A STUDY ON THE EFFECTS OF CHILD LABOUR ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND SCHOOL ATTENDANCE

1.1 Introduction

Child labour refers to the exploitation of children through any form of work that deprives children of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Child labour is not a new phenomenon in the history of man. It has been going on right from time immemorial. In Africa/Nigerian society what constitute labour today has never been regarded as labour. It is a normal process that children from birth be exposed to a variety of experiences from parents, caregivers and other adults in the society. The parents labour their children by frequently using them in their farm work, trade and businesses. This is to help support the income of the home and sometimes to provide for children needs. They are sometime asked by their parents to do some menial jobs such as house helps, cooks, baby sitters, and gardeners to help improve the income of the home (Apebende, Umoren, Ukpepi and Ndifon, 2010).

As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitation of the study and Definition of terms.

1.2 Background of Study

In Nigeria, the main instrument for social change is western education. Education is the surest and greatest investment which a nation can depend on for the rapid development of its economic and human resources. Education is a long term measure and must be pursued when the nation is in dire need of immediate restoration of balanced economy. Nigeria like other nations of the world wants people who should contribute to the development of the nation through education. Such education should be structured to produce knowledge and skills to pursue cultural values and develop technologically.

UNICEF (2006) reported that a huge 15 million children under the age of 14 are engaged in one form of labour or the other in Nigeria. Majority of these children are exposed to long hours of work under very dangerous and unhealthy environment.

Children employed in public places and markets as street beggars and shoe shiners, car washers and watchers, scavengers and feet washers in part of the country. In Northern Nigeria, children that survive on street begging are called “almajirai”. The rise in the state of child labour in the country could have been a consequence of the demand for cheap labour and poverty.

Children have always worked in Nigeria. The philosophy of most culture in Nigeria encourages children to work with their families the learning skills they would need as adults. But today, children are forced to work for their own and their family's survival. The money earned by a child's family members has become a significant part of poor families' income. Child labour could lead to mass drop-out from primary and secondary schools; involvement in crimes and drug related habits; hamper human capital development and the potentials of developing countries like Nigeria. There is a wide-spread belief that early employment is destructive to children's intellectual and physical development especially that of young children.

International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates in 1999 indicated that 24.2 percent of children in Nigeria between the ages of 10 and 14 years work. The latter situation could be responsible for the increasing rate of child trafficking in Nigeria. Nigeria is a major source, destination and transit for trafficking of children. Key source and destination countries of trafficking children from and to Nigeria include Cameroun, Gabon, Benin, Equatorial Guinea and Togo. Nigeria has been credited to have the highest number of children and women traffickers in Africa.

Child labour could affect both the ability to attend school and to benefit from schooling; hence it is a big challenge to the attainment of the goals of Education For All (EFA). When children are employed in one form of labour or the other, they tend to drop out of schools. Child domestic labour in third-party households represents a major barrier to access and completion of quality basic education in Nigeria.

UNICEF (2006) reported that mostly working children neither have time, money, nor the energy to go to school. There are about 6 million working children in Nigeria, which is equally divided between boys and girls. Working children either do not attend school or skip classes because about 1 million children are forced to drop out of school due to poverty. Over 8 million children combine schooling and work. These groups of children work in their spare time to pay education fees, in this process they often skip classes due to demand in their work places. Missing out on education makes it impossible to break the cycle of poverty and exploitation and prevents children from having a better life and a safer future. There is dearth of data on primary attendance rates in Nigeria. Though, a school enrolment rate is a sign of the level of commitment to education. In Nigeria, however, they do not always reflect a child's participation in school.

In 1976, the Universal Primary Education (UPE) was introduced throughout the country. It should be noted however, that only tuition was free while parents and guardians were responsible for the provision of books, uniform, seats, transport and others. For the parents who could not provide such basic requirements, their children and wards were forced into child labour because the requirements were more financially involved than the tuition fees.

Also, the Universal Basic Education (UBE) was introduced in 1999, the latter policy made the first nine years of schooling free and compulsory for all Nigerian children of school age. UBE is backed up by law which also stipulates free compulsory and universal education when it is practical. The aim of the plan is to improve the relevance, efficiency and quality of schools and to create programmes to address the basic needs of normadic and out of school children, youth and adult and vulnerable children generally.

Economic depression which also let to economic and educational problems, unemployment, mass retrenchment which gave rise to parents, inability to cater for the children basic and educational needs made the children to engage in economic activities (child labour) at the expense of schooling.

Learning environments in schools are inhibitive and hostile to learning. They are dehumanizing because of neglect at all levels with inadequate learning facilities such as chairs, tables, desks, shortage of classrooms. All these may be affecting the attitudes of children and parents towards learning, such that if the government lacks the financial resources to take care of them, the parents too are affected so they engage the children in economic activities.

Child labour has continued to pose a significant problem in several parts of the world. The Labour Act of 1974 prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15 in commerce and industry and restricts labour performance by children to home-based agricultural or domestic work. Child labour has both micro consequences for the child and her family, the macro consequences for the nation and wider international community. Lack of skilled workforce may lead to a state of perpetual backward and under-development. The lack of human capital formation condemns a child to a generational cycle of child labour.

Child labour also has an adverse impact on education and future earnings. Government and non-governmental organization (NGOs) have tried a variety of laws and interventions to reduce child labour. Some countries have enacted laws prohibiting firms in their countries from employing children under the age of fifteen (15). Organizations such as International Labour Organization (ILO), World Trade Organization (WTO) and United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF) have established conventions and encouraged nations to ratify them. The most powerful and controversial super national institution to curb child labour is the imposition of international labour standards but the world has been slow to adopt them.

Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to determine the Effects of Child Labour on Academic Performance and School Attendance.

1.3 Statement of Problems

Investigation revealed that there are cases of child labour, or the working child, which affects school attendance and academic performance of students in Public Secondary Schools in Markudi, Benue State. In addition the failure of children in public secondary schools in Benue Stateto complete their secondary school education was due to their inability to combine school attendance with income generation activities to finance their education. Poverty and lack of employment or partial employment and illiteracy among parents/guardians have given birth to majority of child labour problems.

Furthermore, Drusilla and Alan (2002) stated that child labour has been an acceptable way throughout history that the fact of young children. Working and the difficult conditions under which children work occasionally become more evident. In the mid 19th and 20th centuries child labour became more visible because children were drawn into an industrial setting.

Children engaged in labour activities mostly are in senior classes four to six Adewale (2002) confirmed that children have low school attendance due to the requirements place on them by their parents to economically active, which results to child‟s late school attendance, poor academic performance and interrupted school attendance. This problem according to Applegate and Gunnarsson (2003) explained that children‟s school attendance is important to their academic performance.

The failure of children to attend school and perform better academically is of concern to the researcher due to their inability to combine school attendance with income generation activities. It is against this background that the researcher embarked on this study which dealt with investigating on the Effects of Child Labour on Academic Performance and School Attendance in public secondary schools in the study area.

1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study

The aim of the study is to investigate the Effect of Child Labour on attendance and academic performance of children in Public Secondary Schools in Markudi, Benue State. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:

1. To investigate the effect of child labour on primary school pupils' assessments grades and academic performance;
2. To assess the child's labour effect on primary school pupils attitude to education in the area under review;
3. To identify the factors instigating child labour among primary school pupils; and
4. To determine the extent of the effect of child labour on children's psycho-social developments in the area under review.

1.5 Research Questions

The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:

• Are there factors instigating child labour among primary school pupils?
• Is there relationship between children's family background and the incidence of child labour?
• Does child labour participation influence children's academic performance?
• Does child labour participation influence his/her participation in school attendance?
• Does child labour participation influences his/her participation in school extracurricular activities?
• What are the effect of child labour on primary school pupils' assessments grades and academic performance?
• To what extent does child labour affect children's psycho-social developments in the area under review?
• What is the child's labour effect on primary school pupil's attitude to education in the area under review?

1.6 Research Hypothesis

In order to pursue the objective of this study, the following generalized statements have been designed to guide and aids in obtaining the result for the experiment to be conducted. For this work, the null hypothesis will be represented with H0 while the alternative hypothesis will be represented with hypothesis H1.

Hypothesis One

• H0: Child labour has no significant effect on pupils' assessments grades and academic performance.
• H1: Child labour has significant effect on pupils' assessments grades and academic performance.

Hypothesis Two

• H0: Child labour participation will not significantly influence children's academic performance.
• H2: Child labour participation will significantly influence children's academic performance.

Hypothesis Three

• H0: Child labour participation will not significantly influence school attendance.
• H1: Child labour participation will significantly influence school attendance.

Hypothesis Four

• H0: Child labour participation will not significantly influence children participation in school extra-curricular activities.
• H1: Child labour participation will significantly influence children participation in school extra-curricular activities.

Hypothesis Five

• H0: There is no significant difference in the result of students who engage in child labour and those who do not.
• H1: There is significant difference in the result of students who engage in child labour and those who do not.

1.7 Significance of Study

The findings of this study will be an added advantage to governments stand on child's right act and care, if it shows a significant influence. Parents, Guardians, Teachers, other caregivers and the general public will find the result of this study useful, as it will reveal to them the need for effective care and protection of their children, especially the importance of providing educational needs for a higher academic performance.

The results of the findings would make the parents and community to develop positive interest towards their children's educational pursuits in secondary school level. The findings would be of importance to the parents and community at large through the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) on the effect of child labour in student's attendance and academic performance of the children with possible solutions.

The result of the findings would encourage Ministry of Education and curriculum planners to develop strategies that will reduce or eradicate child labour, by introducing assessable schools, reduce or introduce free school fees and provide food supplements.

This study will be of immense benefit to other researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.

1.8 Scope of Study

The scope of the research is focused on the Effect of Child Labour on attendance and academic performance of children in Public Secondary Schools in Markudi, Benue State.

1.9 Limitations of the Study

During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:

1. Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
2. Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this research work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
3. Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
4. Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
5. Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

1.10 Definition of Terms

Academic Performance: Academic performance is the outcome of education; the extent to which a student has achieved his/her educational goals. It may also refer to a person's strong achievements in a given academic arena.

Child Labour: Child is said to be labored when the parents, care givers or any human action leads to physical, emotional, spiritual and sexual labour of the child. It also involves failure of the parents to provide the necessary love and care for the child.

Students: A student is primarily a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution and who is under learning with goals of acquiring knowledge, developing professions and achieving employment in a desired field.