Dr. Sukhbir Singh

Assistant Professor,

Deptt. of Physical Education, A.I. J.H.M. College, Rohtak (Haryana)

Abstract: The purpose of the study, 50 subjects (25 rural and 25urban) were selected randomly from rural and urban area school going adolescent in Rohtak  District (Haryana). The age level of the subjects ranged from 13 to 14 years. The Self-concept variable was selected for the present study. Self-concept was assessed with the help of Swatva Bodh Parikshan (SBP) Self-Concept Questionnaire constructed and standardized by Dr. G. P. Sherry, Dr. R. P. Verma and Dr. P.K. Goswami. Swatva-Bodh Parikshan, is a forty-eight item test, yielding scores in eight different dimensions of the self-concept and on the total. Thus, the present test provides eight separate measures of self-concept. The data thus collected were put to statistical treatment computing independent t test to find out the differences, if any between the rural and urban. Further the level of significance was set at 0.05. The experiment carried out on twenty five rural and twenty five urban school going adolescent students to find out the comparison on self-concept. After applying standard questionnaire to obtained response and statistical treatment, the results come out were shows significant difference between rural and urban school going adolescent students.

 Keywords :  Self-Concept, Rural & Urban School, Adolescent, Random Method.

Introduction : Self-concept is a multi-dimensional construct that refers to an individual’s perception of “self” in relation to any number of characteristics, such as behavior, intellectual and school status, physical appearance and attributes, anxiety, popularity, happiness and satisfaction and many others. While closely related with self-concept clarity, it presupposes but is distinguishable from self-awareness, which is simply an individual’s awareness of their self. The self-concept is undergoing something of a renaissance in contemporary social psychology. It has, of course, been a central concept within symbolic interactionism since the seminal writings of Mead (1934), Cooley (1902), and James (1890). However, even within this sociological tradition there has been a revitalization of interest in the self-concept: with developments in role theory (Turner 1978; Gordon 1976), with the increasing focus on the concept of identity (McCall & Simmons 1978; Stryker 1980; Gordon 1968; Guiot 1977; Burke 1980), with the reemergence of interest in social structure and personality (House 1981; Turner 1976; Kohn 1969, 1981; Rosenberg 1979), and with the reconceptualization of small group experimental situations (Alexander and colleagues 1971, 1981; Webster & Sobieszek 1974). The reemergence of the self-concept is even more dramatic within psycho- logical social psychology. Much of this revitalization of interest in self- phenomena (e.g. self-awareness, self-esteem, self-image, self-evaluation) is due to the “cognitive revolution” in psychology (December 1974; Manis 1977), generally at the expense of behaviorism. As a result, the self concept has become conspicuous in areas and traditions that were previously considered alien terrain: within behaviorism via Bem’s (1972) theory of self-attribution; within social learning theory via Bandura’s (1977) focus on self-efficacy; and within cognitive dissonance theory via Aronson’s (1968) and Bramel’s (1968) reformulations. It is also increasingly evident in theories of attitude and value formation and change (Rokeach 1973, 1979), in attribution theory (Epstein 1973; Bowerman 1978), and in various other recent theories of cognitive processes (see Wegner & Vallacher 1980). Perhaps as important as these “intentional” theoretical developments in social psychology for the refocus on self-concept is what one reviewer calls “the inadvertent rediscovery of self” in experimental social psychology (Hales 1981a). This refers to the observation that experimental results frequently could be explained as well or better by the operation of self-processes within these settings [such as Alexander’s “situated identity theory” (1981)] than by the theoretical variables under investigation. This “inadvertent” discovery of self may have contributed to the socalled “crisis” in social psychology (Boutilier et al. 1980; Hales 1981a). In this review I focus on developments and trends in self-concept theory and research within social psychology.’ However, as Stryker (1977) and House (1977) point out, there are several social psychologies. The major distinction is between social psychology developed within the sociological tradition and that emerging from the psychological tradition. The self-concept is increasingly important within both disciplines; developments within both are reviewed. The two social psychologies differ in their focus. Sociology tends to focus on the antecedents of self conceptions, and typically looks for these within patterns of social interaction. Psychology, on the other hand, tends to focus on the consequences of self-conceptions, especially as these relate to behavior. The latter focus is more likely than the former to lead to questions of motivation (e.g. the self-esteem motive, consistency motive, efficacy motive). In a sense, sociology and psychology have complementary biases regarding the self-concept. If the “fundamental attribution bias” of psychologists is an overly “internal” view of the causes of behavior (Ross 1977), the attribution bias of sociologists is a tendency to look for the causes of behavior outside the individual-i.e. in culture, social structure, or social situation. Several aspects of the self-concept literature are not reviewed: I do not delve into the extensive literature on specific social identities, such as sexual and gender identities, various occupational identities, and specific deviant identities (e.g. delinquent, criminal, mental patient). Here I treat the social- psychological literature on self-concept, largely ignoring the clinical, humanistic, and philosophical traditions. (Gecas, 1982) [8]. indicates that a mean and standard deviation values with regard to self-concept variable in rural were 30.64 and 3.52 whereas in urban the mean and standard deviation were recorded as 34.28 and 2.851 respectively. There was significant difference between rural and urban school going adolescent students found as the calculated t-value (4.016) was more than tabulation t-value (2.01) at 0.5 level. As the results indicate researcher hypothesis is accepted.

Self-concept  : The self-concept as an organizer of behavior is of great importance. Self-concept refers to the experience of one’s own being. It includes what people come to know about themselves through experience, reflection and feedback from others. It is an organized cognitive structure comprised of a set of attitudes, beliefs, values, variety of habits, abilities, out looks, ideas and feelings of a person. Consistency of behavior and continuity of identity are two of the chief properties of the self concept. Self-concept is positively related with their school achievement. Self-concept is a factor which helps to study the human behavior and personality. There are several different components of self-concept: physical, academic, social, and transpersonal. The physical aspect of self-concept relates to that which is concrete: what we look like, our sex, height, weight, etc.; what kind of clothes we wear; what kind of car we drive; what kind of home we live in; and so forth. Our academic self-concept relates to how well we do in school or how well we learn. There are two levels: a general academic self-concept of how good we are overall and a set of specific content-related self-concepts that describe how good we are in math, science, language arts, social science, etc. The social self-concept describes how we relate ourselves to other people and the transpersonal self-concept describes how we relate to the supernatural or unknown.

Research Methodology :

• Selection of Subjects : For the purpose of the study, fifty subjects (twenty five rural and twenty five urban) were selected randomly from rural and urban area school going adolescent in Rohtak District(Haryana)The age level of the subjects ranged from 13 to 14 years.
• Criterion Measures : The Self-concept variable was selected for the present study. Self-concept was assessed with the help of Swatva Bodh Parikshan (SBP) Self-Concept Questionnaire constructed and standardized by Dr. G. P. Sherry, Dr. R. P. Verma and Dr. P.K. Goswami.
• Description of the Test : Swatva-Bodh Parikshan, is a forty-eight item test, yielding scores in eight different dimensions of the self-concept and on the total. Thus, the present test provides eight separate measures of self-concept. The statements of the test are simple and declarative about self, see-king responses in “Yes” or “No”. Responses are obtained on an answer-sheet and the test booklet can be used again and again. There is no time for completing the test, but the respondent is advised to complete the test as quickly as possible. Generally it takes a respondent about 20 minute to complete the test. A high score on this test indicates a bright self-concept while a low score shows a poor self-concept.

 Analysis of the Data:

• Result and Discussion : The data thus collected were put to statistical treatment computing independent t test to find out the differences, if any between the rural and urban. Further the level of significance was set at 0.05. The findings of the study have been presented in table- I Table 1: Showing comparison of self-concept between rural and urban school going Adolescent Variable

Variable	Group	Mean	SD	SE	MD	Ot	df	Tt
Health and Physique	Rural	3.68	1.52	0.38	1.20	3.176	48	2.01
	Urban	2.48	1.12
Temperamental Qualities	Rural	2.92	0.86	0.21	1.36	6.425	48	2.01
	Urban	4.28	0.61
Academic Status	Rural	4.76	1.48	0.39	1.12	2.905	48	2.01
	Urban	5.88	1.24
Intellectual abilities	Rural	4.68	1.22	0.32	0.64	2.009	48	2.01
	Urban	5.32	1.03
Habits and Behaviour	Rural	3.48	0.87	0.26	0.28	1.074	48	2.01
	Urban	3.76	0.97
Emotional Tendencies	Rural	2.64	1.08	0.26	0.96	3.639	48	2.01
	Urban	3.60	0.76
Mental Health	Rural	4.44	1.26	0.37	0.20	0.548	48	2.01
	Urban	4.64	1.32
Socio-Economic Status	Rural	4.04	0.68	0.19	0.28	1.449	48	2.01
	Urban	4.34	0.69
Total	Rural	30.64	3.52	0.91	3.64	4.016	48	2.01
	Urban	34.28	2.85

*Significant at 0.05 level of confidence, t.05 (48) = 2.01.

Table-1 reveals that there is significant difference in health and physique of school going adolescent between pre and post test. The obtained t-value of 3.176 is more than the table value of 2.01. Table-1 shows that there is significant difference in temperamental qualities of school going adolescent between pre and post test. The obtained t-value of 6.425 is more than the table value of 2.01. Table-1 reveals that there is significant difference in academic status of school going adolescent between pre and post test. The obtained t-value of 2.905 is more than the table value of 2.01. Table-1 shows that there is insignificant difference in intellectual abilities of school going adolescent between pre and post test. The obtained t-value of 2.009 is less than the table value of 2.01. Table-1 reveals that there is insignificant difference in habits and behaviour of school going adolescent between pre and post test. The obtained t-value of 1.074 is less than the table value of 2.01. Table-1 shows that there is significant difference in emotional tendencies of school going adolescent between pre and post test. The obtained t-value of 3.639 is more than the table value of 2.01. Table-1 reveals that there is insignificant difference in mental health of school going adolescent between pre and post test. The obtained t-value of 0.548 is less than the table value of 2.01. Table-1 shows that there is insignificant difference in socioeconomic status of school going adolescent between pre and post test. The obtained t-value of 1.449 is less than the table value of 2.01. The table -1 indicates that a mean and standard deviation values with regard to self-concept variable in rural were 30.64 and 3.52 whereas in urban the mean and standard deviation were recorded as 34.28 and 2.851 respectively. There was significant difference between rural and urban school going adolescent students found as the calculated t-value (4.016) was more than tabulation t-value (2.01) at 0.5 level. As the results indicate researcher hypothesis is accepted. Graphical representation of above table is made in fig.1. Fig 1: Mean difference of self-concept between rural and urban school going Adolescent

Conclusion : The experiment carried out on twenty five rural and twenty five urban school going adolescent students to find out the comparison on self-concept. After applying standard questionnaire to obtained response and statistical treatment, the results come out were shows significant difference between rural and urban school going adolescent students.

 

References :

1. 1. Uppal AK, Rajinder Singh. Changes in Self-Concept As A Result of Eight Mouth Regular Participation in Physical Education and Conditioning Programmes, SNIPES Journal. 1987; 8:2.
2. Alderman RB. Psychological Behaviour in Sports, Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1974.
3. Best JW. Research in Education (New Delhi: Kalyani Publication, 2006.
4. Bhalla SK. A comparative study of the self-concepts of disciplined and undisciplined students, Ph.D. Psy., Pan. U, 1970.
5. Campbell Paul B. School and Self-Concept. Association for Supervision and Curriculum development, 1967.
6. Cliffor Edward, Clifford Marrijum. Self –Concept Before and After Survival Training, British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. 1967, 241-48.
7. Floyd Conic Sturkie. Relationship between Physical Performance and Self-Concept Dissertation Abstracts International 1973; 12:6712.
8. Gecas V. The Self-Concept. Annual Review of Sociology 1982; 8:1-33. http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp.
9. Goswami PK. A study of self-concept of adolescents and its relationship to scholastic achievement and adjustment, Ph.D. Edu., Agra U, 1978.
10. Huitt W. Self-Concept and Self –Esteem, 1998. http: //learningdomain.com
11. Joseph Benjamin Johnson. A Comparison of Physical Fitness and Self-Concept between Junior High School Negro and White Male Students, Dissertation Abstracts International, 1971, 5180-A
12. Kensal Devinder K. Applied Measurement Education and Sports Selection, New Delhi, Sports Publication, 2008.

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                                                                            Dr. Shankar Chatterjee[1]

                                                                            Professor & Head (CPME)

NIRD & PR, Rajendranagar,   Hyderabad-500 0030, Telangana, India

Email:  shankarjagu@gmail.com

  Abstract

The paper was presented at the Expert Group Seminar on “Crop Insurance Policy for Madhya Pradesh” (16-17 May 2015) held at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University of Social Sciences, Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. The article is the revised version of the paper. In this paper for the benefit of farmers some issues have been covered.  An analysis has been made how agricultural marketing has been carried out by the self-help group members in Telangana so that farmers get their due price and marginal and small farmers’ group as studied by the author in Karnataka has been presented here. A case of creation of water –bodies on individual agricultural land of marginal and small farmers’ land from Bankura district of West Bengal under MGNREGS which changed economic life of many farmers is presented here.  In addition, the author by observing crop like ‘teff’ in Eritrea, and vegetables like avocado, artichoke and asparagus grown in Peru has suggested that, attempt may be made to grow such vegetables and crop, in our country as these vegetables are having high price in international market and teff is good for health and also can sustain in semi-arid area.  

Key words: Farmers, Hapa, SHG, Teff and Vegetables.

 

  Introduction:

    Mahatma Gandhiji once said, “India lives in her villages”. Still today it holds good as Indian culture, food, society, etc., can be observed only in rural India. But among these, most important is that the occupation of the villagers as the villagers in India is earning their livelihood mainly through agriculture and allied activities. According to 2011 Census, of the total population of India 121 crore, 83.3 crore live in rural areas while 37.7 crore people reside in urban areas which in relative term can be said 70 per cent of the country’s population lives in rural areas.  The state wise data reveal that Uttar Pradesh is much ahead while  maximum number of people living in rural areas is considered – 15.5 crore. Against the backdrop, Mumbai tops the list as five crore people live in urban areas.  Agriculture provides employment to 56 per cent of the Indian workforce where as its contribution to the gross Domestic Product is around 15 percent. Again, looking at the land holding data it is observed that as per 2010-11 of the total holdings of 137757 numbers, marginal holding constituted 92356 numbers (67%), smallholding-24705 (18%), Semi-medium-13840 (10%), medium -5856 (4%) and large holding-1000 (1%). The statistics further divulge that marginal holdings had increased substantially over a period of time i.e. from 64.8 percent (83694 nos.) in 2000-01 to 92356 numbers (67%) in 2010-11. Against the backdrop, in case of all other holdings, the same has declined (NIRD&PR, 2015).    The farmers’ problems in India mainly lie with marginal and small farmers. In this regard one important news item from    the Times of India (18 April 2014) may be referred which is mainly findings of a research study carried out by the British researchers.

 “British researchers have said they have found few of the main reasons behind India’s farmer suicides. Investigations by researchers from the Cambridge University’s Department of Sociology and University College London’s Department of Political Science has found that rates of suicide are highest in areas with the most debt-ridden farmers who are clinging to tiny smallholdings – less than one hectare – and are trying to grow cash crops such as cotton and coffee that are highly susceptible to global price fluctuations. Farmers at highest risk have three characteristics: those that grow cash crops such as coffee and cotton; those with ‘marginal’ farms of less than one hectare; and those with debts of Rs 300 or more. States in which these characteristics are most prevalent had the highest suicide rates. These characteristics accounted for almost 75% of the variability in state-level suicides”.

   The news item has further quoted one Sri Kennedy, a researcher, “Small scale farmers who cultivate capital-intensive cash crops – which are subject to massive price fluctuations – are particularly vulnerable to accruing debts they can’t repay. Many male farmers – who are traditionally responsible for a household’s economic well-being – resort to suicide because they can’t support their families”. According to the researchers, “In Gujarat, where cash crops are mainly cultivated on large-scale farms have low suicide rates”.

  This review discussion has shown the path that small holders experimenting with capital intensive cash crops have been suffering and finally many of them committed suicide. So to prevent suicide, I feel ‘prevention is better than cure’ which in details are discussed here.

     In the Twelve Plan Document issues related to agriculture has been explicitly analyzed. By quoting from the plan document it may be stated that “The average farm sector growth in the Eleventh Plan period may be a little over 3.0 per cent. This is a marked improvement from the average growth of about 2.0 per cent during the Tenth Plan period. ……Since agriculture is a State subject, the Centre will have to work hand in hand with the States to bring coherence in policies and strategies. Seeds and irrigation are the priority areas, which can be catalysts for raising productivity on the supply side. On the demand side, there is urgent need to remove most of the controls that have denied a unified and seamless all India market for most agri-products (12^th Plan document).

    Another important point to be noted is that for development of agriculture judicious use of water is sine qua non. “Agriculture accounts for 80.0 per cent of water needs at present, and there is considerable scope for increasing efficiency of water use in this area. This requires better management of water in areas of large and medium irrigation projects. It also requires putting in place more holistic aquifer management strategies” (ibid).

 Price Support to Farmers: Innovative Initiative:

     For the minimum price support of the farmers, an innovative model developed in the undivided Andhra Pradesh is presented here as well as crop diversification is also suggested from the two countries, in addition a case of development of water conservation measure from West Bengal.  The based on feasibility as well as local situation, the Government of Madhya Pradesh may implement in the nook and corner of the villages of the State at least in distress districts like Annupur, Ashoknagar, Balaghat, Betul etc. It may be mentioned that according to the Report of the Expert Group on Agricultural Indebtedness (Banking division, Dept. of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Govt. Of India, July 2007), out of 100 agriculturally less developed and distressed districts in India, in Madhya Pradesh there are 18 districts .

   As the State is having the Madhya Pradesh State Co-operative Marketing Federation, popularly known as MP Markfed which is an APEX body of Marketing Co-operative Societies established in 1956, a registered body under the Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 so it can play a lead role for minimum price support to the farmers. MP Markfed was setup with the objective of purchase, sale and distribution of agriculture related commodities like fertilizer, seed, pesticide, agriculture machineries and procurement of food grains under minimum support price schemes from primary agriculture credit co-operative societies, marketing co-operative societies and farmers in the NeGP-Agriculture Mission Mode Project Software Requirement Specifications Madhya Pradesh State Agricultural Portal remote areas (NeGP, 12). Markfed has a vast marketing network comprising of 7 zonal offices, 41 district offices and 426 distribution centres at 244 different locations and supported by 280 Marketing Societies and 4526 Primary Agricultural Credit Co-operative Societies.

  In view of this it is suggested that MP Markfed should come forward and through self-help groups (SHGs) minimum price support to farmers as observed in Telangana may be initiated.

 Case from Telangana:

               To provide farmers with minimum price support for their produce, Andhra Pradesh Government (undivided, now a part is Telangana) under its organization viz., Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) initiated innovative steps through self-help groups (SHGs) from 2000. Even after creation of Telangana, SERP has been crated separately both for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. However, SERP worked on a comprehensive multi-dimensional poverty alleviation strategy by focusing equally on the ‘Livelihoods Value Chain and Human Development Indicators’.  Keeping this in mind, SERP of undivided Andhra Pradesh worked on a unique structure of community based organization by organizing 11.4 million rural women into 1.27 million SHGs, 38646 Village Organizations, 1098 Mandal Samakhyas (Mandal Federation i.e. cluster of villages)and 22 Zilla Samakhyas (District Federation   (serp.ap.gov.in).

  Regarding price support to the farmers, the procurement and marketing of the agricultural goods were meticulously planned by establishing procurement centers through Village Organizations (VOs, federation of SHGs at village level) under the umbrella of SERP so that marginal and small farmers   get remunerative prices. It is pertinent to mention that maize and paddy were the two major crops which farmers used to sell as observed in the field by the author. Initially in 2004-05, procurement at village level was started with maize and observing its success, Andhra Pradesh Civil Supplies Corporation was entrusted the responsibility of procurement of paddy from 2005-06 through Village Organization. And every year specific dates (average 45 days duration each in Kharif and Rabi) were notified and willing famers can sell their goods through SHGs which is very transparent. The major objectives of marketing support through SHGs inter alia, were:

• To enable the small & marginal farmers to obtain the best price for their Agricultural Commodities and forest produce.
• To minimize the cost of inputs to the rural poor farmers.
• To create Marketing facility at their door steps.

  Initially marketing efforts were initiated with the procurement of Neem fruit in one Mandal and red-gram dal in five Mandals in 2001 of Mahabubnagar district, (then Andhra Pradesh now Telangana) subsequently the process was spread over to 21 districts of undivided Andhra Pradesh involving 50 items purchased through Village Organizations (VOs). And later on maize and paddy were included. To get an idea about the benefits reached to the farmers following table may be seen at a glance.

Although table is self-explanatory but few important points as observed from the table are:

1. Out of the 22 districts (undivided Andhra Pradesh), 21 districts were covered under the scheme and similarly out of 1098 mandals, 771 were covered. The variations in the number of mandals are observed because in sometimes there was no necessity of price support through SHGs. The farmers could sell their goods in the open market.
2. Since inception of the scheme, crores of goods were transacted.
3. The beneficiaries were in lakh indicating lakhs of families were benefitted.
4. Not only farmers were benefitted even VO also earned as commission.

     Case: This study was carried out in last week of December 2012 at Eklaspur village, Manthani mandal, Karimnagar district of then Andhra Pradesh now Telangana.  In Eklaspur village, the marketing Centre was meant for procurement of paddy as in the village and nearby areas mainly paddy is cultivated.  During the time of visit, Meghna Village Organization (as there were two VOs and each year one VO is given the task) was assigned the task. As a part of marketing system the farmers had to bring paddy at their own cost at the Centre, in addition they have to pay at the rate of Rs. 20 per quintal, if the labourers upload/download paddy who are normally available at the site. Before coming to the Centre, each farmer was given a token mentioning the date for selling the paddy in order to avoid chaos. The Eklaspur village Centre started its operation from 7 November 2012 and closed on 4 January 2013, except Sundays all the days were open for operation.  For smooth functioning of the activities like other cases, 5-member committee from the members of VO was formed to oversee marketing process and each was assigned a specific task and in addition 2 more members – 1 as book-keeper and 1 Community Resource Person (CRP) – were also involved and thus 7 persons were involved in the process here. Except one male Community Resource Person (CRP), all were women indicating activities were carried out by the women. The job of CRP was to verify the paddy bags with their numbers while uploading to the trucks meant for rice mill vis-a-vis monitoring the movement of trucks till it reaches to the rice-mill. The functioning of the 5 members was- first member checked quality of paddy, confirmation of farmers’ name etc. Second member was maintaining records of gunny bags etc. Third member was supervising weight of paddy and its proper bagging etc. Fourth member was in-charge of loading in the trucks, transportation, truck-sheet maintenance, etc. Fifth member’s important assignment was issuing cheques to the farmers. Generally postdated cheques were given to the farmers for 4-5 days duration. It is pertinent to mention that two grades of paddy were procured – Grade-A variety, price of which was Rs. 1280 per quintal and another was Grade-B variety, price was Rs 1250 for one quintal.       For carrying out the activities, each one was paid at the rate of Rs. 200 per day and rough calculation shows each was earning minimum of Rs. 10000 in one season which was their additional income. Moreover some local labourers also were involved in the process and they were earning good amount for loading/uploading. After closing of the Centre on 4 January 2013, data were collected from DRDA and observed that altogether 555 farmers sold their paddy in the Centre and total quantity of paddy sold was 28542 quintals (Grade-A was 3179 quintals & Grade-B was 25363 quintals). In monetary term, total value was Rs. 3,57,72870 – for Grade-A the amount was Rs. 40,69120 and for Grade-B, the value was Rs. 3,170,3750. Total commission generated by the VO was to the tune of Rs. 894322.  Total expenditure incurred by the VO was to the tune of Rs. 2.20 lakh and thus the VO could earn a net profit of Rs. 7,74,322 (Chatterjee, 2014).

Case from Karnataka: Initiative by NGO:

Issues related to Marginal & Small farmers:    Sufferings of Indian farmers can be attributed to many factors inter alia, of which are non-availability of timely loan, marketing of products etc.  According to the All India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS), the share of total debt of cultivator-households taken from formal sources fell from 64 per cent in 1992 to 57 per cent in 2003.  In the same period, the share of total debt taken from money lenders almost doubled from 10.5 per cent to 19.6 per cent, (Agriculture Today 2012). By quoting from the Agriculture Today journal 2012 (March issue), it may be stated that “Money lenders continue to be the base of Indian agriculture”.

            In this paper, measures taken by an NGO viz. Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) to improve economic condition of   marginal and small farmers is presented.  This study was carried out by the author in 2010 directly contacting the NGO and the farmers. The NGO, SKDRDP in Karnataka by forming 5-8 small/ marginal farmers in a self-help group has proved that their economic condition can be improved to a great extent. The experiment was started in 1991 with the change of concept from charity to self-help. The marginal and small farmers (5 to 8 farmers) by forming self-help group under the banner of ‘Pragathibandhu’ (meaning farmers’ friend) by SKDRDP work together for their agricultural development. Based on sustainability of the groups, the SKDRDP extends loan to them with easy rate of interest. In addition, farmers can borrow from bank also, if they desire. Important point under ‘Pragathibandhu’ is free sharing of labour which means each member in a group has to work in others  land one day in a week at free of cost and thus in rotation agricultural land of all the members are cultivated.

   Although the table is self-explanatory, but regarding value of labour sharing, it may be mentioned that an amount of Rs 733.70 crore of money could be saved by the marginal & small farmers by sharing the free labour under Pragathibandhu. Labour sharing not only helped small and marginal farmers to save some amount but it facilitated to develop fraternity among the group members. The filed study by the author divulged that marginal and small farmers were earlier surviving on hand to mouth by growing only paddy and vegetables and after forming SHG, their quality of life has been changed and almost all of them had TV, refrigerator, gobar gas plant, solar light etc. Regarding growing of crops it was observed that in addition to cultivating paddy and vegetables, other crops like are areca nut and coconut, black pepper, jasmine flower etc., were also grown. To get an idea about the Pragathibandhu,

     Sometimes in a dry area a single input can transform life of marginal farmers and this case is from a poor and backward district of West Bengal namely Bankura. The   district is spread over to an area of 6,882 square kilometers with a total population of around 36 lakh as per 2011 census. The district is drought prone and due to undulating, lateritic, & porous soil moisture content at subsoil level is low. Due to low irrigation facility cropping intensity on average was 147 percent.  Average size of land holding was 1.02 acre and 67 percent of the holding was around 0.53 acre. In view of this, district officials decided and designed under the guidance of an NGO viz., ‘Pradan’ construction of   hapa (water tank with average size of – 60x40x12 feet) on individual land belonging to below Poverty Line families (BPL) of marginal and small farmers.  These were constructed under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) through Gram Panchayat and hapas are mainly meant for water conservation approach as well as provide gainful employment MGNREGS workers. It is pertinent to mention that the length, width and depth of one hapa are 60 feet, 40 feet and 10-12 feet respectively and an amount of Rs 48,000 to Rs. 55,000 is required ( as per 2014-15 prices) where around 400 person-days of employment can be created.

  The author visited the district as a part of NIRD&PR’s ‘Village Adoption Study’   in three phases – 2012, 2013 and 2015 and observed, after constructing of hapas economic condition of the farmers has been improved. As an example case from one GP, is presented here. At Biradih village of Hirbandh block, Bankura district the data provided by MGNREGS Cell of West Bengal, Government reveal that for 35 households, mostly belonging to marginal farmers as well as marginalized community, were provided with one hapa each benefitting land area of 30 acres by doing irrigation. The marginal farmers’ income on an average in each season went up to Rs. 25000 as plenty of vegetables like tomato, brinjal etc., are cultivated in addition to paddy. Further, water harvesting structure also has facilitated to cultivate fish.  To get an idea one Akul Bawri (SC) having slight less than 2 hectares of land was contacted. He informed that before provided with the hapa in 2009-10, maintenance of his family was an issue as sequel he had to migrate to nearby districts for about 3 months. After getting hapa, his income not only scaled up but all the three children were extended good education as they were admitted in a hostel. He no longer was migrating in other districts for livelihood. With net yearly of around Rs. 80,000 he almost regularly consumed fish as fish and rice are favourate diet of the Bengalis.

Peru:

This case is from a South American country namely Peru where uncommon crops like artichoke, asparagus, avocado etc., were grown and author while visited in May, 2013 observed marginal and  small farmers earning substantial amount by cultivating these crops.  Such crops on experiment basis may be taken up in the State for the benefit of small and marginal farmers.

        Peru is a country with 29 million people spread over to an area of    1,285,216 square kilometers is    situated on the Pacific coast of South America.  While coffee remains Peru’s most important agricultural export crop, however, more than 60 percent of all agricultural exports are fruits and vegetables in recent years of which asparagus is the largest fruit and vegetable exported from Peru.  According to the statistics, Peru’s fruit and vegetable exports were close to U.S. $1.2 billion in 2009, which scaled up from $60 million in 1990. Since 1990, exports have increased at an average annual rate of 16 percent. In the following table, some selected items which are exported in different countries are presented for the interest of readers.

   It is suggested here that Government of Madhya Pradesh may initiate to grow such crops if feasible, in the state.

Eritrea and crop ‘teff’:

 With the increase in population in India demand for food grains has been increasing. On the other hand, because of less rainfall, inelastic supply of agricultural land  etc. need of the hour is to experiment to cultivate new crops which require less rain and nutritious also. In this article, based on author’s experience cultivation of teff of which injera (looks like our Indian dosa but big in size) is prepared is discussed. This food is consumed by the people of Eritrea (even in Ethiopia) as staple food.  The author stayed two years in Eritrea during late 2000 and studied importance of this crop inter alia, with his teaching job. Eritrea is located in northeastern Africa and it has a land area of 125,000 square kilometers and an estimated population was 42 lakh.

      The crop teff is uncommon to Indians albeit, it is the staple food of the people of Eritrea. Recently farmers in Australia and the United States started to experiment with growing of teff as it is having high nutritional value. From teff, the dish which is cooked is known as injera and most of the time mixed with barley or wheat injera is prepared. Injera can be compared with a big size of our dosa prepared in India and it is commonly eaten with sauce, vegetables, meat etc. One injera is shared with 3-4 family members. Teff is a great source of protein and it is gluten free. I suggest Government of Madhya Pradesh should try to introduce the crop wherever feasible. It is pertinent to mention that in Madhya Pradesh only traditional crops are grown such as paddy, wheat, jowar, gram, soybean, sugarcane and cotton.

Conclusion and suggestions:

  Agriculture sustains the lives of millions in the world in terms of nutrition and income, but changing rainfall patterns and poor storage can severely cut productivity. Simple innovation can help farmers grow healthier crops and store their produce for longer. But for an invention to work, it has to be affordable and integrate smoothly into farmers’ existing workflow.

  To address the issues pertaining to the farmers’ in general and marginal and small farmers in particular State Government in collaboration with Central Government should work hand in hand. Even NGOs and CBOs should take initiative to help farmers whether technically, scientifically or extending knowledge or financially.   We have to remember the farmers are our ‘annadata’ (providers of food) so they must be taken care of by the society. Any case of suicide of the farmers because of crop failure or lack of minimum price support is a shocking incident for all the Indians. I suggest prevention is better than cure. So to prevent farmers for experimenting with new crops for earning more money at the initial stage should not be encouraged. And the following suggestions are made is this paper.

1. MP Markfed should come forward and through self-help groups (SHGs) minimum price support to the farmers, as observed in undivided Andhra Pradesh, may be initiated as the system is transparent.
2. For the benefit of marginal and small farmers, experiment basis growing of cash crop is not suggested particularly coffee and cotton. If at all they are interested then in addition to cultivate food crops as observed in Pragathibandhu SHG, in a small part of their land experiment basis cash crop may be cultivated.
3. New type of crops like ‘teff’ as observed in Eritrea (as it also a food-crop which can be grown with minimum water) may be grown in Madhya Pradesh, if feasible.
4. Other crops which are having high international value like artichoke, asparagus, avocado etc., may be taken up in the State at least on experiment basis as these in addition to fetching foreign currency can be consumed.
5. The Pragathibandhu (PBG) model has proved that marginal and small farmers can earn substantially and also it helped to build national integration as well as brotherhood feeling. The concept, PBGs have been working successfully for about two decades indicating its sustainability of the groups. Earlier it started in one district of Karnataka subsequently spread over to other districts.
6. For benefit of marginal and small farmers scope of developing hapa may be worked out as it was highly beneficial to them.

References:

1. Planning Commission, (October 2011) “Faster, Sustainable and More Inclusive Growth: An Approach to the Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17)” New Delhi.
2.  ibid
3.   Sinha Kounteya “UK researchers unravel reasons behind India’s farmer suicides”
4.     Times of India, 18 April, 2014.
5.  RangacharyuluV.  & G Rajani Kanth (2013-14) (ed.) “Rural development Statistics”, NIRD&PR, Hyderabad.
6.  Mahendra Dev S. “Small Farmers in India: Challenges and Opportunities” Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai, June 2012
7.   Department of Agriculture & Cooperation Ministry of Agriculture, (2012), “NeGP-Agriculture Empowering Farmers”, Government of India, New Delhi.
8.  Chatterjee Shankar “Innovative Case of Minimum Support Price to Farmers
9. Through Self-Help Groups: A Case From India” SAMZODHANA “Journal of Management Research” Vol. 2, Issue 1 March 2014.

[1] The paper was presented at the Expert Group Seminar on “Crop Insurance Policy for Madhya Pradesh” (16-17 May 2015) held at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University of Social Sciences, Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. The article is the revised version of the paper.

Otodo Ifeanyichukwu

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the role of education in the rehabilitation and reformation of inmates of Jos prison. The rehabilitation of prisoners through formal education is necessary. The study adopted the descriptive research design. Therefore, a 23-item questionnaire was developed and administered to 250 respondents comprising of 150 inmates and 100 staff of Jos Prison who were chosen through stratified random sampling. The result showed that the respondents agreed that education for prisoners is very important in the rehabilitation and reformation of inmates. Also, some challenges militating against the smooth operation of formal education in Jos prison were highlighted. Based on the finding, some useful recommendations were made on how to better the education of inmates for effective rehabilitation and reformation.

Key words: Rehabilitation, reintegration, education, prison, prisoner.

1.0 Introduction

A prison can be sociologically defined as a confinement where socially and legally interned people who have wronged the society are kept for reformation, rehabilitation and possible reintegration into the society where they would contribute meaningfully to the development of the society. Ideally and as obtained in other developed climes, the prison is the last place for the transfiguration of those who the society dim unfit to cohabit with it owing to the fact that their stay in the society is inimical to the continued co-existence of the members of the society. Prisons are very important to the survival and continued existence of every society. Infact, the importance of prisons cannot be over-emphasised.

Prisons are designed to keep custody of the legally interned, and by doing so, it helps to keep the society safe from misdemeanants and lawbreakers who disturbs the peace of the society. Many are oblivious of this fact. When criminals and other dangerous elements are locked up in the prison, the society is insulated from their nefarious activities, thereby making the society safe for habitation and cohabitation. Hence, the prison is a vital part of the security set up of every society. Imagine what the society would look like if the content of the prisons in Nigeria are poured out.

According to Gumi (2014), people are sent to prison in order to protect the society from harm. Investing in the physical structures of prisons such as in buildings, protective bars, guards and guns alone may help to reduce crime in the short-term; ultimately it does nothing to make society safer. This is because almost everyone in prison will eventually return to society at the end of their term. If they remain idle during their time in prison, they are likely to become bitter and resentful (Gumi, 2014). If however prisoners are given meaningful things to do and are equipped with the skills and self-belief they need to support themselves upon release, society becomes safer because the rate of re-offending would decrease (African Prison Project, 2014).

 Reformation of Prison Inmates can only be achieved through education and skill acquisition training. Formal education becomes a panacea for effecting positive changes in the prison inmates before they are released. Formal education in prison aims at providing the awareness that will enable young as well as mature adults to improve or supplement their knowledge and skills in general subjects. The education of prisoners enhances their abilities to improve their future job and educational possibilities and potentials (Ewulum, Omeriyang and Mbara, 2015).

Education is thus one key aspect of the rehabilitative role in which prisoners can engage while in prison. It is not just a means of keeping the prisoner occupied, but has the capacity to form a stepping stone towards prisoner’s inclusion and reintegration into society. By providing positive learning environments, prisons can support the inmates to make good use of their sentence; to address gaps in their learning skills; to improve their employability; and to change their personal attitudes and perceptions. This in a long run helps them to understand the reasons for and consequences of their actions. All of these factors can reduce their chances of re-offending (Hawley, 2013).

Moreover, access to education is a fundamental human right and prisoners should not be denied the chance to exercise this right (Hawley, 2013). It can therefore be argued that imprisonment, even if it is viewed as justified punishment, should not bring with it the additional deprivation of civil rights, which include education (UNESCO, 1995).

Ogundipe (2008) posits that the Nigerian Prison Service has established practical programmes for reformation and rehabilitation of prison inmates. These programmes include: Vocational skills development Programme (SVDP) which aims at empowering the prisoners who have no formal education background with the practical skills in handworks like carpentry, metal-work, shoe-making, tailoring and others. This would help them to be self-reliant when they are released from prison. The second programme is the Adult Remedial Education Programme (AREP) which is designed to help prisoners who were pursuing one academic programme or the other before imprisonment. These programmes enable prison inmates to learn skills in such vocation as tailoring, plumbing, carpentry, woodwork, barbing, shoe making, and a host of others; and also to be grounded academically to become professionals like Doctors, Lawyers and graduates after discharge. Ogundipe (2008) also stated that through remedial programmes in the various Nigeria prisons, 1,306 candidates sat for the WAEC and GCE examinations as well as NECO in 2006 while in 2007, 1,198 candidates took the same examinations. For this success, the West African Examination Council made Ikoyi Prisons, Lagos one of its examinations centres.

Globally, education has had a consistent presence in correctional facilities over the past 200 years, though the form it has taken and the rationale behind its provision have changed over time. In 1798, education was introduced in the Americas first correctional facility—the Walnut Street Jail—in the context of religious instruction intended to help individuals repent for their crimes and develop spiritually and morally. The late 1800s marked the rise of the reformatory era, and educational offerings expanded beyond religious instruction to emphasize literacy and communication skills, as well as the inclusion of secular courses such as astronomy, geography, and history. Education was further entrenched within correctional institutions with the introduction of indeterminate sentences, which required evidence of self-improvement as a condition of release. Through the 1970s, often considered the “golden age” for rehabilitative programs, educational instruction proliferated, eventually including high school courses and general equivalency diploma (GED) preparation, vocational training in specific trades, life skills programs, academic higher education program, and study release (Gumi, 2014).

Prisoners can be indifferent to education in prison. Research from the United States of America, Ireland and the United Kingdom shows that prisoners are more likely to have literacy difficulties than the general population (Batchelder and Pippert, 2002; Cropsey, Wexler, Melnick, Taxman and Young, 2007; Hurry, Brazier, Snapes, and Wilson, 2005) and tend to have lower than average attainment and poor experiences of compulsory education (Morgan and Kett, 2003; Muth, 2006; Winn and Behizadeh, 2011). In prisons, particularly in the United Kingdom, the curriculum is often restricted so that prisoners are expected to engage in education that is focused on improving narrow literacy skills rather than broader, and potentially more attractive, educational areas (Hurry, Brazier and Wilson, 2009).

Many prisoners, and adults who have similar unhappy experiences of compulsory education, tend to have negative attitudes to learning and can be very resistant to education that is like school (Barton, Ivanic, Appleby, Hodge and Tusting, 2007; Belzer, 2004; Kilgore, 2001; Maclachlan, Hall, Tett, Crowther and Edwards, 2008). This is especially true of provision focused only on narrow literacy skills such as spelling and thus such courses tend to promote little learning and a great deal of resentment amongst prisoners. On the other hand, Hurry, Brazier and Wilson (2009) found in their study of English prisons that prisoners became engaged and participated in more effective learning when the programme was more contextualized and active. Research from across the UK also shows that creating an environment where learning operates from an individual’s ‘strengths’, rather than their ‘deficits’ is the most effective (Crowther, Maclachlan and Tett, 2010; Entwistle and Smith, 2002). This involves building on and extending the knowledge and skills that individual’s already have, an approach that has been found to be very uncommon in prisons in studies in the US and the UK (Batchelder and Pippert, 2002; Kilgore, 2001).

This research, therefore, seeks to assess the role of education in inmates’ reformation and rehabilitation in Jos Maximum prison; and to determine the extent to which prison inmates have been exposed to formal education with a view to improving their rehabilitation and reformation. The research also exposed the challenges faced by the prison adult school in Jos prison.

2.0 Methodology

The study employed the use of a descriptive research design. Descriptive research design was chosen because it enables the researcher to generalize the findings to other prisons across the country.  The population of the study is made up of all the prisons staff and inmates in Jos prison. Jos prison as at 1^st July, 2015 has 243 staff and 721 inmates. Therefore, the total population for the study was 964. The sample used for this study consisted of 250 respondents: 150 inmates and 100 prisons staff who were selected through the purposive sampling method. The sample is made up of 204 males and 43 females. The age of the respondents ranged from 18-59 years, with a mean age of 34.5 years. Eighty-seven (87) of the inmates were Muslims, while one hundred and sixty three (163) inmates are Christians.  Only convicted inmates serving short and long term sentences were used for the study. Those awaiting trails were left out of the study because they are not qualified for rehabilitation and reformation programmes.

The research made use of a self structured questionnaire which was developed by the researchers. The questionnaire was subjected for validity by two experts in criminology from the University of Uyo; and other two senior prison officers working in the Plateau state headquarters of the Nigerian Prisons Service. Comments and recommendations of the experts were incorporated in the final construction of the instrument which ended up with 23 items. The instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.76 using the test-retest reliability method and was considered high enough. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and percentages. While simple percentages was used to analyze research question one, mean score was used in Research question two. Decision rule for Research question two was based on 4-points numerical values assigned to the responses: Strongly Agree (SA) = 4-points, Agree (A) = 3 points, Disagree (D) = 2 points and Strongly Disagree (SD) = 1 point. Items which had mean rating of 2.50 and above were agreed on. Conversely, items which had less than 2.5 were considered to be disagreed on.

3.0 Results and findings

The results of the study were presented according to the research questions. Out of the 250 copies of the questionnaire distributed and returned, 3 were badly filled and discarded while the remaining 247 copies were presented and analyzed in tables using descriptive statistics and percentages.

3.3 Discussion of Results

Result of research question one show that education is very important in the rehabilitation and reformation of inmates’ of Jos prison. This is in tandem with Gumi (2014) who posits that formal education is cardinal to the rehabilitation of prison inmates. The result also agrees with Omoni and Ijeh (2009) that the issue of vocational and formal education cannot be overemphasized in the rehabilitation process of prisoners. The aim of imprisonment is not only for punishment, but to prevent offending and reoffending. In the society today, the leading cause of crime and criminal behaviours is lack of empowerment. Education in prison can reduce recidivism as inmates will be empowered with the academic knowledge that can make them stay off crime and lead law-abiding lives. Table 2 shows that 72.1 percent of the respondents strongly agreed that education in prison play a cardinal role in the rehabilitation and reformation of inmates. Also, 17.8 percent of respondents agree with the assertion. This shows that, about 89.9 percent of the respondents supports that education is paramount in the rehabilitation and reformation of inmates.

Table three showed that the respondents agreed that all the challenges listed therein militate against the smooth running of the prison adult school in Jos prison. These problems ranging from lack of enough teachers to time constraints are the major challenges bugging down education in the prison. This is in agreement with Ewelum, Omeriyang and Mbara (2015) who found out that the major challenges militating against the reformation of prison inmates in Anambra state include: lack of professional educators, lack of staff training, poor funding, among others. Nigeria prisons according to The Nation (2010) are “living hells.” Most prisons are bedeviled by poor facilities like classrooms, stationery and books, lack of qualified educators to teach in the prison schools, among others. This scene is reflected in all prisons structures in the country. This has led to the non-performance of the schools in our prisons. From table three, it is obvious that some of the maladies affecting the administration of formal education in Jos prison include; lack of enough teachers, frequent transfer of prisoners and teaching staff, lack of stationery and books, and poor funding. Other challenges as agreed by the respondents are lack of external assessment by examination bodies like WAEC/NECO/JAMB, poor library and time constraints.

 

4.0 Conclusion

It is obvious from the result of this study that the prison is a very important agent of rehabilitation and reformation of the social misfits. It is also a component of the criminal justice system charged with the responsibility of confirming, reforming and rehabilitating prison inmates so that they would become better citizens when released from the prison. This study reveals that education in prison is very cardinal in the rehabilitation of inmates. However, it was discovered that several challenges ranging from lack of enough teachers to time constraints hinder the smooth running of the prison adult school in Jos prison. These maladies have led to the non-performance of the school and explain why the rate of recidivism in Nigeria is at increase.  For this reason, recommendations were proffered on how to resuscitate education as a tool of rehabilitation in Nigerian prison thereby improving the service delivery of our prisons system.

5.0 Recommendation

After a careful analysis of the role of education in the rehabilitation and reformation of prison inmates, this study came up with the following recommendations:

1. The federal government of Nigeria should float a Prison Development Trust Fund (PDTF) to fund the prisons in the area of vocational and formal education. In other words, the education of prison inmates should receive closer government attention financially and otherwise.
2. The Nigerian Prisons Service should create public awareness programmes through the mass media on the role of prison and its rehabilitative roles. This in the long run will improve the image of our prisons and also provide a platform for more sensitization on prison education.
3. The Nigerian Prisons Service should collaborate with the various state ministries of education in order to benefit from the various plans by these ministries.
4. National and regional examination bodies like the WAEC, NECO, JAMB and NABTEB should be lobbied to establish examination centres in our prisons.
5. The National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) should be made to open a centre in at least one prison in all the geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
6. The Nigerian Prisons Service should recruit more educators and teachers. Also, schools should be floated in prisons where such does not exist.

 References

African Prison Project (2014) Education in Prison. www.africanprisons.org/our-work/education/ .            Accessed on 13 June 2014.

Barton, D., Ivanic, R., Appleby, Y., Hodge, R. and Tusting, K. (2007) Literacy, lives and

learning.London: Routledge

Batchelder J. and Pippert J. M. (2002) ‘Hard time or idle time: Factors affecting inmate choices

between participation in prison work and education programs. The Prison Journal, 82(2),269–280.

Belzer A. (2004) ‘“Not like normal school”: The role of prior learning contexts in adult

learning’,Adult Education Quarterly, 55, 41–59.

Cropsey, K. Wexler, H. Melnick, G. Taxman F. and Young, D. (2007) ‘Specialized prisons

and services: Results from a national survey’, The Prison Journal, 87(1), 58–85.

Crowther, J. Maclachlan, K. and Tett, L. (2010) ‘Adult literacy, learning identities and pedagogic

practice’, International Journal of Lifelong Education, 29(6), 651–664.

Entwistle, N. and Smith, C., (2002) ‘Personal understanding and target understanding: mapping

influences on the outcomes of learning’, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 72(3), 321–342.

Ewelum, J. N; Omeriyang, M. C. and Mbara, K. U. (2015) Reformation of prison Inmates

through adult Education programmes in Anambra state of Nigeria: Challenges and strategies for improvement. International journal of Education and research, 3(3): 205-213.

Gumi, S. G. (2014) The Right of Education As a Tool in the Rehabilitation of prisoners: A study

of Kamiti prison, Kenya. Unpublished M.sc thesis. University of Nairobi, Kenya.

Hawley, J., Murphy, I and Souto-Otero, M (2013). Prison education and training in Europe:

Current state-of-play and challenges. A summary report authored for the European Commission by GHK Consulting. Retrieved from the European Commissionwebsite:http://ec.europa.eu/education/moreinformation/doc/prison_en.pdf. Accessed on September 6, 2014

Hurry J., Brazier L., Snapes K., and Wilson A. (2005) Improving the literacy and numeracy of

disaffected young people in custody and in the community. London: NRDC.

Hurry J., Brazier L., and Wilson A., (2009) ‘Improving the literacy and numeracy of young

offenders’, in S. Redder and J. Brunner (eds.) Tracking adult literacy and numeracy skills: findings from longitudinal research, pp. 261–277. New York: Routledge.

 

Kilgore D. (2001) ‘A group learning intervention into how women learn empathy in prison’,

Adult Education Quarterly, 51(2), 146–164.

Maclachlan, K. Hall, S. Tett, L. Crowther, J. and Edwards, V. (2008) Motivating adult learners

to persist, progress and achieve: Literacies learners at risk of non-completion of learning targets. Edinburgh, Scottish Government.

 

Morgan, M. and Kett, M. (2003) The prison adult literacy survey: results and implications.

Dublin: Irish Prison Service.

Muth, W. R. (2006) Intergenerational literacy programme for incarcerated parents and their

families: A review of the literature. Virginia: Virginia Commonwealth University.

Ogundipe, O.A (2008). Education behind bars: The Nigeria experience. The Reformer, 3 (3) 32-

38.

Omoni, G. E. and Ijeh, S. U. (2009) Qualitative education For Prisoners: A panacea to effective

Rehabilitation and Integration into the society. Edo Journal of Counseling, 2(1): 27-37

The Nation (2010, August 21). Prison a hell fire.

UNESCO (1995). Basic Education in Prison. Hamburg: United Nations and U N E S C O Institute

for Education.

Winn M. T. and Behizadeh N. (2011) ‘The right to be literate: Literacy, Education, and the

school-to-prison pipeline’, Review of Research in Education, 35(1), 147–173.

 

MKPUGHE CHRISTIANA IFEYINWA (DR)

Abstract

 This study focused on the effect of socio-economic status of parents on the academic performance of students in Technical Colleges in Delta State. Two research hypotheses were formulated. There is no significant difference between Academic Performance of Students from poor background compared to those from wealthy homes, there no significant correlation between students from intact homes and that of broken homes. Recommendations were made based on the findings.

 

Keywords: Profession/Vocation, Educational level, Socio-Economic Status and family type.

INTRODUCTION

The role parents in the upbringing of the child cannot be overemphasized and as such it’s socioeconomic status is of vital importance. Students have shown that parental influence manifests itself in parental values and experience, education, vocation/profession of parents, religion and socio-economic background of parents. Parental socio-economic status and intelligence have either facilitating or inhibitory effect on the child depending on the traits inherited and the environment in which he is brought up. The self and work roles begin early in life and the home in conjunction with it’s related social system have great influence on them. The parents or family provides the initial social encounter through socialization process, also provides the 3models with which the child can identify, usually a child may consciously or unconsciously, learn from the parents by imitation. Parental set standard may greatly affect the life’s of adolescents and so motivate them to be achievement oriented. Thus a family where some particular careers are of great priority tend to orient it’s children in achieving that goal.

Therefore, the socio-economic status of a parent goes a long way to mould a child’s personality both morally, academically, economically, socially, spiritually or otherwise. Jacquelynm and Eccles and Pamela Daviskean (2005)

Statement of the Problem

The socio-economic status of parents can motivate or hamper the child’s academic performance in schools. For students to have excellent performance in schools, they should be reared in a home free quarreling and rancor, should have enough parental security and financial security, readiness to learn to the part of the student a good learning environment and learning materials. A lot of problems are faced by students in Technical Colleges in Delta State.

The Concept of Socio-economic status

This study focused on the effect of socio economic status of parents on students in Technical. Colleges in Delta State. The concept of socio economic status based on socio-economic factors represnts one of the major systems of stratification. Social stratification arises out of the recognition in all societies people are ranked or evaluated at a number of levels of social class is common to most societies ancient or modern. Infact almost every community has within it, groups which think of themselves being somewhat alike.

The member of these groups may exhibit similarities in choice of food, housing, dressing, language, occupation, income values, social behaviour and even colour or race. Farooq (2011) emphasized that the social class of parent is a dominant factor in the academic performance. The academic abilities and the socio-economic background of youth impose considerable constraints upon the performance of students and on the type of vocation they can make. He able boy from a middle class family has a wider range of possibilities open to him than a boy from a poor socio-economic class. Okoh, (1980) in his work say that students have shown that children from low income homes come to school with a two-fold handicap.

Their innate intelligence is under developed in certain aspects that are important for success in present day educational systems and their personality is structured that they are not likely to do well in school. The child from the low social class according these studies has not his spare time carefully organized for. He has a very notion and is incapable of planning and pursuing long term projects. To such a child, luck, rather than vigorously planned work appears to be reason for success.

According to Rothesetein (2004) the social class of parents are fundamental to the individual’s educational and vocational decisions. He went further to explain that social membership influence and is influenced by occupational membership. Other factors identified  which exert considerable influence on the individual include sex, family age, race, culture school and economy. Azhar Nadeem, Naz Perveen & Sameen (2015) testifies to the fact that much of the child’s educational development starts at home, before he actually starts the formal education, to him the middle class homes are always able to provide the necessary prerequisites success. For example, they can provide good environment, motivation, the necessary financial help and also hi1ighted some facts on the influence of socio economic status of either the parents, home or environment on the occupational preference of youths. They postulated that a child’s particular socio-economic inheritance may a direct and important effect on the occupation open or life attractive to him. The economic an occupational level of the home affects performance of the students, Farooq (2011).

The study was organized under the following headings

1. Occupation of parents
2. Parental background
3. Type of family
4. Wealth of the family
5. Broken family

Occupation of Parents

This involves the type of work or job done by the parents of these student this go a long way to affect the performance of those students. There are parents whose work do not give time for their children as such the students are affected negatively Duke, (2000), Sewell, William and Robert, Hauser (1975). Most time you discover that most students or children are influenced by the occupation of their parents or stimulated by what they find their parents doing, parental or family set-standard may greatly affect performance of their children either positive or negatively even in the occupational choice of their children later in their lives and so motivate them to be achievement oriented. Thus a family where some particular careers are of great priority, tend to orient it’s children towards achieving that goal. In some families because the family head is a lawyers the children will want be lawyer or even doctors, nurse or teachers or accountants because their parents are one or have set such standard for them. Studies have shown that a child’ particular socio-economic inheritance may have a direct and important effect on the career open or attractive to him than does his physical inheritance. The economic and occupational level of home affects the vocational goals of the youth by influencing their aspirations to be similar to those held by their parents and by Halsey, Health and Ridge (1980) discouraging aspirations to levels much above or below the parental occupational. The child’s biological endowments in terms of personality traits are transmitted to him in form of genetic inheritance. If both parents possess high intellectual capabilities and transmit the traits for indigence to the child, that, child is very likely to be highly intelligent and benefit from education which will likely enhance his opportunity for occupations on the hand, a child of very low intellectual parents who inherited this trait may turn out to be an imbecile who may later find it difficult to be properly educated and be gainfully employed. So, the occupation of parents has a vital role to play in the lives students in Technical Colleges. Halsay, health and Ridge (1980).

Parental background

Parental socio-economic status and intelligence have either facilitating or inhibitory effect on the child depending on the traits inherited and environment in which he is brought up. The self and work roles begin early in the life and home in conjunction with its related socio system have great influence on the them. The family comprising of parents, siblings, relatives, friends and neighbours, providing the initial social encounter through socialization process, also provides the models with which the child can identify. Usually the child may consciously or unconsciously learn from the parents by role playing or imitation. Parental background with talk about whether parents of children is high socio-economic status, middle or low socio-economic status as a long way to play in the performance of students in technical Colleges. Azhar, Nadeem, Naz, Perveen and Sameen (2015).

A family could be classified as either of high or low socio-economic status. The question might be asked how do we dichromize between high and low socio-economic family background Owalabi (1988) criteria for classifying Nigerian parents could be adopted, here. For him parents who are professional senior civil servants, graduates and non-graduates teachers, clerks, traders and businessmen and women of appreciable income parent who have post primary and higher education are referred to as being of high socio-economic status while parent who are craftsman artisans and farmer and parents who have no schooling or have elementary education are referred to as being of low socio-economic status. Differential access to education theory is apparently true in Nigeria, thus, children of low socioeconomic families do not have as much access to education as children of high socio-economic family background are found mostly in good quality post primary institutions such as the Federal Government Controlled Colleges which are adequately provided with qualified teachers and materials to Ramey and Ramey (1994) the disadvantage of brilliant children from poor homes. One of the implications of such differential access to education could be that children from high socio-economic families especially in careers of greater social demands and status.

Also it was discovered that some students who failed the West African School Certificate (WASC) Examinations who would have preferred to go back to their schools or other schools to repeat the year were prevented from doing so because of the inability of their parents to meet up-financially the cost of their going back to school. He further revealed that consequently, such students went into the teacher training colleges which were free thereby choosing teaching as career circumstantially while others went into other unskilled jobs. Finally parental family background plays important or affects the child performance the school. Ramey and Ramey (1994).

Types of Family

Under types of family we are looking at whether, the children or child is born into a polygamous home, monogamous family and so on. The type of family which the students are born into can affect them either positively or negatively. A child born by polygamous parents will find it very difficult to meet up with the financial demands of his school. Since there are a lot of children and wives to take care and as such the financial responsibility on the family will be very high such child will be affected negatively except the family is buoyant. Femi Ogushola and Adewale (2014).

Also even in a monogamous homes if the number of children in the family is large there will be great financial responsibility on the parents. The child may be affected negatively but if the numbers of children are reduced the parents will able to meet their needs easily considering the family income. Also in families where the breadwinner of the house is late (either the men or women). There will high financial responsibility especially on our women if it was the man who died. So, the children will be affected negatively and it will hinder their academic performance in the school, Anderso and Sullivan (1998).

The wealth of family

The wealth of the family is of paramount importance, if the family is wealthy, children’s needs whether academic or otherwise will be met easily without much stress but where the family poor, the academic need of the children will not be met easily, this goes a long way to affect the child performance negatively. There are situations where the parents of students may not have money to pay their children’s school fees and children are sent of out of school for non-payment of school fee and other necessary fees, in such cases, the child or students may not be allowed take their examination. The wealth of the family talks about the family income whether it is high or low. Ramsey and Ramsey (1994), Memon, Joubish and Khurram (2015)

 

Broken Homes

A child from broken home is never happy or a child from a home where there quarreling and fighting is never happy because of the environment that he or she is coming from. Also a child whose mother left the house because the frequent fighting and quarrellings in home or immoral behaviours of their father, will never be happy in school and will not concentrate in his studies, his mind will easily go back to the occurrence of home or a child that is under care of his mother and not being accepted by his stepfather because he is not that man’s child will never be happy in the class and invariably, will not do well in his studies.

Furthermore, a child living with the father, where the mother is no longer in home may receive ill-treatment from the father’s wife or wives especially if is the wicked and bad type. Such child will never be happy in class and if a child not happy, there is every tendency that child or student’s performance will be affected negatively except for a determined child who Wants to excel through work undermining the situation at home.

Research Questions

1. Is there any significant difference between the academic performance of students from poor background and those from wealthy home?
2. Is there any correlation between the academic performance of students from broken homes and those from intact homes?

Purpose of the Study

1. The main purpose of the study is to determine effect of socio-economic status of students in Technical Colleges.
2. To determine the difference between the academic performance of students poor background and those from wealthy homes.
3. To determine the relationship between the academic performance of student from broken homes and from those of intact homes.

Significance of the Study

There has been a general motion that increase, monetary rewards and academic ability are the major influences on the performance of students. The socio economic status of parents is hardly linked with these factors. The finding of this study will be beneficial to government, parents teachers and the society at large. It will serve as a guide to administrators and education planners when making decisions it will affect students.

It will serve as an eye opener on the effects social economics status of parent on their children and how the negative effects can be corrected. This study will help educational or guidance counselors to identify students whose parents are from the lower social class and profit solution to their problems. It will also help students in career choices and the available resources at their disposal.

Definition of important Terms

1. Profession / Vocation: This is defined as definable work activity that occurs in many different setting.
2. Education Level: The educational height of an individual whether is an individual is highly educated or not.
3. Socio-economic status: This refers to ones social and economic standing within a social stratification or classes and are explained a follows:
4. a) An upper class: These are wealthy individuals who frequently did not and constitute about 25% of the population.
5. b) An upper middle class: These are mostly skilled workers whose sons were generally apprenticed to same or some other skilled trade frequently they become clerks but seldomly merely labourers.
6. c) Low middle class: These are unskilled workers and domestic workers or servants. In this class children usually augment the family income by manual work at an early age.
7. d) Lower Class: These are unskilled workers who are predominantly poor. Their standard of living is very low and their children worked from an early age and receive about ¼ of the pay of an unskilled workers.

Research Methodology

This is the description of the methods used in carrying out the study, which include, the following headings.

1. Design of study
2. Population of study
3. Sample of selection
4. Sample area
5. Instrumentation
6. Administration of question

Design of Study

This design of study employed is the survey method, survey study is a descriptive research method. It is aimed at discovering relative, incidence, distribution and inter-relationship of educational, sociological, physiological, political and economical variables. The researcher examined the opinion attitudes or feelings of individual about a particular problem.

Population of study

The population of this study comprises is all the Technical Colleges in the State (Delta), Sample of the study

The study was carried out in randomly selected Technical Colleges in the State. The randomly selected schools induce specific the no before history

1. Issele-Uku Technical College, Issele-Uku
2. Agbor Technical College, Agbor
3. Sapele Technical College, Sapele
4. Delta Career Warn

Instrumentation

The instrument used for this study was questionnaire. It consists of two sets. That of teachers and the students. The teacher questionnaires consist of twenty items is divided into section A & B section A consists of personal data of the respondents while section B deals with the questions based on the hypothesis. The teacher questionnaire consists of two sets. That of teachers and students. The teacher questionnaire consist of twenty. It is divided into section A & B, section A consists of personal data of the respondents while section B deals with the questions just as in the teacher questionnaire.

Administration of Instrument

The entire questionnaire was administered by the researcher through a visit to the sampled schools. This enable the researchers to get responses from teacher and students. In each school were given questionnaires were collected by the researcher. About two hundred questionnaires were distributed.

Method of Data collection or Analysis

The data collected were tabulated and analysed using the chi-square test of contingency. It’s formula is given as

x² =   ∑(O -E)²

  E

Where X²               =                              Chi-square

∑                             =                              Summation sign

O                             =                             Observed data

E                             =                              Expected data

This test has a level of significance of 0.05 with degree of freedom as one (1) and two (2) where necessary.

Validation of Instrument

The questionnaire is the outcome of the intensive process of validation. The questionnaire is carefully designed to meet the targeted goal, the questionnaire was submitted to two lectures and it was properly scrutinized and deleted substandard questions (if any). Thus; this helped in selecting the needed basic objectives of study. The items were pruned appropriately and as such the questionnaire was described as valid in content and context.

Data Analysis, Presentation of Result

It deals with analysis of data in respect of the questionnaires already administered on the proposed sample. The analysis, presentation of result and discussion was pointed towards verifying the hypothesis earlier formulated.

Data Analysis

Testing of the hypothesis

Hypothesis One: Ho₁ states that there is no significant difference between academic performance of students from poor background compared to those from wealthy homes. To test the above hypothesis the chi-square of test contingency was employed which was performed at 0.05 level of significance.

The test result is presented in the table below:

Table One: Distribution of the findings analysis on the response of students of Technical College on the effect of family

The x² was computed as 0.37 the critical value of the df(1) = 3.38 and 0.05 level of significance. The hypothesis was accepted because the calculated value is lower than the expected value.

Hypothesis two

Hypothesis Ho2: There is no correlation between students academic perfirmance form intact homes and those from broken homes.

Distribution of The Findings

Table two: Analysis on the response of students of Technical Colleges on the effect of broken and intact homes on academic performance.

Where X                =              stands for intact homes

Y             =              Broken homes

The hypothesis is rejected because from the calculation — I shows a very high relationship and are both affected by socio-economic status of parents

Summary of findings

1. There no significant difference between academic performance of students from poor background compared to those from wealthy homes.
2. From the result of findings it shows there is no correlation performance between intact homes and broken homes.

 

Discussion of Findings, Conclusion And Recommendation

The findings from analysis will be discussed as follows;

Hypothesis One

The finding of the researcher says that there is no difference between academic performances of students from poor background compared with those from wealthy.

This result is in line with the view of Hill et al (2004) which states Socio-Economic status of parents does affect student’s academic performance but makes possible for both children from rich and poor families to compete with each other.

Hypothesis Two

The findings of the research states that there is no significant difference between the academic performance of children from intact homes and those of broke homes. This shows that whether the students are from intact homes or broken homes, it has nothing to do with their academic performance. There are cases where even when students are living with parents, their parents never have time to check their children’s work; are always too busy, never found at home, only at nights to move very early the next morning, the children hardly have a taste of their parents also there are cases where even when children may not be living with the parents or is living with one of the parent, is determined to make the best of the situation by hard work and much studies, such a child might do well.

This shows that both are affected by socio-economic status. According to Azhar, Nadeem, Naz, Perveen and Sameen (2015) stated that the child’s educational development should start from home, before he actually starts the formal education. Proper attention should paid to educational development of the children for better performance at school.

Conclusion

The study showed that there is relationship between socio-economic status of parents and the choice course made by the students, so parents should try as much as possible to supervise the work of their children, and counseling them into making right career choices, these should be not based or the wealth of family. Also hypothesis one shows that there was no significant different between the performance of children from intact home and broken homes. This reveals that once a child is determined work or study, making use of the human and material resources available to him, whether broken home or not, the sky is his limit, they are encouraged to be serious with their studies whether living with their parent or not. Parents should strive to live together for proper up bring of their children, in order to avoid having dropouts and nonentities as children.

Parents as well as government should provide good learning atmosphere for the students to enhance better performances of the students, on the other hand students should make use these learning materials provided for them by the government and parents and stop perambulating around the streets of Nigeria, and stop forming different cults and nefarious groups that does foster their academic performance in schools. Teachers also have a role to play by making sure these students are well taught, occupied with assignments and class-work so as to create sense of seriousness in them. These assignments should be marked and recorded as continuous assessment. Quizes and test via examination should also be administered by the teachers. Workshop practice should also be taught in all the technical colleges to make them self-reliant and practically oriented.

Recommendation

The recommendations are made based on the findings and conclusion of this study.

1. Parents should endeaviour to support and supervise their children’s academic work in and out of school.
2. Parents should try as much as possible to live together for the proper upbringing of their children and avoid separation or broken homes.
3. Parents and government should try as much as possible to see to needs of students in technical colleges.
4. Government should furnish their libraries with current text books not the old fashioned and outdated ones; they should equip their laboratories, workshops and typing pools for effect studies.
5. Government should provide and install computers in all Technical Colleges employ competent hands who can manage these computers.
6. Government should ensure that salaries of teachers and worker in Technical Colleges are paid as and when due.
7. Also workshop practice should be made compulsory for all students in Technical Colleges so as to be practically oriented and self-reliant.
8. Furthermore practical allowances should be paid to teachers of Technical Colleges by the government.

 

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