EFFECT OF SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS ON THE ENROLLMENT OF PUPILS INTO SCIENCE CLASSESÂ (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
The hope that parents hold for their children’s success in life is often first vetted through their children’s success in school. Indeed, doing well academically is related to doing well in life economically (Butler, Beach, & Winfree, 2008). Yet for many children, chances of academic success are diminished because of poverty (Ducan & Brooks-Gunn, 2000); family economic status is a strong predictor of children’s academic outcomes (Sirin, 2005). Children’s academic success is considered to be a key mechanism for disrupting the intergenerational transmission of poverty (Orfield, Losen, Wald, & Swanson, 2004). However, researchers and practitioner need to know more about the processes that link family economic status with children’s academic outcome to effectively intervene in the intergenerational transmission of poverty.
Education is the best legacy a nation can give to her citizens especially the youths. This is because the development of any nation or community depends largely on the quality of education of such a nation. It is generally believed that the basis for any true development must commence with the development of human resources. Much then is said that formal education remains the vehicle for socio-economic development and social mobilization in any society.
Nigeria like any other development nations has witnessed prolong military rule and aborted civilian administration, which necessitate the promulgation of decrees, edicts and laws concerning educational practices at federal, state and local government levels. The inconsistent continuation of government, due to coup d’etat de-emphasized the continuity in the implementation of educational laws and policies since 1970’s till the present time. This gradually laid the foundation of fallen standard in education at the primary school level of education (Shittu, 2004).
Danesy (2004) opined that poverty of parents has elastic effects on their children academic works as they lack enough resources and funds to sponsor their education and good school, good housing facilities and medical care and social welfare services. Mba (2001) lamented that poverty of the parent has made education and learning impossible for children in the rural areas. He lamented that poverty has further caused other problems, such as disease, frustration, poor performance, and psychological problems and so on. Good parenting support by strong economic home background could enhance strong academic performance of the pupil.
Frequent changes of ministers and commissioners for education by successive government coupled with the politicization of education by political parties that emerged in the country’s political scene since 1979 have also brought about disparity in educational practices, which caused differential academic performance and class room functioning of both teachers and pupils, from state to state (Danesty, 2004).
[…] from Latin scientia, meaning knowledge is a systematic enterprise that buids and organized knowledge in the from of testable explanation and predictions […]