Effect of Family Structure on Academic Performance of Secondary School Students in Somolu Local Government Area of Lagos State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the effects of family structure on the academic performance of Senior Secondary schools in Somolu Local Government Area in Lagos State, Nigeria. The main purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between family structure and academic performance. Four hypotheses were postulated to guide the study. The study made use of the survey research design. A total number of two hundred and fifty (250) samples used for the study were selected from the population of the study through the simple random sample technique. A self-designed questionnaire titled ‘Family Related Issues and Academic Performance Inventory (FRIAPI)’ was used to obtain the data that were used for the study. The data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics while the hypotheses were tested using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and t-test statistics, tested at 0.5 level of significance. The result revealed that there was a significant difference between the academic performance of students who lived with their parents and those who did not live with their parents. The result also revealed that there was a significant difference between the academic performance of students whose parents were employed and those whose parents were not employed. In addition, the result revealed that there was a significant difference between the academic performance of students who received regular parental counselling and those who did not. Finally, the results revealed a significant difference in the students` academic performance based on the family structure. A Scheffe post hoc test also revealed that there was a significant difference in the academic performance of students from nuclear families and step families with a mean difference of  4.851^*and also that a significant difference existed between nuclear and polygamous families with a mean difference of 3.874^*. Based on the results this study, it was recommended that the government should create counselling units in schools with adequate funds, while students from broken homes should be given proper guidance and counselling on their psychological needs and social problems in  their studies for appropriate discipline