CHAPTER ONE

 INTRODUCTION

1.1              BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Marriage is part of our daily lives through marriage new rights, roles and new social relationship are formed only between the spouses and also between the kinsmen of the spouses. Marriage is the relationship between a man and woman to become husband and wife. It is also a social institution through which the family is established. (Oxford advanced learners dictionary).

Married couples are expected to live together until one or both of them die, but there are instances where couples live separately not because their partner were transferred by work to other region different from theirs or due to natural crises but due to misunderstanding. They separate legally in the court of law and the process is known as “Divorce”.

Divorce is a legal termination of valid marriage if a marriage is not valid when contacted, there cannot be a divorce because there was not really a marriage (Amato et. al., 1995). Marital unhappiness is only a result of the various factors that predispense marital instability. Marital conflict is inevitable in any society as long as husband and wife are different individuals and their actions are important to each others with such view, divorce is a mechanism for cheating with the pressure and problem inevitably caused by marriage because without marriage there would be no divorce.

Divorce or marriage failure is evident in a case whereby only one partner is responsible for the upbringing of child/children produced in a marital union. This result in dysfunctional development for the child/ children because the responsibilities which are to be shared between two people is shouldered by one to be shared between the people is shouldered by one person and the roles meant to be played by two is taken over by such person, this involves the child’s upbringing to be balanced.

Marriage failure otherwise known as divorce is one of the major problems common in our contemporary Nigeria setting. The rate at which marriage are reported to have failure is so high that two out of six marriages are reported to have failure in recent times. (The Punch May 5 2004).

Many factors have been highlighted to be responsible for this societal menace, one of such factor is early marriage some people marry without being mature, this make them lack the basic understanding needed to live with each other successfully, this always results to breakdown and collapse of the marriage.

Divorce or marriage failure has diverse effects on the child, the effect of parental divorce upon children depend on factors like the age of the child, the financial background of the family and so on. The age of the child  is affected by divorce when the child is still very young or at adolescence.

Adolescence is a transitory period between childhoods. During this period an individual is seen neither as a child nor as an adult. Hall (1999) claimed that adolescent are characterized by emotional instabilities and hyper activities which cause them to experiences storm or challenges during growth stage.

Probably one of the most frequently asked question over the last two decades about family life has been is divorce harmful to children. Although this may seem like a very important question, I would suggest that it is time to examine a more important question which is what are the factors is divorced families that contribute to children having difficulties and what are the factors that foster  children adaptation?

Since there is so much discussion on divorce and its effect on children, the research work is directed  at teachers to get their ideas on the effect of divorce on the academic performance of the child.

1.2              STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Divorce has become a cankerworm that has eaten deep into our society and has diverse effects on the academic performance of children. Against this back drops this research work is out to find out the perception of teachers on the effect of divorce on the academic performance of the child.

1.3              PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study is to investigate the perception of teachers on the effect of divorce on the academic performance of children in primary schools in Odeda local government area of Ogun State.

Specifically the study seek to examine

-          possible causes of divorce

-          effect of divorce on the academic performance of children

-          others possible effect or divorces on pupils

-          teachers perceptions on the effect of divorce on the academic performance of children.

1.4              RESEARCH QUESTION

In carrying out this study there is need to work with some guidelines. These are  the research questions as they provide the direction at which the research will be aiming at therefore it is necessary to start so as to direct the study;

1.      What are the possible causes of divorce?

2.      What are the effects of divorce on the academic performance  of children ?

3.      What are other possible causes of  poor performance  in children

4.      What are other areas of life of children that divorce affect?

5.      Is divorce the only cause of poor performance in children?

6.      What are the perception of the teachers on the effect of divorce on the academic performance of children?

1.5              SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study basically focuses on investigating teachers perception on the effect of divorce on the academic performance of pupils in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State. The study is limited to 5 randomly selected primary schools in the area. They are

-          Ogun State Local Government Primary  School Obtantoko

-          St. Mary Primary School Osiele

-          Shalom Royal Academy Obantoko

-          Faith Heritage International School Obantoko

-          Holy Child Private Primary School, Obantoko

1.6              SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This research work is significant in the sense that a study of this nature to be best of the researchers knowledge has not been done in this setting. The study serve as a baseline for the environment. Also the study determine the level of awareness of  teachers on the effect of divorce on the academic performance of children in primary school, more also the result of this study will help the teachers to see that each child is unique and so in teaching learning situation, method of teaching used should be according to the needs of the child. Also it will provide opportunity for parents to know the effects of divorce on academic performance of children and will enable them to guide against such act so that the children will not be affected.

1.7              DEFINITION OF TERMS

Teacher

A teacher is an individual who impacts knowledge acquired on learners. A teacher is a person who teaches, directs and guide learners and teaches them the social norms, educational values etc especially one employed in a school.

Perception

Perception is the act or faculty of perceiving or apprehending by means of the serves or the mind, cognition, understanding. It is also the result of or product of perceiving as distinguished from the act of perceiving.

Academic Performance

Academic performance is the sum total of all the educational activities at school. It is also the carrying into execution or action all activities pertaining to or characteristics  of a school.

Divorce

The legal dissolution of a marriage between two people, to end one’s own marriage. To separate something that was connected.

Primary School

Primary is the first stage, so primary school is the first and elementary school where pupils learn first. A primary school is an institution in which children receive first stage compulsory education known as elementary education.

According to Oxford Dictionary school is an institution for educating children or giving institution 

Effect

Effect means the result or the outcome of a cause. It is also an illusion produced by technical means.

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