ABSTRACT
The research attempt to examine
the Impact of High Cost of Living on Provision of Qualitative Education to
Secondary School Students in Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos State.
Survey research design was
adopted, data was gathered with the use of a well structured questionnaire. Two
hundred and ten (210) questionnaires were administered to parents of five
secondary schools in Oshodi/Isolo Local government area.
Data gathered were presented on
table using simple percentage. Three hypotheses were formulated and tested. The
result of the analysis revealed that High cost of living significantly
influence the provision of qualitative education to the children, High cost of
living significant effect on the standard of living and finally Provision of
educational materials affects the education of children.
Conclusions were drawn and
recommendations were proffered to parents and high schools in Oshodi/Isolo
Local Government area, entire secondary schools in Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
to the Study
Education is an absolute human
right that should be given to all human beings. In every nation, education
should be accessible for every single citizen regardless of their status or
social classes. And it is the core responsibility of governments to ensure this
access. Education is linked and related to nation development. According to EFC
(2002), “education is a key index of development. It has been documented that
schooling improves productivity, health and reduces negative features of life
such as child labour as well as bringing about empowerment” (Otive, 2006, p.1).
In Nigeria, the accessibility of education is at stake. We get to see more and
more people getting access to poverty rather than education. The Nigerian
government has launched various Poverty Alleviation Programmes starting from
80s and every new government seems to have their own Poverty Eradication or
Alleviation Programmes. Eventually, all these programmes become an avenue for
corruption and paving ways for embezzlement. For education to take place in
Nigeria, poverty must be seriously addressed. Education has the capability of
reducing poverty because once the majority of the people in the country are
educated, they are likely to get jobs, earn living and the ability to provide
the basic needs for their families. This is the strength and uniqueness of
education in producing an excellent Human Capital for nation development and
economy. In Nigeria today, cost of living has been a prevailing issue that
every Nigerian young and old feels the impact. Parents are now spending more on
their children’s education than they use to do some years back. Equally, the
prices of goods and services have continued to rise daily, even though the
government policies might have meant well for the common man.
According to Mendinnus and
Johnson (1966) “cost of living is average cost of food, clothing, and
other necessities paid by a person, family etc. Foster (1985)
observed that there is a definite association between parental occupational characteristics
and access to school education by the children as a consequence of the cost of
living which may be telling more on the parents as they could not meet up with
the demands, they may prefer keeping their children at home so that they will
accompany them in the farm or go to support the family.
In the view of Oderinlo (1998),
most school heads contributes to the high cost of education of children both in
rural and urban areas as some school Administrators and Principals embezzle the
examination and other fees paid by the guardians and parents on behalf of their
wards. This negative attitude of some School Administrators put further, strain
on the cost of educating the children and impedes the access of the
nation’s children to education. Oderinlo (1998) commented further, that the
affected students must not be abandoned to fate. Government should liaise with
other concerned organizations such as WAEC, NECO etc to ensure that such
retrogressive matters that are likely to thwart the ambition of the students
are quickly resolved.
In 1998, an incident happened
at Okota Girls Secondary School where a student’s WAEC fees was embezzled by
the Principal thereby putting further stains on the parents meager resources.
Nigerians are passing through one of the most difficult times with the cost of
living reaching unprecedented heights that salary earners feel good only when
they receive their wages or salaries for the month. Every month, the fixed
earning parents find themselves less capable of handling their pay pockets to
solve their financial problems as inflation bites harder and cost of living
continues to rise.
According to Gross et al (1991)
patterns of use of income highlighted the fact that on a given income level, a
family spending a longer than usual proportion on a category could cuts
elsewhere or goes on debt.
The view was supported by the
results of an interview conducted by Yomilend in (1981). He interviewed middle
class couples who are both graduates and discovered that the average take home
pay was N8,000 and he spent N6,000 every month while the woman’s average take
home pay was N5,000. The result of the interview indicated that the men were
left with almost nothing at the end of the month because they still had to pick
their bills on rent and electricity and maintain their cars. The same thing is
with the woman, who had no money for frivolities, especially with an average of
two children per family who are to be cared for.
A messenger was also
interviewed; his take home pay at the end of the month was N7,000. He had this
to say “I am never balanced, no matter how hard I try; I spend more than I
earn and find myself in debt every month, which I have to pay back one way or
the other.”
It is true that everyone needs
food, such other things as medical transportation, education, electricity
things also require attention but only clothing and shelter, care, taxes, rent,
and so many other the rich minority can afford them because at the
continuous rise to the cost of living and the education of the children.
Families in Oshodi-Isolo Local
Government Areas may also have been affected by the rise in cost of living
hence, the need to conduct an investigation on the impact of the high cost of
living on the provision of qualitative education for the children of Oshodi-Isolo
area and see how the community can cope with the rising cost of living with a
view to returning its effect on the provision of qualitative education for the
children.
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
High cost of living is likely
to impede the education of the children. It has been observed that long before,
one save money to buy an educational material for his children, the price has
risen by some unimaginable percentages and that before one takes his or her
list to the market, the budget has been rendered useless as a consequence of
spiraling inflation. This investigation will reveal if these observations are
true with respect to families in Oshodi/Isolo Local Government area.
Mgboodile et al (1986) observed
that high cost of living has made parents to neglect their responsibilities to
their children and wards by failing to provide them with the basic
requirements such as textbooks, school uniform and reasonable pocket money.
They also fail to pay their wards school fees on time and that such negligence
and delay leads to absenteeism, pilfering and neglect of school work, such
situations they opined are to hamper academic performance of such children.
According to Nickel et al
(1990) Academic achievement of students in school is threatened such that there
are more absenteeism as a consequence of rise in cost of living with all these
problems of the high cost of living, it has become necessary to look into what
effects these conditions having on children’s education in Oshodi/Isolo Local
Government Area.
1.3 Purpose
of Study
1. The
purpose of study includes finding out the opinions of parents in Oshodi/Isolo
Local Government Area on how the high cost of living is affecting the provision
of qualitative education to their wards and children.
2. To
find out how government can help the parents in solving the problems.
3. To
offer useful suggestions based on the outcome of the study.
4. To
know how qualitative education can be attained without the parents spending
more.
5. To
reduce the high cost of living on provision of qualitative education and still
maintain a high standard of qualitative education.
1.4 Research
Questions
1. To what
extent does high cost of living influence provision of qualitative education to
children?
2. To what
extent does high cost of living affect the standard of living?
3. To what
extent does the provision of non-position of the educational materials affect
the qualitative education of children?
1.5 Research
Hypothesis
Based on the problems identified,
the following null research hypotheses have been formulated for investigation
in the study.
1. High cost
of living does not significantly influence the provision of qualitative
education to the children.
2. High cost
of living does not have significant effect on the standard of living.
3. Provision
of educational materials does not affect the education of children.
1.6 Significance
of Study
The study will throw light on
the impact of high cost of living on the provision of qualitative education to
children in Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area. It will reveal how high cost of
living in that area affects the provision of qualitative education and general
standard of living. The outcome of this investigation will be of assistant to
the Parent on the education of their children despite the high cost of living
in the society.
Finally, this study will help
the governments and other stakeholders in education in taking decisions that
will make it easier for both poor and rich parents to finance the education of
their children and wards.
1.7 Delimitations
of Study
This investigation is to be
carried out in Oshodi/Isolo Government Area of Lagos State. It will cover five
schools namely:
1. Okota
Girls High School, Isolo
2. Ajumoni
Grammar School, Isolo
3. Ansar-Ud-Deen
Comprehensive, Isolo
4. Ansa-Ud-Deen
Grammar School, Isolo
5. Okota
Grammar School, Isolo
1.8 Limitation
of the Study
Time, information and finance
ace the major factors of limitation to this project work.
Time
Time has been a major
constraint of doing thorough and indept justice to this kind of research work.
Therefore, considering the fact that the study must be carried out with a time
limit along with other educational engagement, certain details could not be
researched into.
Information
Information is the interaction
between two people. For effectiveness of the project we need a lot of
information through electronic media, face to face interaction with people and
the library. Power failure is a constraint to securing information through
electronic media while face 6 to face interaction has its own
limitations, people are not willing to release information especially when they
are to be quoted. Most of the libraries lack adequate information as a result
of lack of funding by relevance agencies.
Finance
Money had always been a scare
resource; hence it had equally constituted a major constraint to the
willingness of the researcher towards carrying out a more detailed study within
the time limit.
1.9 Operational
Definition of Terms
Cost of Living: Cost of living is the
average cost of food, clothing and other necessities paid by a person or family
Mendinnus and Johnson (1996).
High Cost of Living: According to Patherson in
Spark (1987) high cost of living means when the cost of living exceeded the
common degree of measure than required.
Provision: According to Oxford
Advanced Learners Dictionary, provision is the act of supplying with what one
need or want. It is the supply of food, drinks, housing and educational
materials.
Qualitative: According to Oxford
Advanced Learners Dictionary, it defined Qualitative as a high standard of good
quality connected with how good a thing is rather than with much of it.
Education: Ugwu (1997) defined
education as all efforts towards the inculcation or cultivation of the right
attitude, habits, skills and knowledge necessary for proper adjustment in the
society. It is a process that continues throughout one’s life.
Durkheim (1956) defined
education as ‘the influence exercised by adult generations on those that are
not yet ready for social life. Its objective is to arouse and develop in the
child a certain number of physical, intellectual and moral states which are
demanded of him by both the political society as a whole and the social
“mellien” for which he is specifically destined.
Aristotle, Piati and Dewey have
recognized education as a powerful instrument devised by man for his own
improvement.
Children’s Education: Durojaiye (1996) defined
children’s education as the services of training and instructions given to
school children to help them develop their potentials.
Family: Henslim (1990) defined
family as any group of people related by blood or marriage especially group of
two grownups and their children or those people descended from common person.
The family is made up of the bread winner who is the father, the mother and the
offspring.