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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Regardless of its natural endowment, no country can thrive unless it prioritizes human capital development, which may be achieved via a solid academic foundation geared to secondary school performance. Nigerian culture puts a high value on education, believing it to be the sole path to national growth. However, this can only be accomplished if students at the citadel of learning’s boarding and day schools get actively engaged in academic activities that will improve their academic performance. As a result, the country’s technical progress will accelerate.
Education is seen as a worthwhile investment for national development in many nations throughout the globe. Education in Nigeria is a “par excellence” tool for achieving national development, and it is highly regarded since it is a system that is anticipated to provide qualitative and quantitative human resources, which are essential for any nation’s economic progress, by combining the correct inputs. Nigeria’s Federal Government (FGN,2004). On the basis of the above new research, contemporary boarding schools serve a diverse body of motivated and well-rounded students who study and live in supportive, inclusive academic communities where they learn about independence, responsibility, and traditional values that help them achieve success at higher rates in the classroom than private and public day school students.
Small class sizes at boarding schools let instructors engage every student in the classroom, and the settings are often structured to promote student engagement and eye contact among all students. construcción (2007) Children from isolated and rural locations, as well as ethnic and linguistic minorities, may be exposed to new ways of life, routines, responsibilities, technology, instructors, and classmates from outside their community, which helps to socialize and mainstream them.
Students and instructors dine together in boarding schools, which are self-contained communities. They spend their free time together watching TV and playing games. This is because at a boarding school, instructors and staff take the position of parents. They practically and symbolically assume the role of parents. While their charges are in school, they have a significant role in moulding and directing them. Because pupils are not permitted to leave the classroom at the end of the day, they are unable to escape the professors’ powerful influence. This is one of the main reasons why many parents send their children to boarding school.
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Students may gain skills that will help them live in a larger community while attending a boarding school. Boarding provides students with the chance to support one another with their academics during and after school hours, to collaborate and respect other people’s habits and beliefs, and to improve social and communication skills via contact with other students and staff.
Boarding schools, according to UNESCO (2010), offer a centralized learning and living environment that may serve as an effective connection between distant communities of origin and the greater community. The majority of boarding students read on a regular basis since reading is a part of their education, and they sometimes utilize the library and library books. People who have attended a boarding school have more independence, self-confidence, and responsibility since they are less reliant on their parents.
Because students are required to study according to a defined schedule before and after school hours, boarding schools provide structure and discipline. Students learn to respect regulations, perform tasks on time, go to bed on time, and awaken early. Day-school pupils and instructors show less respect for regulations and are less accountable, since they are more irregular and less timely in school, which leads to a lack of discipline and tardiness.
In boarding institutions, overcrowding in dormitories may occasionally quadruple the number of students who were initially expected to be accommodated. Overcrowding in the students’ hostels, as well as insufficiency of the nutrition, unavailability of water, and noise from class or neighboring classrooms, were among the issues experienced by boarding students. Other issues include a lack of adequate illumination, interruption from classmates in the same or other classrooms, and interruptions caused by non-human activity such as insects. Despite these issues, the ordinary boarding student has exceptional living and learning circumstances compared to the hardship and degradation experienced by many day students.
Academic Performance, according to Kail, Robert, and John (2007), refers to the respondents’ Grade Point Average (GPA) at the conclusion of the semester. It is the approach used by the school to evaluate and assess how effectively pupils grasp what they have been taught, as well as to demonstrate what they have learned by their academic performance throughout the course of the term.
Many day-schools, according to Urban and Daad (2007), provide more than just education, such as food and clothes. However, in the case of boarding institutions, this assistance is often more substantial (including housing). This ‘full help’ may encourage parents to send their children to school, despite the fact that boarding school is rather costly, and it is only available to those whose parents or guardians can afford it. Indirectly, this assistance adds to improved educational outcomes. It’s tough to learn on an empty stomach.
On the other hand, Ebenuwa- Okoh (2010) believes that if there is a prospect of attending or establishing a school nearby, day-schools are preferred. A paucity of schools, induced by a lack of financing, is typically the reason of distance to school. Because day schools are less expensive, more schools (nearer to home) may be constructed. The appropriate mix of home and school life might be found at a day school. The youngster may attend to school to study and develop social skills while still spending time with his or her family at home.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The academic performance of students is a very important factor in determining the success of individuals. In the educational system, a lot of factors influence the academic performance of students, both internal and external factors. One of which include being a day or boarding student.
In today’s highly competitive world, boarding or day school has become a gauge for evaluating students’ academic achievement in the educational process. The decision made by educational stakeholders, such as governments, educationists, parents, principals, teachers, and guardians, is considered critical in society, and researchers have recently discovered that certain factors are responsible for the academic performance of boarders and day students, leading to research on the analysis of boarding and day student academies.
This study seeks to analyse the academic performance of both boarding and day students in order to understand which has the best output in performance.
 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
1.           To investigate whether academic performance is higher among boarders than day students in Secondary schools in Lagos Island.
2.            To investigate whether male boarding differs from male day students in academic performance.
3.           To investigate whether female boarding differs from female day students in academic performance.
 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS
The following null hypotheses are formulated to be tested in this study:
HO1: There is no difference in academic performance of boarders and day students in Secondary schools in Lagos Island.
H02: There is no difference in academic performance of male boarding and male day students in Secondary schools in Lagos Island.
H03: There is no difference in academic performance of female boarding and female day students in Secondary schools in Lagos Island.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
Stakeholders in the educational system will benefit from the findings of this research as it will create awareness on the differences in academic performance of day and boarding students. The study’s findings will be useful to students considering which sort of school to attend, whether boarding or day, particularly those who have the option to choose. This research will also help parents decide whether to send their children to boarding or day school, since it will provide them with information on both kinds of schools’ structures. It will also help parents figure out which gender does better in boarding school than in day school. It will also help parents decide whether their male or female children should attend boarding or day school.
 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study only covered selected private schools located in Lagos Island, public schools were excluded.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The researcher was limited by insufficient funds to carry out this study in depth.
 DEFINITION OF TERMS
1. DAY STUDNENT: A student who attends regular classes at a college or preparatory school but does not live at the institution.
2. BOARDING STUDENT: A student who attends regular classes at a college or preparatory school and lives at the institution or in a structure provided for the student to house him/her.
3. ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: it is the measurement of student achievement across various academic subjects.
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