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THE EFFECT OF POLYGAMOUS FAMILY ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

Different factor have been identified as responsible for the academic performance of pupils in schools. One of the factors is the home where the child is being given birth to and nurtured. Louis Bate Anne (2004) is of the opinion that the joint cooperation of the father and mother is required if a child is to perform well in the school. Where this is not possible, there is tendency for the child to size the undue opportunity of work parents. He goes further by saying that the father plays a primary role. The father is always a source of authority in the home.

Yoloye (2006) observed that it may not be out of place to say that the total constitution of the child is determined by the family structure which rears the child. The role of home in pupils academic cannot be over emphasized, because it is the home that builds the foundation upon which the school is built. If the foundation is week, the built-up will not be perfect. Therefore this study wants to look at influence of polygamy in the academic performance of pupils in primary school.

The intellectual environment which the home provide is very crucial and this among the most prominent family system practiced by people.

Ezewu (2003) described polygamy as a kind of family pattern under which a man marries more than one wife at a time. Polygamy was regarded as part of Yoruba culture before the advent of the missionary. In the early 18th century, there was no much civilization, industrialization and formal education to develop the young children fully. Agriculture was the source of livelihood among the Yoruba’s, there was no mechanized faming, foe a successful and large harvest on the farm, the farmer required more hands. Famers employed the services of the wives and children as cheap labour on farm throughout the year.

The foods produced on the farm were used for maintenance of the family while the excess ones are sold in the market. To them the symbol of social status was the number of heads in one household and the ability of the head of the family to feed them. This served as incentive for men to perform marring more than one wife (polygamy) and to work harder on the farm for the effective maintenance of their household.

However, by this turn of 18th century, according to Atanda (1997) the missionaries got to Yoruba land with their Christianity education and the idea of one-man one wife (monogamy).

Yoloye (2006) was of the opinion that the academic performance of the child can be influenced by the nature of family system he experiences. Large family sizes, problem of internal stress and strain are featuring in most the polygamous families. All children in the polygamous family relate to a single father. The social relationship of the individual mother with children form other mothers are usually cold, rough and unhealthy a-times.

  These experiences may greatly generated unhealthy rivalry among children from different mother, which may affect their studies in school.

On the other hand, since each mother is interested in the well-being and smooth development of her children need at all cost. Therefore, children from the same mother side are greatly prone to cooperate with themselves and their mother so as to climb up the social ladder especially educational attainment.

The size of the family is another factor that may determine the performance of the child academically. In such families (polygamous family) it is characterized by large numbers of children, in most cases the parents may not be well equipped to cope with large number of people, while the parents are busy looking for means of survival of the family, the children are left alone to cater for themselves without adequate parental attention.

Children or pupils who either comes from broken homes which is common in polygamous family or those from troubled home where parents are at logger heads will definitely be faced with psychological problem and this will affect the pupils academic achievement. In other word, pupils that suffer parental deprivation are likely to be deprived academically.

One thing is clear about family responsibility; the family is responsible for the socialization and the culturation of the young one, the family teaches the young ones how to interact with people and also about the values of society. This shoes that both formal and internal n learning as well as academic performance of the young largely depend in family relationship (mother-father, and child relationship). Hence, it is crucial to find out the study of polygamy on the academic performance of the child. The study therefore examined the effect of polygamy on academic performance of selected primary school in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

Statement of the Problem

Many children or pupils who would have been academically great, profitable to themselves, parents and the nation at large have ended up becoming drop-out in the school, many ended up becoming a small bus driver popularly known as “Akoto” especially in IKere Ekiti.

The relationship of the parents is very important, if the father has more than one wife. In most cases the father is not even living with other wives. It is the mother alone that is catering for the academic of the child. This cannot but affect the performance of the child. There will be no supervision, materials such as textbook are not available, poor nourishment and of proper clothing may disturb or affect his learning ability. Therefore the researcher is interested in finding out.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of polygamy on academic performance of primary school pupils in some selected primary school in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

The study identified how the academic performance of the child is affected by the relationship between his parents, size of the family (number of wives and children) the financial status of the parents and it influence on the child’s performance in education. 

Research Questions

The following research questions were raised for the study:

1.               Can polygamy system of family affect the academic performance of a child?

2.               Can children from polygamy home perform better academically than children from monogamy family?

3.               Can the family set up have any positive or negative effect on the academic performance of the children?

4.               Can parents’ financial status affect the academic performance of a child? 

Significance of the study

This study could be useful to teachers, parents and pupils. The study could serve as a guide to curriculum developers and school administration, curriculum review and implementation.

In its significant to teachers, it could be of good help to provide relevant personal and social information, which could assist them in handling individual effective teaching and learning process.

Likewise, it could be of great value to parents especially man in moderating the number of wife and child. It could also be a source of guide to their family in future.

Delimitation of the Study 

This study is purely concerned with the effect of polygamy on academic performance of primary school pupils of some selected primary school in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

This study is restricted to such factor like the type of the family (monogamy or polygamy). The size of the family (numbers of wives and children) and cordiality between the parents and financial status of the family. It is also delimited to 10 primary school in Ikere Local Government Area.

Definition of Terms

In this study, the following terms are defined:

·                 Polygamy: This is a type of family with one man and more than one wife.

·                 Cordiality: This said of someone radiating warmth and friendliness

·                 Family size: This means the father, the wife or wives and their children

·                 Academic Achievement: this is the total outcome of a child’s performance in school

Monogamy: This is a type of family with only one man one woman and their Children

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