INTRODUCTION
Since the advent of
modern education, there has been anxiety over pupils' academic performance in
school. Many nations now understand that pupils are the center of the
educational process and that without strong academic performance,
all innovations in education are destined to failure. Academic performance is
defined as the quality and quantity of knowledge, skills, techniques, and a
learner's achievement or acquisition of a positive attitude, behavior, and
philosophy (Isidor, 2022). The results of a test or
examination given to pupils at the conclusion of a subject, academic year, or
educational cycle are used to assess their level of ability. Each pupil's
grades and scores reflect their level of achievement. The standard of the grade
establishes the level of academic performance in a particular class at a
specific examination period, whether internal or external (Aguh,
et al. 2023). Academic performance really means three things: the capacity to
learn and retain information; the capacity to learn effectively and see how
information fits together to form larger knowledge patterns; the capacity to
think in relation to information; and thirdly, the capacity to convey
information either verbally or nonverbally. Therefore, it could be said that
the school meal program is a commendable program that promotes education for
everyone in all respects. The school meal program is an approach to supplying
basic education with high-quality needs in a way that will improve academic
success.
The school meal
program is an effort by governments and a broad variety of partners to promote
activities that may quickly restore, enhance, and expand food and educational
systems, help pandemic recovery, and promote Sustainable Development Goals (Aurino, et al. 2023). In many developed and developing
nations across the world, school meal programs are essential interventions that
have been implemented to combat poverty, increase enrollment in schools, and
improve pupil performance. The Sustainable Development Goals initiative and
several conferences held later by African leaders to address issues like peace,
security, good economic, political, and corporate governance as well as to make
the continent an appealing location for foreign investment are credited with
the introduction of school feeding (Chakrabarti, et
al. 2021). African leaders have made a commitment to end poverty, put their
nations on the road of sustainable growth and development, and actively engage
in global politics and the economy, among other things. This commitment is
founded on a shared vision.
One of the many
intervention programs that can address some of the nutritional and health
issues affecting children of school age is the school meal program. Parents may
be encouraged to enroll their children in school and ensure that they attend on
a regular basis by a school meal program. The greatest risk factor for
children's futures in school is now malnutrition (Destaw,
et al. 2021). Because young children's ages play a crucial role in their growth
and development, it has major developmental ramifications for them. As a
result, nutrition instruction is a crucial component of early childhood
education programs. Although the number of school-age children who are hungry
is unclear, it is likely to be a serious issue in many situations. Children's
hunger is caused by a variety of circumstances, including the distance children
must travel to school, cultural norms that forbid or only offer tiny
breakfasts, and a lack of family time or money to provide nutritious meals for pupils
before and/or throughout the school day (Chaves, et al. 2023). Simply
addressing this need among schoolchildren improves their academic performance.
The impact of nutrition on the child's
physical, emotional, and academic development has proven crucial. State boards
of education have looked for solutions on how to raise test scores and develop
school systems where all children and pupils receive the finest education
possible in a world of failing schools and indifferent pupils. In Nigeria, the
majority of public schools accept pupils from less fortunate homes. Due to
their low socioeconomic status, these pupils cannot be guaranteed regular
meals. A healthy diet is essential since it helps the body grow, protect
itself, and get repaired. Food must be available in sufficient quantities for
humans to operate sustainably. A successful educational system must also focus
on keeping pupils healthy and capable of learning. This is especially important
when trying to get everyone in the poorest areas to go to school. On the
premise of the foregoing, the present study assessed the efficacy of the school
meal program on pupils' academic performance in consideration of school-related
environmental factors.
Research Questions
This
study answered the following research questions:-
- What are the
schools environmental factors affecting school meal programme
in the study area?
- What influence
has school meal programme on academic
performance of the pupils in the study area?
Research hypotheses
The
research hypotheses for this study were tested at the 0.05 level of
significance. They are as follows:-
HO1 There is no significant difference between
environmental factors affecting school meal programme
of male and female pupils in the study area.
HO2 There is no significant difference between
the influence of school meal programme on academic
performance of male and female pupils in the study area.
Theoretical Framework
The theory of human needs (Maslow,
1945) served as the basis for this study. This theory holds that a decent
standard of living must meet a number of minimum requirements. The term
"physiological needs" refers to these. They consist of clothes,
shelter, and food. Prior to pursuing additional wants like protection and shelter,
a sense of connection and affection, love, esteem, and eventually
self-actualization, these core needs must be met. According to Maslow, a
hierarchy of human needs begins with those that are purely physical, such as
those for food, clothes, and shelter. These are essential requirements that
must be met before any other requirements. This notion is used in the study
since it has been found that providing pupils with meals at school—a basic
need—encourages their attendance and persistence. Short-term hunger is reduced
while learning and academic performance is improved. As a result, it can be
said that the School Meal program has met the fundamental demand for food,
which has improved pupil enrollment, attendance, and academic performance. It
may serve as a stepping stone for them to achieve educational degrees that will
motivate them to rise to the level of self-actualization at the top of the
pyramid.
The
school food program in this location might be viewed as a stepping stone for pupils
to use in order to attain what is often anticipated in favorable learning
contexts and conditions. Therefore, according to this idea, each pupil must
start from the very bottom of the ladder in order to go up to the other demands
at the top of the hierarchy, regardless of how long it is. Since food plays a
significant part in children's life, it is important to provide them a healthy
diet and enough sleep. Making sure that everyone has access to necessities like
food, clothing, and shelter can help a growing nation like Nigeria avoid
poverty. Since food is essential for human survival, the government should work
to eliminate food insecurity, especially among weaker populations like
children. When dietary assistance are made accessible, such as through a school
meal program, hunger is lessened if it is correctly controlled, and excellent
health, high motivation, engagement, and concentration in class are all
promoted (Munyiri,2010). In an effort to understand the impact of the school meal
program on academic performance, the research is based on this notion. The
topic is explained from the viewpoint of the writer in the model in figure 1.
This demonstrates the link between the variables (independent and dependent)
utilized in the study for a better comprehension of the impact of pupils' academic
performance on the school nutrition program.
Figure
1 consists of three parts -:
Independent variable: This describes the
factors that affect the outcomes that pupils exposed to school meals might
attain. The school meal program is the independent variable. For a child's
general wellbeing, this is crucial. Having a good diet helps children become
physically and intellectually strong, making them capable of handling any job
that is thrown at them.
Dependent variable: This clarifies how
the variable's result came about. Pupils' academic performance is influenced by
their general health. A healthy youngster will focus more on their schoolwork
and be happier overall.
Intervening variable: These are the
elements that might have an impact on how the independent and dependent
variables interact. The study's modifying variables included pupils' eating
habits, the variety of diets served in schools, social economic status, whether
the school was in an urban or rural setting, whether the pupils were male or
female, environmental factors at the school, nutritional status, and how they
reacted to the diet. Investigated was how these intervening factors affected
the dependent variables.
DESIGN
OF THE STUDY
Ex-post
facto research, which is descriptive in nature, was the methodology used in the
study. This type of study strategy is applied after the independent variable's
impact on the dependent variable has already materialized. Using this
methodology, the researcher was able to analyze and describe how pupils' and teachers'
perceptions of the impact of the school food program on pupils' academic
performance. All of the pupils and teachers from primary one to three at a
public primary school made up the population for this research. This included
thirty Local Government areas with twelve thousand four hundred (12,400) pupils
and five hundred seventy-eight (578) teachers.
Primary 1, 2, and 3 pupils made up a total
sample of 1240 pupils and 58 teachers, or 10% of all pupils and teachers
enrolled in the research area's school food program. For the investigation, a
method of systematic random sampling was employed. Five schools from the
metropolitan areas and five from the rural areas were chosen at random. Local
government offices were considered to be in urban areas, while other locations
were considered to be in rural areas. Four experts, three from the
department of vocational education and one lecturer in test and measurement
assessment, all in the faculty of education at Delta State University Abraka, verified the items on the instruments, and the
instrument was adjusted as a result of their feedback. A pilot study was
conducted to assess the instrument's dependability. In doing so, 60 copies of
the tests were given to pupils and teachers.
Sixty
respondents took the pilot exam, including thirty (30) teachers and pupils from
metropolitan areas and thirty (30) from rural areas. To determine the internal
reliability, the pilot test was split into two equal halves, and the results
from the two halves were correlated. Cronbach's alpha
statistics were used to evaluate the instrument's internal consistency. The
pilot study's findings indicated that the r value coefficient was 0.74. The
high coefficient demonstrated that the tool is thought to be suitable for the
investigation. A structured questionnaire named "Questionnaire assessing
the impact of school meal program on the academic performance of pupils
(QEISFPOAPP)" and a day dietary recall list served as the study's
instruments.
In
order to distribute the questionnaire, a total of 1298 copies were manually
distributed with the aid of research assistants and classroom teachers in each
of the chosen schools. To respond to the study questions, frequency counts,
percentages, means, and standard deviation were employed. The cutoff point was
2.50 based on the scale that was employed. So, mean scores of 2.50 and higher
were regarded as agreed upon, whereas scores below 2.50 were regarded as
disagreed upon. T-tests were used to assess hypotheses at a significance level
of 0.05.
RESULTS
Research Question 1
What are the factors affecting school meal programme in the schools?
The
study of the mean responses from teachers in rural and urban areas about the
impact of the school meal program on pupils' academic performance is shown in
Table 4. At the 0.05 threshold of significance, the t-value (2.03), rather than
the t-tab (1.98), was higher. The stated null hypothesis is disproved by this
finding. This shows that there is a large disparity in the mean assessments of teachers
in rural and urban areas about the impact of the school food program on pupils'
academic performance in the research region.
DISCUSSION
According
to the findings of research question 1, teachers recognized poor financial management by school
administrators, a challenging distribution method for monies to reach schools,
and inadequate government oversight of the school meal program as problems
influencing the program. Similar result was obtained by Langinger (2011) who captured factors such as water
scarcity and inadequate infrastructure as constraints to full implementation of
school meal program. In some cases, certain financially strapped schools
require families to contribute money to sustain the program. These elements
that have an impact on the school meal program hinder the program's execution
because they do not support the positive learning settings that pupils need to
improve their academic performance (Anderson, Gallagher & Ritchie, 2018). In
some cases, part of the money required for the school meal program may be
diverted along the route from each level of government before it was finally
used for program implementation (Shrestha, et al.
2020). The goal of the program might be destroyed when only a portion of the
funding allocated for the school food program had been distributed.
Additionally, Aulo's (2010) research found that
on-site meals cost around three times as much as fortified biscuits. However,
money is misappropriated by senior officials, resulting in significant delays
in getting the program's essential components and impeding the regularity of
workers' paycheck payments.
In
line with findings by Billah, et
al. (2017) which claimed that feeding school children improved their
short-term nutritional status and supported their concentration and cognitive
abilities, the research question 2 result showed that
the teachers agreed that the school meal program improved academic performance
of the pupils. Similarly, Kitaoka (2018) noted that
school meal programs are crucial for satisfying children's nutritional needs
and for imparting nutritional knowledge in order to support healthy child
development. This is because poor nutrition can make pupils more prone to sickness,
cause headaches and stomachaches, and increase absences from class (Baleanu, et al. 2018). It has been demonstrated that
pupils' cognition, focus, and energy levels are enhanced when they have access
to a healthy diet that includes protein, carbs, and glucose. In agreement with this results, Bellisle (2004)
argued that diet has an impact on pupils' cognitive abilities, conduct, and
health, which has an impact on pupils' academic performance.
CONCLUSION
The
mean opinions of teachers in rural and urban areas about the academic
performance of their pupils participating in the school meal program varied
significantly. In a summary, the study found that the school food program had a
beneficial impact on the pupils' athletic and academic performance. Before
beginning the day's academic activities, pupils should have breakfast (in a
healthy way). This will help them stay focused in class all day. The following
suggestions were given in light of the findings of this study: In order to
promote adequate academic performance among school pupils, school
administrators should establish a healthy, well-balanced meal that may provide
good nourishment. Before serving food to pupils, school officials should
conduct a thorough inspection of the food's quality, and health education teachers
should make sure that pupils are given nutritious meals.
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