Determinants of Child Labour and Academic Performance in High Schools in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined child labour and academic performance among students in Nigerian secondary schools with reference to Emmanuel College secondary School, Orita U.I. Systematic random sampling method was employed to collect primary data from 60 respondents through a well-structured questionnaire. The results showed that 83.3% were male and 16.7% were female. Also, 51.7% of the sample population worked after school hours while 13.3% worked during vacation and 35% engage in no economic activities. The regression results showed that level of education of parents, parents’ income and family size explained about 83% of the total variation in hours of work. All the coefficients for the socio-economic factors were significant at 5% probability level. The result further showed that a negative relationship exists between average score and hours of work. Also, a negative relationship exists between hours of work and parents’ income and level of education of parents but a positive relationship exists between hours of work and family size. Based on the empirical results, the study therefore recommends that creating employment opportunities and increasing income of parents would help parents sponsor their children’s education.