce is so pervading that the market unions have come to connote the de facto government or power broker in all of Aba. The defunct famous Bakassi Vigilante Group was composed of traders and craftsmen. The commercial nature of Aba has also influenced the attitude and lifestyle of most residents. The rat-race syndrome is very pronounced. Everything is measured in terms of its worth in money. People do not have time for anything else but money. Parents do not even have time for their children. In some cases, the children are surrounded by paid cooks, drivers, and houseboys/maids who attend to their needs while their parents are busy making money. This creates room for child abuse through neglect and overindulgence by parents. We can observe that the environment regulates the social, religious, academic, and cultural inclinations of the child as other less fortunate children are abused through exploitation. For example, those employed as shop assistants may sleep in the shops. The typical day starts for such children at about 5.30 am. The business continues up to 9 pm since there is no legislation on shopping hours in Nigeria. Children serving as house helps are in a similar situation. They wake up at about 5:30 am and do household chores up to 7:30 am or even later. Some of these servants who attend school go to school already very tired. In some cases, they walk a distance to school thereby worsening the situation. At about 2.00 pm when the school closes, they go home to continue the household chores or carry clothes to sell in the streets. They come back late in the evening tired and sleep off. This routine is performed almost daily at the expense of the children’s studies. The child who hopes to grow up and become a professional is subjected to social constraints that are likely to obstruct his progress. Some constraints are child labor, street hawking, street begging, early marriage, child abandonment, child prostitution, child battering, sexual and physical abuse, and therapeutic abuse by fake traditional healers (Ebigbo, 1988, Echezona, 1991). The environment is characterized by models that cherish aggression act-rich syndrome, substance-level ambition, and disregard for Education.

It is also necessary to note that the surroundings or environment of a student influences their performance. Learning and reading begin in school but the first foundation of the child starts at home (Binkley 2008).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The poor academic performance of pupils in schools in the Aba educational environment has recently become a cause for serious concern. The researcher has observed that some senior primary school pupils cannot write or read a letter. Others attend as many as three schools within their primary school career due to constant failures in a bid to avoid the shame of repeating a class. It has also been observed by the researcher that in Aba and some other parts of Nigeria, private school proprietors tend to boost the population of their schools by admitting students without a testimonial or statement of result and award fictitious results to ensure the promotion of such pupils to the next class.

This ugly development has been attributed to many factors such as teachers’ poor attitude to work; poor infrastructure, examination malpractice; lack of qualified teachers; truancy; poor motivation; Non-payment of salaries, and the neglect of instructional media by teachers, etc. The primary school features the highest number of impressionable learners and consumes a greater percentage of the government budgetary allocation to education, hence the need to investigate the influence of the environment on the academic performance of pupils in Aba North L.G.A.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page- – – – – – – – – i
Approval page – – – – – – – -ii
Dedication – – – – – – – – -iii
Acknowledgement – – – – – – – -iv
Abstract – – – – – – – – – -v
Table of content – – – – – – – -vi

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION – – – – – – – -1
1.0 Background of the study – – – – -1
1.1 Statement of the problem – – – – -5
1.2 Purpose of the study – – – – – -6
1.3 Significance of the study – – – – -8
1.4 Research questions – – – – – -9
1.5 Scope of the study – – – – – – -10

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW – – – – – – -11

CHAPTER THREE

Research methodology – – – – – – -39
Design of study – – – – – – – -40

CHAPTER FOUR

Presentation, analysis, and interpretation of data – -48

CHAPTER FIVE

Summary of findings – – – – – – -60
Conclusion – – – – – – – – -61
Recommendations – – – – – – – -62
Suggestions for further research – – – – -64
References – – – – – – – – -65
Appendix I – – – – — – – – -68
Questionnaire. – – – – – – – -69

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