EFFECTS OF SINGLE PARENTHOOD ON EDUCATIONAL ASPIRATION OF STUDENTS (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
All over the world, and in Nigeria to be specific, education is accorded a pride of a place because it is the means through which the culture of different societies is passed down through succeeding generations. Therefore, problems and issues that might hamper the effective practice of education need to be studied with a view to eradicate them. One of such problems is single parenthood which has been a subject of multidimensional argument with regard to its effects on children’s educational aspirations.
Along with substantial prevalence of single parenthood, researchers in the united state and western Europe have extensively examined consequences of growing up with a single parenthood is negatively associated with children’s education. Although single parenthood is negatively associated with children’s educational outcomes in most western countries, recently comparative studies shows that the strength of the negative relationship varies significantly across countries (Hampden Thompson and Pong, 2005).
Compared to the large number of studies on single parenthood in western industrial countries and even in some developing countries, little research has addressed the issue in societies that have recently experienced automatic changes in family structure, especially the rapid increase in divorce in West African. During the decade, however, Nigeria has experienced a rapid increase in divorce, which makes it important to examine the effect of single parenthood and its impacts on children’s education and well-being.
This study examines how children of single parent families fare in their educational outcomes in Nigeria. The relationship between single parenthood and children’s education may vary across societies depending on broad family and other social structures surrounding single parenthood. Examine relationships between family structure and children’s education in Nigeria; one of “strong family” countries in which the share of single-parent families has recently risen, may contribute to the extended understanding of the implication of rapid family change for children’s well-being in a context where the welfare of family members has primarily relied on family ties.
