Housing Tenure Effects on Child’s Educational Performance in Non-Residential Secondary Schools in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the effects of housing tenure on child’s educational performance in non- residential secondary school system in Ogun State, Nigeria, and it provides vital information to aid families’ optimal decisions on pro-child’s educational performance school accommodation arrangement. The Null hypothesis (H 0) : there is no significant difference between home owner and non – home owner child’s educational performance in non – residential secondary schools in Ogun State, Nigeria was tested using , independent sample t-test statistic, and data gathered from two sets of questionnaire consisting of 391 and 170 copies administered to day students and parents respectively in nine selected secondary schools from three local government areas in Ogun State, Nigeria using random sampling technique. Frequency tables, mean item score statistics were also used for descriptive analysis.The study discovered that significant differences exist between home owner and non – home owner child’s educational performance in non – residential secondary schools in Ogun State, Nigeria with the students from home owner occupied families on one hand performing better (on a 5 points equidistant Likert Scale in which 1 = Very Poor, 2 = Poor, 3 = Average, 4 = Good, and 5 = Very Good, p < 0.001 @ 95% confidence level) in arts subjects (mean score = 4.51), science subjects (mean score = 4.35), and junior secondary school (mean = 3.98) than their colleagues from tenancy occupied homes that scored mean values of 2.31, 3.48, and 3.49 in the same subject areas respectively. While on the other hand, students from tenancy occupied families performed better (mean score = 4.12) in commercial subjects than their colleagues home owner occupied families that obtained mean score value of 3.26 in the same subject area.This study has presented contextual knowledge on the linkages between child’s educational performance and housing tenure from the outcome of the data analysis, it however, did not consider the quality of school teachers, teaching methods used and the quality of the learning environment all of which could significantly contribute to child’s academic performance. The study expands the frontiers of knowledge on the benefits of home ownership as the findings could enable parents/guardians to relate better with secondary school day students in domestic chores as well as being conscious of the impact of involving day students in family business on academic performance in school. This paper is original and fills a gap in knowledge as it draws for the first time in Nigeria, the attention of parents/guardians to the impact of housing tenure on child’s educational performance especially in specific subject areas. Keywords: Home ownership, Housing Tenure, Child’s Academic Performance, Ogun State Nigeria DOI: 10.7176/DCS/10-12-06 Publication date: December 31 st 2020