The influence of the family structure on the academic performance of secondary pupils in the Maseru region

English: This study investigated the influence of the family structure on the academic performance of secondary school pupils in the Maseru region. It should be realised that this is a very controversial issue according to the researcher as some people in the community strongly believe that children from single-parent families do not perform well academically, while others object to it strongly. At the same time, it cannot be denied that the family structure can have a great influence on the academic performance of pupils. The attitudes and opinions of pupils towards the effect of the family structure on academic performance were investigated on a theoretical and empirical basis. In this study the researcher defined various relevant concepts used in the study. The theoretical framework related to family structures and academic performance, is divided in four chapters. The first chapter is the general orientation of the study, that is, the problem is stated, the necessity of the study explained, the aim of the research, research questions, definition of terms, demarcation of the research area, method of investigation and the course of study have been elaborated in the first chapter. The second chapter deals with different family structures, with sub-topics such as historical family structures, types of family structures, changes in family structures and the results of a change in the family structure. The third chapter mainly deals with adolescence and family structures. Included in this chapter are concepts such as the nature of adolescence, the adolescent's family and family relationships and adolescent development. The fourth chapter, being the last theoretical chapter, deals with factors influencing the adolescent's intellectual development and academic performance. Issues discussed in this chapter are intelligence and intellectual growth, academic performance and achievement, main factors affecting adolescents' intelligence and academic achievement and the changes in family structures and their effects on performance. For the empirical research, the researcher firstly outlaid the practical steps and activities aimed at gathering information from pupils by means of questionnaires. Finally, the researcher tabulated the results from all respondents. The data was analysed and processed by means of the programme called the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings were discussed in relation to the tables according to various responses from the respondents, and then analysed. On the basis of the theoretical findings, the researcher came to the conclusion that the family structure does not have much influence, if any, on the academic performance of secondary pupils. In the empirical study on the other hand, the family structure clearly affects pupils' academic performance. Recommendations made by the researcher are based chiefly on the findings of the empirical study.