EFFECT OF BROKEN MARRIAGE ON PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

The quality of parental functioning is one of the best predictors of children’s behavior and well-being. Several within-group studies show that either a conflicted relationship with the custodial parent or inept parenting on the part of the custodial parent are linked with a variety of negative outcomes on children including lower academic achievement, internalizing problems, externalizing problems, reduced self esteem, and poorer social competence (Aseltine, 1996; Buchanan, Maccoby, & Dornbush, 1996). Adesina (20055) is of the view that the eect of broken home in the education of children has failed in educating them as supposed. Instead the children are engaged in undesirable behaviours because they have diiculty with life generally. They do not mix well with others properly and have the tendency to dri into anti-social behaviours. Children in broken homes home been found to be a painful destructive factor in their lives, they most oen feel angry at one or both of the parents over the instability of the home. They feel ashamed of their parent’s behavior. It is only in few cases that these children do not care, especially when they are from communities where broken homes are rampant. The future appears, uncertain and 4 unpredictable. Aggressive behaviors are common and at times the children may have feelings of loneliness. School performances and ability to relate to peers may decline as children are struggling to adjust to living in a broken home family. Teachers commonly describe children of broken homes as more hostile (AnsuDatta, 1984). In spite of the drawbacks by broken homes in encouraging children to have the best of education, stakeholders in the educational sector are doing well to avert the situation and make education very relevant to children. Basic education forms part of the overall objective of government to reduce poverty therefore issues of education are handled with a developmental perspective. Efforts being made by governments to ensure education thrives effectively include policy interventions like abolishing of school fees and the school feed program.

Abolishing of school fees especially at the basic education level has been adopted by many countries as one of the key policy interventions for influencing education outcomes. Fees charged at schools especially public schools, have been identified as one of the main barriers to education access especially among the poor, orphaned, and vulnerable children within societies (USAID, 2007). School fees and other direct education related costs to households represent a significant obstacle to enrolment especially among the poor and vulnerable households (USAID, 2007). Abolishing school fees will therefore make it easier and less costly for children with these challenging backgrounds to enroll in schools and eventually help in achieving some of the education related goals in the country. Children from divorced families are nearly five times more likely to suffer damaging mental troubles than those who live with both parents. This shows that two parents 3 are much better in bringing up healthy children than one. Children who come from broken families will most likely have difficult time in life. Children of divorced parents are roughly two times more likely to drop out from school than their peers who benefit from living with parents who are not divorced (Mclanahan 1994). Some children from broken marriages are more likely to turn to drug abuse or other negative behaviors. The truth is that every child needs and deserves the love and provision of a mother and a father. The loving two –married –parent family is the best environment for children. A strong family and home is a place where children gain the identity, discipline, and moral education that are essential for their full individual development. America, once a nation with a strong marriage, had created the best route to achieving the American dream. It has now become a nation in which divorce is commonly seen as the path to personal liberation. In this case many experts argue that, because nothing can be done about it, all Americans should simply accept the culture of divorce without considering the future of the children. Studies in the early 1980s showed that children in repeat divorce earned lower grades and their peers rated them as less pleasant to be around with (Andrew Cherlin, 1981).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The issue of poor academic performance of pupils in the circuit has become a problem for teachers and all stakeholder of education in the area. Parents and education officers are blaming teachers for poor academic work and teachers are also blaming parents for child neglect. Portion of the blame is also shied to pupils for not studying. The cause of the poor performance is due to many reasons but this research deals majorly on broken marriage. The family which is the most important social unit that provides social and economic security to its members such as children is under threat due to rising cases of divorce and separation (CSO: 2000). For this reason, schools are likely to have more pupils whose parents have been divorced or separated than ever before. Little seems to have been documented on the effect of broken homes on pupil academic performance, therefore in order to fill this gap, this study investigated the influence of broken homes on pupil academic performance in selected primary schools in Abeokuta.