The home is the primary institution for children, home as perceived by Abdulganiyu (1997), Nwachil (1984), is the primary social group and smallest social institution. The family can therefore, be looked at as a social group characterized by common resident, economic, cooperation and production. It include adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintained a socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children own or adopted of the sexually cohabiting adults. When a child is born, the family is the first primary group with which they come into contact. Transmission of social values of right and wrong, what is morally and religiously accepted or condemned by the family, it follows therefore that by the time a child attained five to seven years of age he must have learnt what are his rights, obligations and roles within the society. However, the background of a child go along way to determine their individuality. But the time he/she enters schools, the child does so with different attitudes and expectations. In addition they may be of the same age group, developed at different rates and so may be able to cope with the intellectual and social task of the school in varying extent. Also, children that have suffered from neglect or lack of love or broken homes are known to be psychologically imbalanced to face the realities of life. When there is disunity in the family, or a difference between a mother or a father, the child is caught in the middle and will be at disadvantage. According to Blackby (1999), adequate research need to be conducted in this direction to ensure smooth transition of children from early stages to adulthood. 1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The child’s home and his family offer the best education since his parents serve as teachers. The parents lay the foundation for the desired social, moral, emotional, spiritual and intellectual for the child. The training a received from home is of greatest importance in his total personality formation. It can also be observed that the pattern of life in the home, the economic and social status of the family in the community and many other conditions that give the home a distinctive character can influenced children in school life, the relationship they form with their fellow students and their teachers in school work and activities. The extent to which they benefit from the school facilities they are opportune to have access to in the school, they also depend largely upon the family background from which the child comes and the family context of the family life within which they live throughout their school course. Abdulganiyu (1997), added that research have shown that children differs in various ways as a result of variables of their home background such as socio – economic status, parental attitude to school and child rearing practices. These home background variables were also found to be positively related to children’s academic achievement. Similarly, Giwa (1997), have investigated the factors within the students home background or family that affect their performance s in school, variables such as socio – economic status, family size, birth order, parental attitude, child rearing practices, parental absence or presence have been found to affect social and intellectual learning experiences of children in schools. This is so because children are born with some psychological, emotional and intellectual needs such as need for love and security, the need for new experiences, the need for praise and recognition and the need for responsibility. The extent to which these needs are met during the formative years of children between birth and the age of six or seven in the extent to which they enter school well equipped or ready to deal with the social and emotional aspects of schooling. However, it is clear that homes characteristics determined individual total personality in school because they can affect school performances, not only the store of factual knowledge that children bring with them to school, but also their general interest in learning, in school calls for research by teachers and educators in general. Based on this observation above and in line with the assumptions that economic and social future of many children in most localities is being undermined by cultural practices that promote widespread divorce amongst couples and brought unnecessary hardship to growing children. It is in view of this, that this study shall examine this situation and investigate that factor that causes broken families and suggest ways of protecting couples from arbitrary divorce.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE BPROBLEM
In our society, children are sometimes exposed at an early age to all sort of dangers arising from malnutrition, diseases and various temptation of surviving due to absence of one or both of their parents. Children’s life in broken homes is observed to be associated with emotional stress that can impair intellectual development, thereby giving way for such children to grow up without being trained properly. However, absence of one or both parents deprives young children of the stable love, care, security and total support they have been accustomed to and tend to make children different in the eyes of the peer group. If children are asked where the missing parent is or why they have a new parent to replace the missing parents, they become embarrassed and ashamed. They may also feel guilty and unwanted by the society, such stressful situation leads to psychological, emotional and intellectual imbalance in growing children. These subsequently result to quitting from school or poor academic achievement in school. Hence it becomes necessary to investigate factors that causes broken homes with a view to finding solution to the problems for psychological well being of growing children in our society, and these lead us to look at the effect of broken homes on science students education particularly in Sokoto South local government.
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This research work is aimed at finding answers to the following questions. 1. Does the home play a significant role in child up bringing 2. To what extent does good home influence socialization process of a child. 3. What causes broken homes 4. Does broken homes have any effect on science students education 5. Is there any significant difference between the academic performances from broken homes and those from unbroken homes. 6. Does the socialization process at home influence the prosperity of science students in their academic achievement.
1.4 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The main objective of this research work include the following. 1. To find out the causes of high rate of divorce in sokoto south local government of sokoto state. 2. To assess the impact or effect of broken homes on science students education. 3. To find out how absence of one or both parent influence science students academic performances in school. 4. To seek for solution on how to control widespread divorce among couple 5. To suggest ways of women and men unnecessary divorce 6. To find out whether there is significant differences in academic performances of students from broken home and those from stable home in science schools. 1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
1. The homes play a very significant role in child upbringing 2. The socialization process of a child from a good home is been influenced to greater extent. 3. Broken homes result from lack of understanding, insecurity and lack of caring as well as provision of basic amenities for the family. 4. There will be no significance between the performances of sciences students from broken homes and stable homes 5. The socialization at home will influence the prosperity of science students education.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to carry out research on possible causes of broken home and its consequences on the educational prosperity of students of science in sokoto south local government of sokoto state. This is with a view to suggest ways of minizing and overcoming the problem. It is an established fact that the home play a very significant role in a child personality formation and socialization, broken homes are identified as one of the factors that undermined the socialization process at home, which consequently affects the performances of students. If the concern of education, science education in particular is to look after socialization process of the child as well as his/her intellectual development, then this research work would be of great importance to parent and educators that absence of one or both of the parents affects children educational carrier be it medicine, engineering, chemistry, physics, pharmacy and the likes, in the field of education and family life to come with solution of ensuring stability in the homes for the betterment of growing children and the society at large. 1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
Though, the questions which prompted this study was found to in existence in difference part of the country, but very rampant in the northern part of the country, it is not possible for this research to cover all such areas. This is because the research/ researchers cannot obtain data from all places concerned due to lack of time and resources ( both human and material resources). As the title of the research reads, the research will be limited to only sokoto south local government and it should be noted that the work may not represent some areas in the local government and not all people during the course of the research exercise will cooperate, hence the research is bound to experience limitation.