Climate Change: A Correlate of Educational Under-Development in Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The global focus on climate change has been driven by its profound influence on social, economic, educational, technical, and environmental domains. This research investigated the relationship between climatic change and educational under-development in Rivers State, Nigeria. Three objectives and three hypotheses guided this research. The study utilized a correlational survey design. The population included 286 principals of public senior secondary schools and 18,846 senior secondary school students in Rivers State, Nigeria. The research sample consisted of 559 respondents (167 principals and 392 students). The Taro Yamane method was utilized to determine the sample size. The research questions were analyzed using Simple Regression, while hypotheses were analyzed utilizing t-test associated with regression, at a significance level of 0.05. The results indicated a notable correlation between the view of principals and students about the effect of climate change and the educational underdevelopment in secondary schools. Furthermore, climate change substantially influences students’ academic performance in Rivers State, Nigeria. The survey found that the majority of instructors have not received proper orientation on the potential significance of climate change and how to adjust and minimize its influence on teaching and learning. Also, students understand better in the morning hour, which has a tendency to increase their academic performance. The researchers therefore, recommended, amongst others, that classroom lessons or workshop practice should be carried out in the morning and considerably in the evening to enable better student performance; teachers and students should be properly educated on the dangers of climate change and its mitigating measures.