OVER-POPULATION AND ITS EFFECTS ON PUPILS IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Education plays a very important role in shaping the life of any citizen in his or her community which he/she. For learning to be effective, the school or learning environment must be conducive. In other words, a conducive environment assists students in their academic lives and paves the way for learning. With the increasing population, the number of school-going children is increasing much faster than the number of schools is increasing. The demise of good schools and the greed of school administrators have filled classrooms to overflowing.While many parents complain about their children attending schools where there isn't enough space to keep chairs and tables, teachers and teachers have also had their fair share of increased work loads, inability to manage and control their classrooms during instruction, thus impeding the success of learning outcomes due to over-crowded class rooms. Overpopulation is the excess of the number of students who are in a certain space whose capacity is not adequate to accommodate them or have the right conditions for the proper development of them. As stated in this definition, student overpopulation has a significant impact on the correct development of the learner, because a school is a space in which the student can develop their skills and abilities, but certain conditions are required for this, and when the facilities are overcrowded, the learner suffers.To adequately care for children or young people, these conditions are lost and greatly affect students.

Even though the federal and state governments have shown a serious commitment to educational development, with the implementation of the current 6-3-3-4 system of education, through their annual budgetary allocation to education in recent years, the attention given to physical facilities is far from being adequate, which is seriously affected by the lack of adequate funding and poor preparation. Overcrowded classrooms are a problem not only for teachers, but also for students.Teachers face problems controlling a dozen students at times because of unruly behaviour and lots of talking. These same teachers, when presented with the homogenous task of controlling in excess of 30 students at once, will get into a complete mess. It makes the simple task of taking attendance impossible. Especially teenagers who do not respond well to directions and rules. On the other hand, some students can not concentrate because of other students. The number of failures increases in an overcrowded class because no students can concentrate on the subject at hand. This is leading to numerous problems in classrooms which are producing students with no interest in studying. Action by the government is necessary to reduce this problem and create an environment for education that pushes students to perform better.

1.2 Statement of the problem

In recent years, due to the importance paid to education, public primary schools which affordable average have been characterized by over population. This has been consistent without an increase in facilities, teachers, or infrastructure.Overpopulation in the classroom is the main reason that makes learning difficult for pupils. The most serious issue is that teachers discover that while developing and instructing their classes, the students' lack of concentration, confusion about content, poor academic performance, lack of attention, and lack of discipline in the classroom impede the teacher's self-confidence and increase her workload.

Faced with this reality, the teacher faces the challenge of serving a large group of students with varying abilities and skills, as well as the responsibility of imparting the content in a repetitive manner (I mean explaining the same lesson several times, because the vast majority do not understand what is being taught).Added to this are the infrastructure conditions, since space is reduced, furniture is insufficient and teaching materials are incomprehensible to the pupils. As a result, it is already having an adverse effect on their learning.Therefore, it is against this backdrop that this study seeks to examine over-population and its effects on pupils in primary schools in Anambra State.

1.3 Objective of the study

The main focus of this study is to examine over-population and its effects on pupils in primary schools in Anambra State. Specifically, the study seeks

1.      To examine the causes of overpopulation in primary schools.

1.      To investigate how over-population affects the teaching-learning process.

1.      To determine the impact of pupil overpopulation.

1.      It examines the role of the government in curbing overpopulation as a panacea to redress the issue.

1.4 Research hypotheses

HO1: Overpopulation does not have any significant effect on the teaching-learning process in the classroom.

HO2: Overpopulation has no discernible effect on students.

1.5 Significance of the study

The study will be significant in that it will reveal the extent to which overpopulation affects both teachers and students.Also, it reveals other factors affecting pupils' performance as a result of overpopulation. Furthermore, this study will help the school authorities and teachers to design some measures to curb the effect overpopulation has on the academic performance of pupils. And for the stake holders, curriculum planners and teachers, the findings from the study will help them carefully observe the teaching-learning process so as to enable them to draft out more strategic ways of helping the pupils. Finally, the study will add to the body of academic work by providing relevant knowledge and serving as a research tool for students, researchers, and those interested in conducting additional research in this related field.

1.6       Scope of the study

The scope of this study borders on overpopulation and its effect on pupils in primary schools. The study is however limited to selected primary schools in Anambra State.

1.7       Limitation of the study

The following factors poses to be a limitation during the course of this research.

Financial constraint– Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint– The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work.

1.8       Definition of terms

Overpopulation: Can be defined as an increase in the number of people living in one geographical area and a place is said to be overpopulated when the resources available cannot cater for the amount of individual resident in a particular area.

Pupil overpopulation: This refers to the excess of the number of pupil who are in a certain space whose capacity is not adequate to receive them or have the right conditions for the proper development of them.

Teaching performance: It is understood by performance the action of complying with what one is bound to and by the teacher, the person in charge of transmitting knowledge, the person who teaches. The teaching performance refers to the way in which the teacher fulfills the task of training the students. When talking about the form, different aspects are included from the planning, the material, the organization in the classroom, the space, the resources, the teaching methods that it uses, the activities it carries out, the relationships established between students and their person and others

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