INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL DEATH ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG STUDENTS IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN OMU-ARAN, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

FALEKE,, Michael Olaoye (2022) INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL DEATH ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG STUDENTS IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN OMU-ARAN, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA. Masters thesis, Landmark University, Omu Aran, Kwara State.

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Abstract

Several studies have employed secondary data to investigate the consequences of parental death on orphans. But these studies that have involved directly the unit of analysis and important key informants are very limited. This study investigated the influence of parental death on the academic performance of students in selected secondary students in Omu-Aran, Kwara State through the lived experience of the respondents. The two Secondary Schools and the students were purposively selected; the sample for the study was twenty respondents consisting of ten orphaned students, five School teachers, and five parents. The study was guided by the structural-functionalist and phenomenologist theories. Five themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) distinctive maternal death influences; (b) distinctive paternal death influences; (c) external initiatives and motivations; (d) personal initiatives and motivations; and (e) supportive roles. Data was collected using in-depth and key informant interviews. Qualitative data was analysed using the interpretative phenomenological approach aided by use of NVivo 12 software. The findings of the study revealed that parental death across the board affects the academic performance of orphans negatively; maternal orphans perform more poorly when compared with their paternal counterparts across the board, that the main coping strategies are "personal initiatives" and motivations such as bracing up, studying harder, and so on (that is, academic initiatives), and non-academic initiatives such as opening up to friends, speaking to relatives, not thinking about their late parent(s), focusing on the future, resolve to make their parents, guardians, or sponsors proud, farming, trading, and so on are the most adopted coping strategies by orphans. Other strategies from others are secondary; they make up the "external initiatives". Finally, the support systems are vital as they provide essential financial, social, academic, emotional, and social roles. Conclusively, from the interpretative analysis of the data collected, self-determination is the most important factor in determining academic performance irrespective of the nature of orphanhood; some orphans do better academically after the death of their parent(s). The study recommended that School management should enlighten parents as regards ways to assist orphans to cope with their peculiarities while the government should give scholarships to orphans. Keywords: Orphans, Academic Performance, Parental Death, Coping Strategies

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