A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF BOARDING AND DAY STUDENTS IN EDUCATION. A CASE STUDY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OREDO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, BENIN CITY

 ABSTRACT

          This research was designed to compare the academic performance of students in boarding house and those who are day students. About one hundred and twenty students were used for this study. These were drawn by using simple and stratified random sampling by selecting students in three different secondary schools in Oredo Local Government Area Benin city, Edo State. Questionnaire and students scores in their first term examination were used, simple percentage were employed to test these research question. Three research questions were formulated they are:

a.            Is there any difference between the academic performance of both the boarding and day students in education?

b.            Is there any difference between the academic performance of the students whose parents are rich and those of poor parents?

c.            Does the environment have a positive or negative effect on the academic performance of the students?

TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter One        

Introduction                                                        

Background of the study

Statement of problem

Purpose of the study

Basic assumption

Research question

Significance of the study

Scope of the study

Chapter Two       

Literature review

Chapter Three     

Research design and methodology

Research design

Population of the study

Samples/sampling techniques

Administration and collection of data

Instrument for data analysis

Procedure for data analysis

Chapter Four       

Analysis and presentation of results

Analysis and interpretation of data

Chapter Five        

Summary, conclusion and recommendation

Summary

Conclusion

Recommendation

References

Questionnaires    

CHAPTER ONE

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

          The advent of white men leads to a formal and organized system of education, but before then, Nigeria had her own indigenous system of education. This system was basically traditional and largely informal, but this has been replaced since the advent of European in the country. There is an organized system, which is carried out in the school premises, whereby students are allowed to reside in the school premises under the supervision of the school staffs. This system can be traced back to the ancients Greeks system of education in Anthems, where the young boys were sent to institutes to be trained as brave solders (Ehigie, 2000). 

          This can equally be said about the old Nigerian indigenous system of education. Looking back to our traditional society, apprentices were sent to stay with their apprenticeship so as to be near their source of knowledge (Fafunwa, 1974). Nevertheless, the origin of boarding houses in formal education in Nigeria can be traced to the advent of Christian missionary activities in Nigeria as far back as the early 1840s. It was then used to schedule the converts especially the young ones from the larger society to enable the missionaries inculcate in there young ones Christian values as well as western values and culture. The idea behind this was that, if the school children lived in a mission-controlled environment, it would be easier to indoctrinate and force them to attend school regularly. According to Aghenta (1983) he identifies the objectives of the boarding houses systems as:

1.            The provision of opportunities for students of varying social and economic background to live together and share common problems and interest.

2.            The provision of opportunities for students to develop independence and a sense of responsibility.

3.            The provision of stable environment with regular sleep, planned diet and conducive atmosphere, which encourages serious academic work.

4.            The provision of opportunities for students to make genuine friendship in life.

5.            The provision of boarding facilities for students whose parents live very far from school.

The boarding system however, is a matter of choice for those who can afford the cost. For others they may prefer coming to school from home since they cannot afford it. There have also been speculations on whether the boarding school is really necessary. The question now is whether the cost of attending a boarding school is proportional to a student’s academic excellence, or whether it is not with preference to today’s school system. Therefore, it is in light of the notion that the researcher went into this work.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM    

          The question of whether more boarding facilities should be provided for our secondary school or not has in recent times engaged the attention of the government as well as educators and parents alike. The federal as well as state government have found it in increasingly difficult to provide enough secondary school for the ever-increasing population of students. This is an issue that no responsible government can afford to toy with, although recently more secondary schools have been established through out the country by both the government and private individuals, in Edo State for instance we now have more than free government owned secondary schools and a lot of private secondary schools too.

          However, some Nigerian have started to question the wisdom of spending the government limited resources for the provision of boarding facilities when such resources could be used to provide more schools. Varied opinions are also held by different individuals on the academic performance of day and boarding students. Arising from the above assertions, the statements of problem are:

1.            Which of the two groups boarding and day students has higher academic performance?

2.            Is there any relationship between the female day students and boarders and their academic performance?

3.            What is the effect of home and school environment on academic performance of students?

RESEARCH QUESTION  

          The following research question is stated for this study as:

1.            Is there any difference between the academic performance in education of both the day students and the boarding students?

2.            Is there any difference between the academic performance of the females whose parents are rich and those of poor parents?

3.            Does the environment have a positive or negative effect on the academic performance of the students?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

1.            To find out whether there is any difference between the academic performance of boarding and day students in educational among students in idea college Secondary School.

2.            To find out whether there is any difference between the academics performance of students whose parents are rich and those of poor parents.

3.            To find out whether the environment or atmosphere have any effect on the academic performance of both the day students and the boarding students.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 

          The government educational administrators and their action and decisions. This will serve as a backing in the formulation of educational policies and organisation for daily school activities. It is the researcher expectation that this study will be valuable to them.

          It is also hoped that parent’s guidance will find this study useful in making decision concerning their child or wards. They will therefore know if the money spent in putting their child or wards in boarding houses is justified.

          Universities, Colleges of Education and polytechnics students will also benefit from this study in terms of planning to improve on their academic performance by studying harder.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

          The study is limited to only the selected secondary school. A case study of three selected secondary schools in Oredo Local Government Area, Benin City. The sample cuts across both the boarding and day students in the school.

BASIC ASSUMPTION 

          It is assumed that students in boarding performs better in education than the day students.

          It is assumed that boarding students are more exposed to organized living and out of school activities than the day students.

          At home, it is assumed that there are no conducive atmosphere or environment for effective study due to distraction from parents and relatives alike.

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS   

Day students: These are the students who attend school from home.

Boarding students: These are the students who stays in a boarding house inside the schools.

Academic performance: This refers to the percentage scores obtained by a student in any of the class examinations organized by the school.

Environment: this refers to the surrounding which man lives and which he reacts to and attaches meaning. But in the project, it is seen as the place, which the students come in to gain knowledge and also their various homes.