THE INFLUENCE OF FAMILY SIZE ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN NIGERIA
Academic performance often determined the individual scores in relation to performance of other students’ class test or examinations. The school as a social institution is set up basically for learning to take place. But the family Size of students also play an important part in students’ learning. Thus, the study was therefore conducted on the influence of family size on the academic performance of secondary school students as perceived by teachers and parents.
The researcher employed the descriptive study method for the study. The population consisted of parents and teachers. The sample consisted of 200 parents and teachers randomly selected from Calabar and Ogoja Local Government Areas of Cross river State. Seven research hypotheses were generated to guide the study. Data were collected using a research designed instrument questionnaire tiled “Influence of Family Size on the Academic Performance of Secondary School Students Questionnaire” (IFSAPSSSQ). It consists of two sections: Section A deals with the demographic data while Section B contains item on the influence of family size on the academic performance of secondary school students. Content validity of the instrument was established by administering it twice after an interval of three weeks to 20 married adults who were not part of the sample. Data analysis was done using percentage, means, t-test and Analysis of Variance, (ANOVA). All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha level.
The findings; it is revealed that there was no significant difference in the parents and teachers based on age, status and family type while significant difference is found on the basis of gender, highest educational qualification, number of children and religion. This signifies that three of the hypotheses were accepted while four were rejected.
Based on the findings, it is recommended that government should increase allocation of funds to provide for more amenities to facilitate learning in the schools; parents should be sensitized on the need to make education of their children and wards a priority in the face of the present economic predicament by adequately providing for their school materials and local and international Non-Government organizations (NGOs) and other stakeholders in education should be sensitized to weld support for the funding of secondary school projects in Nigeria.