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Full Project – An evaluation into the challenges of nursing mothers on academic performance among students

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background to the Study

Over the years, women have shown that they have what it takes to function in several factors in the Nigerian economy and education remains one of those critical factors in this regard (Kapur, 2019). Nevertheless, when it comes to nursing mothers, there are several factors that can impede their progress academically. This is not only peculiar to them as the academic performance of even regular students is often evaluated in relation to other factors. By regular students, the emphasis here is on those who are young, agile and unmarried. It could also be a reference to those who are under the sponsorship of a guidance or their parent. Regular students, therefore, face a lot of problems which can be described as schooling challenges in the context of this work. Notably, food, shelter, clothing and financial issues among many others continue to be the many stumbling blocks to their academic activities. It is therefore not unexpected to find them lagging behind in terms of their academic performance. This can be interpreted in terms of low-test scores, poor examination grades, discouraging marks (or not having none at all) because of the inability to submit assignments, group work or projects of some sort on time. The after math of all these is the certainty of graduating with the wrong class of degree. This is simply unacceptable in view of the present highly competitive labour market both locally and globally. Nevertheless, this description of regular students and the many challenges they face are always applicable to everyone nor do they imply that all nursing mothers are outside these references. However, the challenges of regular students cannot be compared with the plight of nursing mothers at least in the context of this work.

Simply put, if these are some of the realities of regular students (already mentioned above), then imagine what the realities of nursing mothers are in most tertiary institutions today. It can be guessed that while most nursing mothers may or may not be prone to some of the challenges experienced by regular students above, it can be guessed that their situations could be worst. This is not unconnected to the proposition that raising a child while attending to serious and rigorous academic matters is not something that should be taken lightly.

Besides, if raising a child and attending to academic matters are to be weighed on a scale, it is difficult to tell which is more burdensome than the other. Therefore, combining the two can have either positive or negative outcomes for nursing mothers in tertiary institutions. This work, therefor, is premised on the assumption that there is a strong affinity between academic performance and nursing a child (Dankyi,Dankyi, &Minadzi, 2019; Amos &Manieson, 2015). It is also assumed, in the context of this work, that nursing a baby while schooling can have a negative effect on the performance of nursing mothers. On the whole, regardless of the many challenges, acquiring knowledge is essential to the growth of any nation (Amos, Amoako, Antwi & Amoah, 2021) and women especially nursing mothers cannot be left out.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

The academic environment is replete with a lot of rigorous exercises. Expectedly, it requires that the individuals entering such an environment must be matured and prepared. Also, it calls for a lot of physical stamina alongside adaptable cognitive, critical and reflective skills among others. While it is expected or the norm to find single and unmarried people in the academia, who are mostly single and unmarried, this may not always be the case. There are instances where nursing mothers who are either married or unmarried find their way into many institutions of learning today and are expected to deal with many rigorous academic activities and expectations like their single unmarried counterparts. It is believed, in the context of this study, that these activities combined with the activities of nursing a baby in school could have a devastating effect on the nursing mothers, and they usually do. It is, therefore, not hard to guess that it can tell on their physical, emotional and intellectual well-being. Thus, the academic performance of nursing mothers can be affected rather negatively, resulting to low academic performance.

1.3. Research Questions

The current study is predicated on the following research questions:

Are there nursing mothers in the Department of Guidance and Counselling Kaduna State College of Education Gidan Waya?
Are nursing mothers in Guidance and Counselling more likely to perform better than their unmarried counterparts in the College?
Are the single unmarried students in Guidance and Counselling more likely to perform better than their counterparts nursing a baby?
Is there a correlation between nursing a baby and the academic performance of nursing mothers in Guidance and Counselling?

1.4. Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is “An evaluation into the challenges of nursing mothers on academic performance among students of KSCOEGidan Waya in Guidance and Counselling”. The objectives of this study are spelt out thus:

To find out if there are nursing mothers in the Department of Guidance and Counselling Kaduna State College of Education Gidan Waya
To show whether or not nursing mothers in Guidance and Counselling are more likely to perform better than their unmarried counterparts in the College
To prove whether or not the single unmarried students in Guidance and Counselling are more likely to perform better than their counterparts nursing a baby
To unveil the correlation (if any) between nursing a baby and the academic performance of nursing mothers in Guidance and Counselling

1.5. Significance of the Study

This work is significant in a lot of ways. Firstly, it tries to establish a correlation between nursing a baby and the academic performance of nursing mothers. To this end, it intends to show two things: firstly, that the academic performance of nursing mothers can be affected positively, meaning that regardless of their state they can actually excel. This would invariably mean that other nursing women intending to take the same step can be encouraged to do so. Secondly, if the correlation between nursing a baby and pursing an academic programme results in poor grades then it would serve as a kind of discouragement to other nursing mothers who intend to combine mothering activities with school activities.

Another important aspect of this work, and this is connected to the first reason stated above, is that anyone can go to school and excel their condition or state of being notwithstanding. Therefore, nursing mothers may not necessarily have to wait until they have weaned their babies to go to school.

Equally important is that this work pays academic attention to the plight of nursing mothers unlike other types of researches that focus on only regular students. It will help to furnish lecturers or teachers with the much-needed information about the nursing mothers in their respective classrooms. This knowledge, it is hoped, can have a huge impact on classroom instruction and the organization of different types of learning experiences. It is also expected that it will have a huge impact on the approaches, principles, methods and the techniques deployed in the teaching process at a particular time in respect of nursing mothers.

Finally, this work will serve as a reference point for teachers, students and fellow researchers who might be interested in finding out the plight of nursing mothers, and how they can be fully integrated into the curriculum.

1.6. Hypotheses of the Study

The current study is based on the following hypotheses:

There is a direct correlation between academic performance and nursing a baby
There is an indirect correlation between academic performance and nursing a baby

1.7. The Scope of the Study

This study is delimited to the nursing mothers in the Department of Guidance and Counselling, Kaduna State College of Education. The study also aims at administering structured questionnaires, which is the instrument of data collection, to 60 nursing mothers. These women are selected based on purposive random sampling giving the likelihood that they may be very few in number. These women are drawn from the various levels in the department as follow: 15 nursing mothers in 400 Level, 15 nursing mothers in 300 Level, 15 nursing mothers in 200L and 15 nursing mothers in 100 Level.

1.8. Definition of Terms

Academia Referring to institutions or schools where

learning takes place

Academic performance The achievement attained by a student in

terms of continuous assessment or cumulative grade point average (CGPA).

Adaptable To be able to adjust to new conditions

Cognitive skills Referring to mental processes

Critical skills Valued opinion or judgement about

something or someone

Nursing mothers This is a reference to a mother who is still

breast feeding her baby

Reflective skills Analyzing personal experiences for the

purposes of learning

Scale To measure something

Stamina To have the capacity mostly in relation to

physical strength

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