PARENTAL MIGRATION AS A CORRELATE OF PUPILS’ SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

Contemporary discourse on socio-emotional development of pupils has increasingly centered on the phenomenon of parental migration and its impact on pupils’ socio-emotional development. Debate have intensified concerning the benefits and potential socio-emotional implications. This study examined parental migration as a correlate of pupils’ socio-emotional development in public primary schools in Anambra State. Five research questions guided the study while five null hypotheses were formulated. The study adopted a correlational survey research design. The population of the study consisted of 7151 teachers in the 992 primary schools in Anambra State. A sample of 500 primary school teachers was used in this study using a multi-stage sampling procedure and purposive sampling technique. Two instruments titled: Parental Migration Questionnaire (PMQ) and Socio-Emotional Development Questionnaire (SEDQ) were used to collect data for this study. Both instruments were researcher-developed and were subjected to face validity by three experts; two experts came from the Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education and one expert from the Department of Educational Foundations, Measurement and Evaluation unit all from the Faculty of Education Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State. Cronbach Alpha was used to check the internal consistency of the instruments and an overall reliability coefficient of 0.76 was obtained. The finding revealed that there was a weak positive and significant relationship between parental migration and pupils’ emotional regulation; there was a strong positive and significant relationship between parental migration and pupils’ social interaction; and there was a moderate positive and significant relationship between parental migration and pupils’ self-concept. It was also found that there was a weak positive and non-significant relationship among parental migration and the combined dimensions of pupils’ emotional regulation, social interaction, self-concept and social adjustment in Anambra State. Based on these findings, it was recommended amongst others that teachers should be supported through training and counselling resources to help them recognize emotional distress linked to parental absence and provide consistent emotional guidance to pupils affected by migration.