INFLUENCE OF DOMESTIC WORKS ON FEMALE STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN UPPER-BASIC SCHOOLS IN KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

In Nigeria, domestic works are socially accepted to be part of daily activities that are engaged by female children. This study therefore examined the influence of domestic work on female students’ academic performance in Upper-Basic Schools in Kwara State, Nigeria. This study made use of descriptive research design. The population for this study were all upper-basic female students from public schools in Kwara State, Nigeria. 900 upper basic female students were sampled for this study using a multi-stage sampling technique. Researchers’ developed questionnaire with a reliability coefficient 0.63 was used to obtain data on the types and extent of students’ engagement in domestic works while a pro forma was used to obtain students’ academic performance in upper-basic schools. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics of percentage, mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and inferential statistics of chi-square was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that female students are daily engaged in different types of domestic works such as running errands, washing of cloths, sweeping, fetching of water, washing of plates and caring for babies/children, etc. all which interfere with their academic studies and thereby resulting in less academic performance among female students in Kwara State. It is therefore recommended that government and Ministry of Education in collaboration with the school authorities should organise education campaigns to sensitize parents on the need to lessen girls’ involvement in domestic works in such a way that it would not affect girls’ academic performance.