The Effect of Broken Home on School Drop-out and the Quality of Their Education in Some Selected Schools

The Effect of Broken Home on School Drop-out and the Quality of Their Education in Some Selected Schools

ABSTRACT

The first chapter deals with information about the effect of Broken homes on school drop-out such as the statement of the study, the purpose of the study, the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the researcher’s assumption as well as the definition of terms. The second chapter on the other hand deals with reviewing related literature to find out more about what other researchers were able to find during their research findings. This is done by borrowing their ideas or opinions as regards the research topic. In the third chapter, the researcher discussed the methods used for data collection and analysis. And the findings of percentages. Chapter four discussed and work out the tabulation and data analysis. Finally, in the last chapter, the researcher discussed the summary of major findings, the implication of the study, the limitation of the study, and suggestions for further studies. This research work has been based solely on students in broken homes. This research work is limited to the effect of broken homes on school drop-out alone.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Zangon Kataf Local Government is one of the twenty-three (23) Local Government areas in Kaduna State with the Headquarters in Zonkwa. It is bounded by Kachia Local Government, Jema’a Local Government, Kaura Local Government, and Kauru Local Government.

Zango Local Government is made up of three (3) chiefdoms are subdivided into 36 districts. Bajju chiefdom has 13 districts within the Atyap chiefdom having 14 districts, while Ikulu/Kamatan chiefdom has nine (9) districts. This investigation on the effects of broken homes on school dropout and the quality of their education in Kaduna State would be concentrated in Government Secondary School Samaru Kataf, Government Secondary School Madakiya, Government Secondary School Wagon, Government Secondary School Fadan Kaje, and Government Secondary School Aduwan Gida Areas. The investigation is been carried out to school drop out as it affects the quality of education and the possible solution.

Education for students is of great importance especially in modern Nigerian society as we live in changing society and a changing world. The dropout of students is because most of the students in the above-mentioned schools are faced with a lot of problems as a broken home child. After all, lack of proper handling or proper care by their parents which make most of the students cannot coup with their studies due to lack of proper care by their parent’s many students in the above-mentioned schools has been telling lies to their parents that they are forced to pay some certain amount of money in their schools while it is nor true. Students here have the effect of the broken home on their academic performance.

However, marriage is the coming together of a man and a woman to live as husband and wife. It is a process whereby a man took a woman as a partner to live forever. This process of their staying together is recognized or determined by a contract and agreement. The two (2) couples stayed together except for some problems they encountered before they could separate. When they stay within a short time they could be blessed with children and from here development occurs in their compound.

There is some obligation that the man has to frame his family which is very important, likewise the wife as a mother in the compound. Here the husband is the head of the family is assigned to certain responsibilities such as feeding, sheltering, and others to the family, while the wife being the mother of the family also assigned to perform some tasks such as taking care of the household activities like, cooking, clean the house environment and bathing the children in the home. So also their staying together and performing these duties assigned to both of them is what we call marriage since they are living together with their children.

We have understood the word marriage, now we shall look at the meaning of broken home. Since its meaning came from marriage, broken is a process whereby the two couples are no longer living together in unity or as husband and wife. This is because of some conflict arising from them, and most of these problems are caused by lack of understanding between themselves both in social and personal reasons, so when marriage is no longer been as it was right from the initiating time or the two couples have separated it means that the home has broken down.

In a nutshell, when this couple separated it brings a total change both in the man, woman and the children they have gotten in their life, and the society in which they live in, with their academic performance. In this field especially the children have no rest of mind with their friends, school and the whole society.

This results in their poor academic performance and also leads to the dropout of the students in most of the colleges. In a situation where the father married another woman and it happened that she did not take proper care by advising, feeding, or sponsoring them in the school. These children have to encounter a lot of problems, and more so lead to lack of concentration in the school. Where some of them develop the spirit of stealing, smoking, telling lies, etc.

With the above problems of a broken home, it will lead to the student’s dropout from school and also affect the quality of education of a student. The girl-child dropout in school refers to a situation that the student is not able to complete his/her education based on the problems of a broken home.

Because the children from broken homes had lost most of their opportunities such as security, parental care, moral training and face a lot of stresses and tension from the stepmother and they encounter problems or frustration wherever they are. The children may grow and become some bad eggs in the society because they did not interact with others to know what is going on in the society.

Students from broken homes perform poorly in the academic situation and easily drop out of school due to the problems of broken homes mentioned above. We see a home under family as the basic unit of society. This is the most important component of a country. A house is where a family lives. It may be alternated to the word ‘house’ but a house is more appropriately referring to the material structure, whereas ‘home’ refers to the intangible things that bind together the family members. It is the immeasurable love and care that keeps together mother, father, and their children.

The family is an essential factor for a human’s whole being, everything about a man, his background, attitude, all of his achievements, his honor, and dignity relies on the structure of the family a man lives in with. A family is composed of a father, a mother, and their offspring, bonded by their love for each other.

Broken home is a term used to describe a household, usually about parenting, in which the family unit does not properly function according to accepted societal norms. The concept of broken homes contributed to the falling standard of education in the country. It is based on this premise that this research work dealt with the impact of broken homes and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area, Kaduna State.

According to Collins Advanced Dictionary of English, a defined home is a family unit. It is composed of the father, mother, children, and sometimes with any other members of the extended family, it is a place where one lives with one’s family. It is an institution where each member needs care, love, comfort, and a sense of security. This household might suffer from domestic violence, a dissolved marriage, drug abuse, or anything else that interferes with the upbringing of children. The phrase ‘Broken home’ is more commonly used when either the mother or father is not part of the family due to bad circumstances, as mentioned above, which makes a child’s upbringing suffer. It is less commonly used for parents who have simply split up, and are still not in contact and on good terms with the child.

However, some homes are incomplete in one way or another everywhere in the globe. Death or divorce may be the cause and they may have disastrous effects on a child’s development in other cases the injuries may be insignificant. Judging the situation of a child of a ‘broken home’ is never easy. A divorce is often followed by a long period of deep dissection, which certainly means emotional strain and discord. As a rule, a child cannot be protected by this or kept in ignorance of it.

It is obvious, though that on average, a broken home situation has injurious effects. It seems reasonable to suppose that dissection in a home increases the risk of phobia and reduces resistance to stress (Sandstrom, 2005). Even so, the way that these children struggle to live a normal life and being used to so many problems somehow bring positive effects to them. They may have developed a character stronger than the others who were allowed to live a normal life. In an ideal atmosphere, children should happily be with their parents, children appreciated the love of their parents towards them, one of the tasks that should be fulfilled by parents is to educate their children because the education of children does not start from school. A home is not the walls of the house but the people also become a house when is not broken. Hemm (1970), broken home means a heroic in which the parents are separated, divorced, or are no more by either as a result of death. Children of such homes lack proper care and security. The suffering of such children could be seen in a different dimension.

In most cases, adequate parental affection may not be given to the children properly by the adopted parents that is the guidance. Unfortunately, the children who find themselves in this situation are neglected by their peer groups and society instead of being loved and cared for, however, the present-day in Nigeria.

A country is said to be advanced when it is technologically advanced and this goal cannot be achieved if the majority of the entire population is not educated. Hence education should be made possible and encouraged by the government of any country, like Nigeria, as it greatly contributed to the development of the national economy. Education is derived from the Greek word ‘Educere’ which means to deduce, extract, and acquire knowledge.

Vole (1973) was of the view that education among its primary task is protection and transmitting the cultural heritage of the young ones by developing the individual into a right human being. Education is the machine or force that emphasizes change or the orientation of individual perception, beliefs, customs, patterns of thinking, and values from time immemorial to date. However education, The traditional and western education. Ever before the coming of the Europeans to Nigeria, a form of indigenous traditional education had been in existence.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE STUDY

The issue of dropout of school students varies from place to place. It has become noticeable that the numbers of students facing some severe psychological difficulties are on the increase, this is as a result of their dropping out from schools in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State as one of the worst-hit areas. The issue of dropout and its effect centers mostly on the student’s emotional being, mental being social and moral being as well as economic being, etc. Both those who dropped out at the junior and senior secondary schools suffer these effects. The dropout and its effects form the whole problem of this research work. In other words, the study is on the dropout and its effect among secondary school students in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

If dropping out of school is not properly checked or controlled, it will help to perpetuate ignorance in the entire society. The problem of dropout and its effect in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area Kaduna State is a serious cause for serious-minded Nigerians in general and in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State in particular. Therefore, the purpose of the study is to specifically:

1. Identify the possible causes of students dropping out of secondary schools in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

2. Find out if students’ dropout of school leads to emotional disturbances in life.

3. Find out if students drop out of school results in a low need for achievement and success.

4. Identify if a student drops out of school results in a weak desire for responsibility and the dropout and its effect among secondary school students in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study is limited to investigating students’ drop out of school and its effects among secondary school students in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The finding of this study will be very useful to students, parents, the government, and the society at large. When teachers are treated well by their employers, they will help to retain students in school. When facilities are provided in schools, it will help to keep students in school. Then students who would have dropped out and joined bad gangs will complete their secondary education, then enter into the tertiary institution, and finally become important people in society. The parents on their own will benefit from this study as they will know the evils associated with students dropping out of school. The knowledge from this study will encourage parents to strive very hard and see that their children did not drop out of school. The government will also benefit from this study when the dropout rate is reduced to almost zero. The money spent on dropouts will reduce, there will be a reduction in educational wastages. Society at large will benefit from this study if there is a drastic reduction in the number of dropouts in our secondary school. This will go a long way to reducing the density of crime in our society. Thus, more lives and property will be saved.

1.6 THE RESEARCH QUESTIONS/ASSUMPTIONS

In this study, the following research questions were formulated to guide the study;

1. What are the possible causes of dropout in secondary schools in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State?

2. To what extent do students drop out of school lead to emotional disturbance in life?

3. To what extent do students drop out of school result in a low need for achievement and success?

4. To what extent do students drop out of school result in a weak desire for responsibility and independence?

1.7 THE DEFINITION OF TERMS

Research: Is an education finding of fact.

Researcher: Is the person involved in finding facts.

Home: Is the well structured or built house where people live

Marriage: This is the legal union of males and females to live as husband and wife.

Broken: Is the marriage in which the two (2) couples have separated, or are divorced where children lack control and discipline.

Husband: This is the note with which a woman is married.

Wife: Is a married woman being united to a man as her husband.

School: Is a place for acquiring knowledge.

Dropout: This is to leave something without completing it, that is graduate before the fixed time for graduation due to some problems.

Relationship: These are the similarities that exist between two things.

1.8 THE SUMMARY

With a fewer points on the effect of a broken home and its relationship with school dropout as its effect on the quality of education, parents, guidance counselors should try to adjust for the benefit of their children in the school especially home and school dropouts.

There is a great relationship between a broken home and school dropout and also has a great effect on the quality of education.