ABSTRACT
This study investigated
the academic performance of boarders and day students in Benin metropolis of Nigeria.
The purpose of the study was to undertake analysis of academic performance of
boarding and day students in Benin metropolis of Nigeria: implications for
counselling specifically the study sought to investigate whether academic
performance is higher among boarders than day students in Benin metropolis of Nigeria,
investigate sex difference in performance of both boarding and day students.
Investigate whether male boarding differs from male day student in academic
performance and in addition the study sought to investigate whether female
boarding differ from female day students in academic performance.
The study employed the descriptive research
design. Thus 530 boarding 850 day students in Benin Metropolis of Nigeria and
274 were randomly sampled from a population 1380. To guide the study seven
research questions and five hypotheses were raised and formulated respectively.
Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistic which involved mean,
frequencies, t-test and simple percentage.
The analysis yielded
the following findings among others: that boarding students perform better in
English language and mathematics than day; and male day students perform better
than female day students in mathematics. However, there is no significant
different in performance in English language between male and female day
students; and female boarding performed better than their males counterparts in
both English language and mathematics; male students in boarding schools performed
better in both English language and mathematics than males day students., and
female students in boarding schools performed significantly better in both
English language and mathematics than their female day students.
These findings were
discussed and it was recommended among others, that all relevant stakeholders –
parents, teachers, government and school counsellors should take special
interest in encourage boarding school for both sexes; that there should
adequate parental involvement in the academic activities of day students by
ensuring proper study reading pattern in the children and equally monitor their
activities and the kind of friends they keep. Boarding school is recommended to
parents who can afford it. The school counsellors should try to focus more on
day students by way of strengthening the academic activities.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
No nation can develop despite of its natural
endowment if such nation does not take seriously human capital development
which could be derived through sound academic foundation that is tailored
towards performance in the secondary schools. The
Nigerian society places great emphasis on education because it is believed to
be the only avenue for national development. However, this can only be achieved
if students who are in boarding and day schools in the citadel of learning get actively
involved in academic activities which will enhance their academic performance.
This will, in turn, lead to the technological advancement of the nation.
In many countries of the
world education is viewed as a good investment for national development.
Education in Nigeria is an instrument ‘’per excellence’’ for effecting national
development, which is highly valued because it is a system expected to produce qualitative and quantitative
human resource, required for any nation’s economic growth by using the right
mix of input Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN,2004). On the strength of the above
new research which proves that contemporary boarding schools serve a diverse
body of motivated and well-rounded students who study and live in supportive, inclusive
academic communities where they learn about independence, responsibility and traditional
values that help them achieve success at higher rates than private and public day
schools students in the classroom and beyond.
Boarding
schools generally have small class sizes that help teachers engage every
student in the classroom, whose settings are often specifically designed to
encourage student participation and eye contact among everyone in class. Desarrollo
(2007) Boarding Schools promote socialisation
and mainstreaming of poor minority children, as children from remote and rural
areas or of ethnic and linguistic minorities can be introduced to new ways of
living, routines, responsibilities, technologies, teachers and fellow students
from outside their community.
Boarding schools are self-contained
communities. Students and faculty eat together. They share relaxing times
watching TV and playing games together. This is because teachers and staff in a
boarding school function in place of parents. They take the place of
parents literally and figuratively. They play a powerful role in shaping and
guiding their young charges while they are at school. Because the students are
not allowed to go home at the end of classes, they cannot avoid the strong influence
teachers have on them. This is a major reason many parents send their
sons and daughters off to boarding school.
In
a boarding school students can develop skills that can serve them to live in a
broader community. Learning and
living together with other students, boarding offer students a good opportunity
to help each other with their studies during and after school hours; cooperate
and respect other people’s habits and values; develop social and communication
skills through interaction with other students and staff.
UNESCO (2010) opted that Boarding schools
provide a centralized location for learning and living that can be an effective
link between the remote communities of origin and the larger society. Most of the boarding students read regularly
because they have scheduled time for reading in their curriculum, they
sometimes use library and library books. Independence, self-confidence and
responsibility, are the characteristics of persons who have been to a boarding
school, as they rely less on their parents.
Boarding schools
offer structure and discipline; as they are obligated to study according to a
structured program during and after school hours; learn to respect rules,
conduct duties on time, go to bed on time and rise up early. Lack of discipline and lateness to school is
also a negative characteristic of day-school, as students and teachers have
less regards for rules and are less responsible, as they are more irregular and
less punctual at school.
Overcrowding in dormitories
in boarding schools sometimes double the originally intended number of students
being accommodated. The problems faced
by boarding students included overcrowding in the students’ hostels, many
boarding school meals are frequently badly managed or badly prepared, beside
the inadequacy of the diet, scarcity of water, noise from class or neighbouring
classes. Other problems include lack of good lighting system, interference from
friends in the same or other classes and disturbances from non human activities
like mosquitoes. Despite those problems,
an average boarding student enjoys living and studying conditions, which are
luxurious, compared to the hardship and squalor endured by many day students.
Academics at boarding schools
operate at high standards, as students are pushed to "ask why," thus becoming
inquisitive and this enables them tackle challenging problems. Course selections at boarding schools tend to
be quite diverse, have plenty of academic performance (AP) options, and offer a
wide range of topics. Athletic and
extracurricular options tend to be broad thus encouraging students to try new
things. Many boarding schools also offer
opportunities to study short term courses in different countries, with
counselling departments which are generally well-staffed. Counsellors often have plenty of experience in
helping students identify appropriate schools and advising them on getting
admission into competitive institutions.
Another situation that leads to preference for boarding schools is the case of semi-orphans
or lack of good parental care for the children.
Also, monitoring and coaching of students is
better in boarding schools. Often parents of students, who are illiterate, are
unable to monitor the progress of their children and coach them in their
studies. Furthermore, in boarding schools it is easier to monitor and coach
students than in day schools, because students stay intern during and after
school hours. A lack of monitoring and
support of children is a negative characteristic of day-school, especially in
the case of illiteracy. Monitoring and coaching of students is very important
in order to achieve good educational results. Parents play an important role in
this respect, in the case of illiterate parents, monitoring and coaching by
parents can be problematic, as it is difficult or highly impossible to monitor
the progress of their children and to coach them, which if in a boarding
school, the school can fill this gap.
Day
school provides the right balance between family life and school life. The
child can go to school to learn and develop social skills, but come home and
have bonding time with the family. Plus, day school is much less costly than
boarding school and this may play a role in your final decision as well.
Day schools students always grow up in an upright way and
very responsible because their parents or guardians involve them in responsible
activities. As we can see, some students lack good manners because they live
without parents who would correct them in case they make any mistakes. These
show that, when parents devote more time for their children, it leads to a
healthier relationship that is mutually beneficial.
Many
day schools offer coeducation facilities and this is an important requirement
in terms of today’s world. Interacting with the opposite sex in the early years
will enable children to be comfortable in the presence of the opposite sex when
they reach a stage where they might have to work alongside them in an official
environment. Children who have not had this opportunity might be shy and
uncomfortable where in the company of people from the opposite sex in the
future.
Most
day schools encourage children to mix with the opposite sex from their early
years and this builds confidence and helps in exchange of ideas between the
sexes over the formative years. This is one of the most important functions
performed by a day school. He added that
although there may be a few boarding schools that offer coeducation, but day
schools clearly outnumber the boarding schools doing this and coeducation in
day schools is a much more accepted and existent structure in day schools.
Day schools are a preferred option
as they are much less expensive than a boarding school. Tuition fees in day
schools are cheaper. Most good quality day schools are relatively cheaper than
boarding schools and this is another reason why parents opt for day schools over
boarding schools. Day schools allow parents to admit students in private
tuitions of their choice as well, in case their children need extra coaching.
Most boarding schools have fees that are a bit exorbitant, and unless parents
are willing to fund a new experience and style of education for their children,
most average parents prefer day schools.
Day
schools are a better option for those parents who wish to have close
supervision over their children. Day schools enable constant parent-teacher
contact and this enables the parents to be able to monitor the progress of
their children in terms of both academics and extra curricular activities. This
is also an important aspect of a day school. Parents can provide moral
guidance if they are in constant contact with their children and this is
possible only if the children attend a day school.
Where children are used to the comforts at home, then they
might find it difficult to survive in a boarding school. Day schools enable the
children to relax a bit more than boarding schools. In a boarding school,
students are required to take part in many events and many students find it
difficult to deal with this schedule. Parents will be better served to opt for
a day school if their children have been brought up in a relaxed atmosphere.
In
case of any sickness or injury, parents can be with their children immediately
if they are admitted in a day school. Some children require parents to be constantly
being by their side, especially if something untoward happens. The choice
between a boarding school and a day school depends on a variety of factors and
especially on the maturity level of the child involved. Whatever decision
parents make, it is important for them to stick to it- the kind of schooling a
child receives and the experiences there eventually define the personality of
the child.
The time at school is limited, and
children have to do household tasks when at home, especially girls, concentration
on their studies is more difficult at home. Going to and coming from school also takes
time, as they seldom read, especially during examination. As the
environment of most day students is not conducive for reading; it is in the
light of this that some prefer their children to go to boarding school for
proper discipline and to inculcate better reading habits. In line with this belief, boarding schools can
be seen to positively influence students’ academic performance, as this cannot
be over emphasized.
The greatest problem faced by day students besides
their home environment that is not conducive for reading, includes long
distances to school, bad company at home, lack of proper accommodation and
proper diet.
Kail, Robert and John (2007)
opined that Academic
Performance refers to the Grade Point Average (GPA) of the respondents obtained
at the end of term. It is the method the school uses to evaluate and assess how
well the students understand what has been taught and proves what they have
learnt by their academic performance within the term.
Adomeh (2006) sees counselling as a set of service
which is rendered by a professional counsellor to an individual or group of
individual in need of such service.
Counselling
is the process of establishing a relationship to identify people`s needs,
design strategies and services to satisfy these needs and actively assist in
carrying out plans of action to help people make informed decision, solve
problems develop self awareness and leave healthier lives. Schmidt (1993).
Educational
guidance is a process of help student to achieve the self understanding and
self-direction necessary to make informed choices and move toward personal
goals. Guidance, a uniquely American educational innovation, focuses on the
complete development of individual student through a series of services
designed to maximize school learning that result in academic performance of
student being boarder or day. Although guidance activities are usually
associated with educational professionals known as counsellors, educational
guidance is actually a cooperative enterprise, involving the participation of
teachers, administrators, other educational specialists, and parents.
The purpose
of the act is to indentify students with outstanding abilities, to encourage
them to seek higher education, assist them in following studies best suited to
their abilities.
Guidance
Program is organized as a series of services. One service is academic planning.
Counsellor assists students with curriculum and individual courses selection.
The program also is designed to help students who have academic difficulties.
Student’s
appraisal is another counselling function. Standardized tests are administered
to assist in appropriate academic placement, to assess academic achievement, to
identify individual aptitudes, to explore vocational interest, and to examine
personal characteristics. Test is used also to identify gifted students and
those with special learning problems. College counselling centre assist
students with academi, vocational or personal problems.
Urban
and Daad (2007) examine the characteristics of boarding and day schools and how
it contribute in a positive way and what characteristics
Contribute in a negative way to the academic performance of the
students. Also the positive and negative effects related to the features of
boarding and day schools and contextual and situational factors influence the
academic performance of the students.
Day school provides
instruction during the day to students who go
home at the end of the school day, in contrast with a boarding school, in which students
live on the campus full time, going home
for holidays and special occasions. Day schools
may be public or private in nature, and can be run in accordance with a wide
variety of missions. Many children spend at least some time in a day school during the
course of their educations. Some day schools run
literally all day, providing instruction from the
early morning to the evening.
Other day
schools may run on a relatively short schedule, from early morning to early afternoon,
but provide students with optional activities and classes which can be taken
after school, potentially allowing students to
stay all day for activities. Parents of day students
can become more involved in helping their children improve their academic
performance by providing encouragement, arranging for appropriate study time
and space, extra lessons at home by a lesson teacher employed, reducing their
wards house chores in order to create time for reading, modelling desired
behaviour (such as reading for pleasure), monitoring homework, and actively
tutoring their children at home. Far distance is an important situation that
leads to preference for boarding schools.
Urban and Daad
(2007) agrees that many day-schools also offer more than schooling, like food
and clothing. But in the case of boarding schools this aid is usually more
extensive (including housing). This ‘full aid’ can stimulate parents to send
their children to school, though boarding school is quite expensive and it’s
met for those who parents/guardian can afford it. This aid also indirectly
contributes to good educational results. Learning with an empty stomach is
difficult.
Ebenuwa- Okoh (2010) agrees that on
the other hand, preference is given to day-schools if there is a possibility to
attend or establish a school nearby. Distance to school is often caused by a
shortage of schools, caused by lack of funding.
Day-schools are cheaper, therefore more schools (close to home) can be
established. Day school provides the right balance between family life and
school life. The child can go to school to learn and develop social skills, but
come home and have bonding time with the family.
The Counselling implication to schools is that
the school counsellor should be able to maximal learning and interested in
academic performance of students. Counselling as the third arm of educational
programme (i.e. Instruction, administration and guidance) the counselling in
the Nigeria education system has become a reality. One point of note is that
counselling psychologist should give considerable attention to the importance
of school type (Co-educational) sex (male and female) of students in boarding
and day schools as it bring about difference in academic performance of the
students. The school counsellor in this area should give cognisance to
counselling of students irrespective of their sex and their parents in relation
to academic performance. This may be a good way to improving students academic
performances. Also counsellor should be able to counsel
the boarding or day students so as they may know why they are in the type of school.
From whatever angle one looks at boarding and day
students academic performance at school, certain factors such as sex, school
type and environment, bring
differences in academic performance. Therefore, Teachers, school counsellors, parents
and government are unanimous in wanting children to learn. Boarding and day schools
make that learning possible.
In Benin Metropolis, therefore, the importance of
academic performance of boarding and day students cannot be over looked. The
stronger the relationship, especially between boarding and day school on which
is prefer the higher the likelihood for stakeholder in deciding which to send
their children to. There has been previous studies carried out in kwara state secondary school to compare students academic performance of boarding and day students in English language
and mathematics, there had not be too many studies in analysis of academic
performance of co-educational (boarding and day in the same school) in Benin
metropolis of Nigeria. It is against this background therefore that the present
study seeks to investigate and fill the gap.
Statement of the
Problem
The whole system of education revolves round the academic performance
of students, though various other outcomes are also expected from the system.
Thus, a lot of time and effort of the schools are used for helping students to achieve better in
their scholastic endeavours. Boarding or day school in the system has become an
index for measuring student’s academic performance in the educational process
in this highly competitive world. The choice to make by stakeholders in the
educational sector, governments, educationists, parents, principals, teachers,
guardians etc. is been considered critical in the society and it has been
observed by the researchers in recent times, certain factors are responsible for
the academic performance of boarders and day students that leads to the research on the analysis of boarding and
day student academic performance.
Moreover,
despite many researches on analysis of academic performance in the few decades
there is still much to be done. Researches in the area of analysis of academic
performance have focused mainly on secondary school students. Deforges &
Abouchaar,(2003) and most especially in areas of academic performance.
Secondary education is the foundation for all students
anywhere in the world, it is necessary to consider the analysis of academic
performance of boarding and day students at this level. Since some school structures that are boarding also have day students that attend
the institution by day and return off-campus to their families in the evenings. The advantages
and disadvantages to both school settings, is a further consideration when
making choices about the child’s academic performance whether to choose a day
or boarding school for them to attend. Also, literature has shown that there are differences in academic
performance of boarding/day students as manifested in their examination.
Other
factors responsible for academic performance of boarding and day students are Sex
and environment of the students etc. There is the need for parents to know which of their children either male or female
to send to boarding or day secondary school, the questions that come to mind then are; Which
of the sex perform better in day school and which sex perform better in boarding
school? To what extent does boarding school have positive or negative influence
on the student’s academic performance? To what extent does day secondary school have
positive or negative influence on the students’ academic performance? These
questions constitute the gap in knowledge that the study intend to fill.
Purpose of Study
The
purpose of this study was to undertake analysis of academic
performance of boarding and day students in Benin Metropolis of Nigeria:
implications for counselling. Specifically, the study sought to:
1.
Investigate whether
academic performance is higher among boarders than day students in Benin
metropolis of Nigeria.
2.
Investigate sex
differences in academic performance of both boarding and day students.
3.
Investigate whether male boarding differ from
male day students in academic performance.
4.
Investigate whether
female boarding differ from female day students in academic performance.
Research questions
1.
Is there any difference
in academic Performance between boarding and day students in Benin Metropolis?
2.
Is there any difference
in academic Performance between male and female students in Day school in Benin
Metropolis?
3.
Is there any difference
in academic Performance between male and female students in Boarding school in
Benin Metropolis?
4.
Is there any difference
in academic performance between male boarding and male day students in Benin
Metropolis?
5.
Is there any difference
in academic Performance between female boarding and female day students in
Benin Metropolis?
Hypotheses
H01:
There is no significant difference in academic performance boarding and day
students in Benin
Metropolis.
H02:
There is no significant difference in academic performance between male and
female day students in Benin Metropolis.
H03: There is no significant
difference in academic performance between Boarding and day students in Benin Metropolis.
H04:
There is no significant difference in academic performance between male
boarding and male day students.
H05:
There is no significant
difference in academic performance between female boarding and female day
students.
Significance of the
study
The finding of this study will be
beneficial to stakeholders in the educational system such as parents, boarding
and day students, psychologists, school counsellors, educators, researchers and
government. The study would be of great assistance to Benin metropolis in particular
and Nigeria in general and contribute to existing literatures.
The finding of the study will be of
benefit to students on which type of school to attend whether boarding or day especially
those who have opportunity to make choices. The school authority will be convinced
to organised a seminar where students, parents, teachers, school counsellors,
psychologist, researchers and government officials will be there, issue like
boarding and day co-educational school type and its benefits, benefit of both sex
and their academic performance, the worth and disadvantages of both school type
will be discussed, the students will be acquainted with the right information concerning
boarding and day schools and co-educational. They will be provided with the
merit and demerit of being a boarder or day student and their academic performances.
The study will assist parents to know
whether to send their children to boarding or day school; it will afford them
the benefit of the structure of both types of schools. It will
equally assist parents to know which sex perform better in boarding than day
school. It will also assist parents to know whether to send their male or
female children to boarding or day school; Parents having be informed through
seminar such information or the awareness may help parents to monitor the
activities of their children at home in order to regulate the following(Watching of films, Television, Playing
of games, Football the use of smart
phones texting/chatting/pinging. it will equally help them reduce time spent on
domestic house chores, and friend (idle
time), monitor study patterns of their children, school assignment to
allow for proper concentration
,thereby creating the enabling
environment for learning. The release of such information to parents/guardians will
also help them engage their children meaningfully and help utilizing their time
better than what they are doing now.
At the PTA (Parents Teacher Association)
Meetings you can also request opportunity to talk to the parents concerning the
findings of the study. The summary of the findings can be distributed to the
counsellors of schools affected to cut and paste on the school notice board
within the schools where students can go to read and benefit.
The finding of the study it will assist
the school counsellor/psychologists to enlighten the community about enormous
advantage associated with boarding and day school that is co-educational know how
best to counsel boarders or day students on how their study/reading pattern
should be in order to excel academically, with the information the counsellor will
be able to advised students to have a reading time-table and stick to it.
The findings of this research work may
also be beneficial to educational institutions. The results can be utilized to
develop school programmes. It will assist the educators to know the benefit of
both type of schools.
It is also hoped that the findings of
this study will help potential future researchers in Nigeria in the of literature review as it will serve as one
of the empirical studies in the field of analysis of academic performance of
boarding and day students in Benin metropolis of Nigeria. And it will enable
future researchers to replicate this study in other parts of the country if the
work will be published online, so that it will be made available for other
researchers and assist the government in Educational planning, policies and
provision of infrastructures for boarding and Day schools.
Scope of the Study
This study covered all private schools
that operate a structure of boarding and day Secondary Schools (Co-Educational)
in Benin Metropolis, with the exclusion of public Secondary Schools. The
schools in this research work were mainly Nosakhare Model Educational Centre,
Word of Faith group of School, St Mary British International High School and
Baptist High School. Schools like ICC, Presentation High School, University
Preparation Secondary School were excluded because they operate purely
boarding and are either boys or girls.
But the ones used were boarding and day in the same school and mixed.
This study covered school type (boarding and Day) the
sex of the students in boarding and day schools and their academic performance
in English Language and Mathematics, it also cover the academic performance
among private secondary school students, specifically students in SS I on their
academic records. They only have JSS III standardised results computed for this
work.
Limitations of the
Study
The
limitation of the study was that, only privately owned schools were used for
this study while public boarding and day schools were excluded. The reasons being that, no public school is co-educational
in nature that is having boarding and day school together and schools in rural
and urban area could not be used because the discrepancy is much, the
environment, the infrastructure, the teachers and learning materials are not
all the same. This is an obvious limitation. The population and the sample size
for this study did not represent the totality of students in the secondary
schools in Edo State because the study was restricted to only boarding and day
school(Co-educational) in Benin Metropolis of Nigeria.
Definition of Terms
The
following terms are identified by the researcher as important to the
understanding of the study:
Boarding (or
residential) schools - are in this research
defined as schools where students stay internally during the school week (and
sometimes during the weekend/ holidays). Boarding Schools have dormitory
facilities and facilities for eating, studying and recreational activities. Usually
there is accommodation for supporting and/ or teaching staff as well.
Day-schools
- are defined as schools that students attend during the school day. Children
stay in school during school hours. Often, there are facilities to take lunch
at school as well. Furthermore, extra-curricular programs can be offered in
and/ or by the school outside school hours.
Academic
performance: This refers to the performance that falls
within specified standard. The specified standard is usually called pass mark
and the pass mark is score above average which students are considered having
passed and below which students are considered having failed.
Metropolis:
it represents a city.
Co-Educational:
A school with boarding and day students in the same school.
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