THE EFFECTS OF POVERTY ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PUPILS IN YENAGOA LGA BAYELSA STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Over the past decades, the unfortunate reality is that the income gap has widened betweenSouthern Nigerian families. Educational outcomes are one of the key areas influenced by familyincome. Children from low-income families often start school already behind their peers whocome from more affluent families. The incidence, depth, duration and timing of poverty allinfluence a child’s educational performance, along with communitycharacteristics and social networks (Evan, 2004). However, both Southern Nigeria and international organizationshave shown that the effects of poverty can be reduced using sustainable interventions.

Meanwhile, poverty remains a stubborn fact of life even in rich countries. According toHarris (2006) complex web of social relationships student experience with peers, adults in theschool and family members exerts a much greater influence on their academic performance. This processstarts with student core relationship with parents or primary caregivers in their lives, whichform a personality that is either secure and attached or insecure and unattached. Securelyattached children perform better in school (Bali, Granger, Kivlighan, Mills-Koonce,Willongby&Greeberg, 2008). Once pupils are in school, the dual factors of socializationand social status contribute significantly to academic achievement. The school socialization processtypically pressure student to be like their peer or risk social rejection, whereas the quest forhigh social status drives pupils to attempt to differentiate themselves in some areas, forexample, socio-economic status forms a huge part in this equation. Children raised in povertyrarely choose to behave differently, but are faced daily with overwhelming challenges thataffluent children never have to confront and their brains have adapted to suboptimalconditions in ways that undermine good school performance.

The human conditions which we might classify as being in poverty have a long history with avariety of interpretations; these conditions are influenced by a number of factors includingresources, contemporary standards and public perceptions of what is minimally acceptable (Evans, 2004).

One of the social issue facing pupils of poverty is emotional trauma. The emotional climatecan often be very stressful and emotionally depriving. The lack of emotional nurturing canlead to feelings of alienation, inadequacy, depression and anxiety. Aggressive or impulsivebehaviour and social withdrawal can also result, which in turn can affect their academic performance. However, the overall goal of this study is to provide an insight into theinfluence of poverty on student academic performance.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Strong, secure relationships devoid of poverty and lack help stabilize children’s emotionally and provide the core guidanceneeded to build lifelong social skills. Children who grew up with such relationships learnhealthy, appropriate emotional responses to everyday situations. But children raise in poorhomes often fail to learn these responses, to the detriment of their school performance. Forexample, pupils with emotional instability may get so easily frustrated that they give upon a task when success was just moments away. Social dysfunction may inhibit pupils’ability to work well in cooperative groups, quite possibly leading to their exclusion by groupmembers who believe they aren’t “doing their part” or “pulling their share of load”. Thisexclusion and the accompanying decrease in collaboration and exchange of informationexacerbate at risk pupils’ already shaky academic performance. However, the researcher is examining the effects of poverty on the academic performance of the pupils in The primary schools under study.

1.3   OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The following are the objectives of this study:

1. To examine the effects of poverty on the academic performance of pupils in primary schools.
2. To identify other factors affecting the academic performance of pupils in primary schools.
3. To determine the factors encouraging poverty in the society.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are the effects of poverty on the academic performance of the pupils in primary schools?
2. What are the other factors affecting the academic performance of the pupils in primary schools?
3. What are the factors encouraging poverty in the society?

1.5   HYPOTHESIS

HO: There is no significant relationship between poverty and student’s academic performance

HA: There is significant relationship between poverty and student’s academic performance

1.6   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The following are the significance of this study:

1. The result of this study will educate the general public on the effects of poverty on the performance of pupils.
2. This research will be a contribution to the body of literature in the area of the effect of personality trait on student’s academic performance, thereby constituting the empirical literature for future research in the subject area.

1.7   SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study will cover the poverty level and its effect on the performance of the pupilsin primary schools under study.

LIMITATION OF STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

REFERENCES

Harris, J. R. (2006). No Two Alike: Human Nature and Human Individuality. New York:

W.W. Norton.

Evans, G. W. (2004). The environment of childhood poverty.American psychologist, 39(5),

924-933.

Bleir, C., Granger, D. A., Kivlighan, K. T., Mills-Koonce, R., Willonghby, M. & Greenberg,

M. T. (2008). Maternal and child contributions to certisol response to emotional

arousal in young children from low-income, rural communities. Developmental

Psychology, 44(4), 1095-1109.