Implications of Child Abuse on Education of Primary School Students in Nigeria

Abstract

Child abuse is a social phenomenon which erodes the fundamental human rights of the child. Within the context of this study, child abuse is perceived as any act of omission or commission by individuals, institution or society as a whole and any conditions resulting from such acts or inactions, which deprive children of equal rights and liberties and or interrupt with their optimal development. Following the definition, it could be deciphered that child abuse takes various forms and it is committed by parents, guardians, care- takers and so on. However, child abuse affects the child's physiological and psychological well being as well as his adjustments to his cultural and social environment. Meanwhile, following the devise of Soviet Union, the World has assumed increasingly the character of a global village and the issue of child abuse has gained universal attention. Nevertheless, this study set out to study, understands and explains the implications of child abuse on the education of the primary school child in Nigeria. The target population of this study comprises all the victims and perpetrators of child abuse in Enugu North Local Government Area. Specifically spirited efforts will be made to examine all the cases of child abuse among primary school pupils in Enugu North. This includes parents and teachers of the children. This study shall dwell essentially on the incidence and effects of child abuse on pupils in primary schools located within the study area. Enugu North Local Government has over fifteen (15) primary schools with a population of well over twenty thousand pupils (20,000). The researcher shall examine those cases of child abuse that are recorded in Magistrate Court, Local Government offices with particular reference to Social welfare services, African Network for Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN), and hospitals situated within the study area. Conscientious efforts were made to x-ray how child abuse affects the educational development of pupils in the selected schools. The researcher examined cases of child abuse that are recorded in Magistrate Court, Local Government offices with particular reference to Social welfare services, African Network for Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN), and hospitals situated within the study area. Conscientious efforts were made to x-ray how child abuse affects the educational development of pupils in the selected schools.