This chapter give insight into the background of the study, the problem statement, purpose of study, research questions, and objectives of the study, significance of the study and delimitations of the study. It also dealt with the limitations, definition of key terms as well as how the study was organized.

Background to the Study

The incidences of broken marriages are on the increase, as well as the failure of children in all levels of education(Bubelwa, 2014).According to Ghaerba (2001) broken home is a situation whereby one’s family is submerged with misunderstanding of marriage and family structure. Egbo (2012) viewed broken home as a place where the parents engage themselves in quarrelling, fighting suspecting, keeping late hours to the detriment of the children’s primary drive for food, sleep and other basic needs. Broken homes are in various aspects and these include: divorce, separation and death of either of the parents.

Broken home is generally associated with increased stress and emotional difficulties among children, several aspects have a mediating effect. The amount of family conflict experienced by the children, their religious background, age, and place in the sibling order were reported to have a vital impact on their efforts to adapt to this transition (Farber,Primevera&Felner, 1993).

As the home become insecure, children respond by developing tension, prostration and aggression and anger and hatred toward one or both parents because of their behaviour, that lead to separation. Broken homes could cause the children to feel isolation and humpies, hence, they are frustrated and psychologically disturbed even when they are in classroom. As a result, they cannot do well in the school activities.

Parental relationship plays a very important role in determining the academic performance of their children in school. Children that grow up in a broken home are unlikely to develop their academic potentials to the fullest while children brought up in a stabilized and organized home are more likely to develop to a full fledge of human beings, being able to discover their academic and other attributes leading to success in life endeavour.

The influence of broken home on the academic achievements of students is beyond measure, when a home is broken, children are affected in many ways for example the girls amongst them may run into men in order to pay their school fees some of them may get pregnant in the process which might warrant them to quit, education entirely (Okoye, 2001). Nwosu (1991) noted that some girls too go after prostitution in a bid to also pay their school fees which may be difficult for their single parents. Boys also give in to robbery roistering in the school, joining criminal gangs and exhibiting all form of social vices. These results in loss of concentration during class hours leading to poor academic performance and loss of focus on education. It is in light of this that the researchers sought to assess the impact of broken homes on students’ academic performance at Aboadze Dar-Nnur Islamic School.

Statement of the Problem

One of the tasks that should be fulfilled by parents is to educate their children because; the education of children does not start from school but from home. In an ideal atmosphere, children should happily be with their parents, feel and appreciated and the love of their parent towards them. In most cases, adequate parental affection may not be given to the children from a broken home. Children who find themselves in such a manner feel neglected by the peer groups and society instead of being loved and cared for. Researchers have found that children from broken home feel very sad when they lack the affection, security and concern for their lovely home. Such children tend to develop a kind of inferiority complex, and aggression, hostility, reserved and isolated among their pear groups. They said when children are not secured and not enjoying the love and parental upbringing, it will affect the cognitive of the children, thereby affecting their academic achievement.

Studies conducted by Hetherington, Cox and Cos, (1995) further confirm that children in one parent household not only do or perform poorly in school because they tend to lack self-control, but also become disruptive in the classrooms, instead of paying attention to what is being taught in class. It is in this regard that the researchers sought to assess the impact of broken homes on students’ academic performance at Aboadze Dar-Nnur Islamic School.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of broken homes on students’ academic performance at Aboadze Dar-Nnur Islamic School.

Research Questions

What are the causes of broken homes?
How does broken home affect children?
What are the impacts of broken homes on the academic achievement of female students?
What measures would the government take in reducing cases of broken homes?

Objective of the Study

The objectives of the study were to:

Identify the causes broken home.
Find out how broken home affect children.
Ascertain the impact of broken homes on the academic achievement of female students.
Evaluate measures would the government take in reducing cases of broken homes.

Significance of the Study

The rate of marriage failure is on the increase in our modern society. It is therefore it important that a timely study be carried out in order to give useful suggestions and recommendations to teachers on how to help such unfortunate children to learn properly in school so that they can come out with a good academic performance in school for themselves and be useful to the society as well. This study would help policy makers to help make policies that will cover students in this situation so that future dreams could be achieved. Finally, the study would also serve as a reference material for other studies related to the topic.

Delimitations of the Study

This study was carried out on students of Aboadze Dar-Nnur Islamic School in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region.

Limitations

This study encountered some challenges which included difficulty in gathering information for the project since only few researches have been carried out in this respect. Also there was difficulty in getting the necessary information because of the sensitive nature of the problem under investigation. Also, some students felt reluctant to respond to questionnaire due to its emotional inclination. Lastly, there was language barrier due to their level of education.

Definition of Terms

Broken home is a situation that arises when (a) a man or woman losses his/her spouse by death; (b) a man or a woman divorces his/her spouse; (c) family separation; (d) single parenting and (e) never married but with a child/children (Olatunde and Tunde, 2010).

Divorce:Agu (2012) defines divorce as permanent separation of husband and wife.

Single Parenting:Akintayo (2002) referred to single parent family as a broken home she describes single family as a condition where either the man, woman takes care of children alone without the help of the second party or parties Akintayo said and explained further that single families have become permanent and noticeable feature in many societies today throughout the world.

Organisation of Study

The study was organised into five chapters. Chapter one dealt with the introduction which talked about the background to the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research questions, objectives of the study, significance of the study, its limitations and delimitations which were framed to guide the researcher.

Chapter two of the research looked at what has already been written in terms of theories or concepts and empirical evidence, then reviews these theories and empirical evidence.

Chapter three of the research is methodology. It explained the research design and the procedure employed in obtaining data for the study, population and sample characteristics, sampling techniques used, the sampling procedure and data analysis used for the study.

Chapter Four focused on results and discussion. Chapter five is the summary, conclusions and recommendations.