1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Students’ academic achievement is greatly affected by the area in which a student’s lives. Reasons for the variations in achievement are geographic locations, resources, availability of technology and quality of teachers. The National Education Association (2013) asserts that the low performance of students in schools is becoming alarming and needs to be addressed.  However, in some cases the type of school affects the academic performance of students.

Boarding students are students that reside in the schools while day students usually come to school every morning to receive lectures and hereafter return to their homes after school session. A boarding school is a school in which most or all of the students live during the part of the year that they go to lessons. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals (Moris, 2013).  

Recent research has shown that universities are not living up to expectation in discharging its obligations. Omoregie (2005) lamented the products of today’s university system can neither usefully live in the society nor move into higher institution without their parents’ aid or forgery. It must be stressed that education cannot be an instrument par excellence for achieving national development where the university education is not effectively managed to accomplish its aims and objectives.

According to Ajayi (2002) and Omoregie (2005), university education in Nigeria is riddled with crises of various dimensions and magnitude all of which combine to suggest that the system is at crossroad. This crisis usually affects the academic performance of students in the schools thereby the aims and objectives of university education are not being attained. It is based on this background that the study seeks to examine the impact of modern boarding school system on academic performance and social integration of undergraduate students in selected Nigerian universities

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1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

There has been a decline in the general academic performance of university students in Nigeria. The poor achievement of students is very discouraging. The poor performance is unfortunate and largely due to the methodology employed by many lecturers type and also school type affects the performance of students in universities.

Most importantly, the type of school including boarding usually affects the students’ performance.  Students in boarding school perform poorly academically. Following this trend, these students often experience challenges in graduating from tertiary institutions on time. In the light of the above statement, the researcher intends to provide empirical evidence on the impact of modern boarding school system on academic performance and social integration of undergraduate students in selected Nigerian universities. 

1.3 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of modern boarding school system on academic performance and social integration of undergraduate students in selected Nigerian universities. Specifically, the study intends to achieve the following objectives.

1. To ascertain the nature and cause of poor academic performance of Nigerian university students.

2. To identify the extent to which boarding school affects the academic performance of university students.

3. To determine if a difference exists  between mean performance of boarders female and male students 

4. To examine the relationship between academic performance and social integration in boarding school

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following questions will serve as a guide to the study.

1. What are the causes of poor academic performance of students?

2. To what extent does boarding school affects the academic performance of university students?

3. What is the difference between mean performance of boarder female and male students? 

4. What is the relationship between academic performance and social integration in boarding school?

1.5 RESEARCH THPOTHESES

The following hypotheses to be tested are formulated thus.

Ho1 There is no significant difference in the mean score performance of boarder female and male students 

Ho2 Boarding school does not affect the academic performance of university students

Ho3There is no significant relationship between academic performance and social integration in boarding school 

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

1. The findings of this study will enable the National Council on Education (NCE) so that appropriate school systems (boarding) are encouraged in the university.

2. It is expected that the findings of this research study will be of benefit to school administrators to ensure appropriate and proven practices that will ensure improvement in academic performance of students.

3. Course developers will use the findings of this study to develop new programmes and subjects into the school scheme that will benefit all students irrespective of the system of school they attend e.g. boarding.

4. Students will be able to use the findings of the study to make appropriate decisions on the school type to attend and also best learning practices to adopt in facilitating learning.

5. This study will pave way for Educational researchers to carry out studies on the advantages and disadvantages of boarding.

6. Lecturers will benefit from this study as it will pave way and bring to limelight acceptable practices in schools that will enhance students’ performance e.g. counseling, disciplinary measures etc.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study is limited to the impact of modern boarding school system on academic performance and social integration of undergraduate students in selected Nigerian universities. The academic performance of students in boarding schools will be ascertained. More so, their performance based on gender will also be determined. The study comprises of lecturers and students of Nigerian universities.

1.8 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS 

Boarding students: Refers to students that are in the non-residential system of education where they are expected to take lectures and leave for their homes each day.  They are also referred to as day students. 

Boarding school: refers to students who are in the residential system of education. Students receive lectures and school and stay in the school throughout the session. They only return to their homes during holidays.

Academic performance: Refers to the general average achievement of students in various subjects in the school. 

Teaching strategies: This is also referred to as instructional strategies and it is the teaching style/methods adopted of giving instructions to facilitate learning.