EVAULATION OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANISATION (NGOs) TOWARDS FUNDING OF PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KANAM LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

            Education is a process through which individual acquires skills, competencies, and attitude. It makes an individual civilized, refined cultured and educated, its goal is to make an individual perfect. It is right of every child to be educated, be it traditional or western. Thus, education is being regarded as culture to man, people and the nation of the world at large. This explains why man has to educate himself or herself and his or her offspring in the society. Every society gives importance to education because it is the hypothetical remedy for all human ills. Education is seen as a key to solve the various challenges in life.   

Etymologically, the word “Education” has been derived from different Latin words ‘educare’ which means ‘to bring out’ or ‘to nourish’. ‘Education’ which means ‘act of teaching or ‘training’ someone. Poverty is one of the factors militating against man from carrying out his educational activities perfectly. Because of the various perception and complexities of the term poverty, a universally agreed definition cannot be arrived at. But then poverty according to the oxford advanced learners dictionary (2000) defined poverty as the state of being poor. Oguw (2005) sees poverty as a way of life characterized by low calorie intake, inaccessibility of adequate health facilities low quality education system, low life expectancy, unemployment and under-employment. Leroy and Symes (2001) consider poverty as a major anti-risk factors relating the concept poverty to Nigeria, it will therefore be considered in a broader way which implies that it has been viewed in various perspectives which include one national state and home background. At the national level, a nation can be considered poor when her economic standard is very low and this automatically makes the nation underdeveloped. The economy of a country that does not reached certain stage of development in terms of infrastructure and other development indices. As regard poverty in the family level, we are referring to the home background.  Even before the indigenous education or western type of education, the home has always been the agency through which man learns various aspect of life to enable him live a meaningful life in his environment. The home which is regarded as the first school of a child before he enters the larger society.

            The World Bank (1990) view poverty as the lack of capability to attain a minimum standard of living. This directly related to inaccessibility of food, clothing, shelter, health services and clean water, to mention but a few cited in (Qyeyinka 2001). This means that poverty can be seen as the inability to obtain the necessity of life. There are minimum standards of living an average human being is expected to attain, when it becomes impossible to attain this minimum standard of living such a person is described as poverty ridden, most of these problems are associated to lack of development due to poverty. These countries which are referred to as backward or poor countries are so designated, because they are economically behind developed countries. Todaro and Jhingan (2002). It is widely believed that poverty is largely responsible for the persistence of these characteristics in developing countries.

This explains why reducing poverty has not only been as the most important goal of human development but has been considered the core for improvement of well being and the removal of hunger, disease and productive employment for all. In the National Millennium Development Goal report (2004) it stated that “every nation first goal must be to reduce poverty to the barest level and satisfy the priority needs of its citizenry, so as not to attain high standard of living” this implies that failure to control poverty in any nation has multiples effects which condemn generation to the same place as widespread poverty remain the major challenge to developing countries.

Poverty is said to exist when people lack the means to satisfy their basic needs. Although it is a phenomenon as old as human history its significance has changed over time under tradition (i.e non industrialized) modes of economic production, widespread poverty had been acceptable as inevitable (Encyclopedia Britanica, 2013).                              

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

           Evidence shows that in Nigeria, the number of those in poverty has continued to increase every year. By 1999, when the government of Olusegun Obasanjo came into power, it was estimated that more than 70% of Nigeria lived in poverty. In recent years, between 2009-2014 it has been a controversy in the mind of people that if the poor status of any society or nation, even family can really have an impact on the students educational performance. In view of this, the study intends to investigate the positive and negative impact of poverty on the students’ educational performance in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau state. This is because the diversity of the word poverty by different scholars who have used it in their course of study and how it has affected the learning and performance of the students in their educational development.

Many people in Mangu are unable to adequately provide for the needs of their children including their education. Survival in Mangu is getting tougher by the day. Government policies are politically oriented without positive impact on the welfare of the masses. Economic policies that would stimulate the economy and better the welfare of the people if appropriately implemented are relegated to the background (Adeotomre, 2007). The economic environment is not conducive for business operators. People no longer show much interest in engaging in serious production, investments as such job opportunities have become extremely scarce and the economy status of many families has been immensely affected negatively.

Poverty is an issue that more and more of our nations children are coming face to face with the price that children of poverty must pay is unbelievably high. Each year, increasing numbers of children are entering schools with needs from circumstances, such as poverty that schools are not prepared to meet. Conditions required for families to be successful are often lacking in the environment of poverty, stability, security, emotionally positive time together, access to basic resources and a strong shared belief system. Thus, family relationships suffer when individual live in poverty. Parents exhibit less capacity to be supportive and consistent in their parenting provide less vocal and emotional stimulation are less responsive to their children needs and model less.

When people are considered poor the belief is that their purchasing power has crumbled and that they are financially incapacitated to enjoy all that they needed to guarantee a moderate economic and or academic life.

Therefore, this study tends to investigate the effects of poverty on students academic performance in secondary schools, using Mangu Local Government Area as a case study.        

1.3       PURPOSE OF THE STUDY   

            The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of poverty on the student’s academic performance in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau state emphasizing on some selected secondary schools.

1. The study is to find out whether students of Mangu can really be affected with any economic standard of the nation.
2. The study also tries to find out the extent of which the impact of environmental factors have on the academic performance of students

• The study also tries to find out the extent of which economic status of the parent have an impact have on the academic performance of students

1. This study will also provide possible suggestion, in enhancing or improving the student’s academic performance by bringing out strategies to alleviate poverty. For instance by introducing the Britain welfare legislative system, by providing accommodation, transportation, feeding, sickness benefiting, clothing etc those families living below the poverty level.   

1.4       RESEARCH QUESTIONS  

            For proper examination of this study, the following research questions were formulated to serve as a guide in the conduct of the investigation.

1. To what extent does the economic status of any nation affects its students’ academic performance?
2. To what extent is the impact of environmental factors on the academic performance of students?
3. Does the economic status of the parent have an impact on the academic performance of students?

1.5       RESEARCH HYPOTHESES  

1. There is no significant relationship between the economic status of the nation and students’ academic performance?
2. There is no significant relationship between the impact of environmental factors and the academic performance of students?
3. There is no significant relationship between the economic status of the parent and the academic performance of students?

1.6       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

            This study is of significant to the following choosing groups of respondents. 

The significant of this study to the Parents

            The study will help parent (both future parent) to know the effect of poverty on the academic performance of their wards in the negative, children find it very difficult tin running their academic programme and in the positive way i.e. the students from the privileged homes face no problem because their parents are placed in a position of either second class or first class citizens. As such it is served as an eye opener to parents.

The significant of this study to the Government

            The study will help the government to incorporate parents in planning, for student, to know that poverty has become serious problem in Nigeria and also in advocating some loopholes in School students’ achievement that is caused by poverty.

The significant of this study to the teachers

            The study will draw the attention of School teachers, the Board and management to the effect of poverty on School students’ performance and recommend ways by which this problem could be solved.       

The significant of this study to the students

            The study will give solution on how to improve students’ academic performance.  The study will help improve level of literacy in Nigeria 

1.7       DELIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study is limited to some selected secondary schools in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau state

The table below show the name and district of each school selected as thus;

1. Mangu Secondary School
2. Hauwa memorial Secondary School
3. Government Secondary School Mangu
4. Jypret Secondary School
5. Mwansat Secondary School
6. Cocin Secondary School
7. Koyhap High School
8. Arewa Secondary School
9. Government Secondary School Panyam
10. Yunik Academy Mangu

1.8       DEFINITION OF TERMS                           

1. Poverty: It is the lack of basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, shelter, transportation etc
2. PovertyAlleviation: This is the effort aimed at reducing the magnitude of ‘poverty’
3. Performance: Is the achievement of students determined by way of scoring marks or measure to standard score
4. Academic performance: This is how students can perform in academic. It refers to as the score or grades obtained by students in examination in their various school. It could be high academic performance which means pass or low academic performance which means failure.
5. Home Environment: This refers to the surrounding in which the students live. In this study it means the adequate facility which the home has provided for students. It could be sleeping space, radio, television and reading room whether conducive for learning or not.
6. Socio-economic: The cultural advantage life at home, parents encouragement, life style, education, housing consumption pattern, occupation and income.