INFLUENCE OF DRUG ABUSE ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE LEADING TO OUT OF SCHOOL INDIVIDUALS: ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGE THROUGH PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated how drug abuse impact on academic performance of secondary school students in Zaria-Nigeria. Survey research design was adopted for the study. Similarly, purposive sampling technique was used to select 364 students who participated in the study. The main instrument used for the study was a self-developed questionnaire on drug abuse containing some items based on 5 likert point scale of strongly agree, Agree, undecided, disagree and strongly disagree. Also, an academic test comprising multiple choice questions with options A-D on English Language, Mathematics and Geography respectively was marked and awarded one(1) mark each question: 20marks for Geography,15marks each for English Language and Mathematics respectively, which gives a total of 50 marks in all. The formulated hypothesis was tested using independent t-test. The result showed that, there is significant difference between academic performance of students who abuse drugs and those who do not. Conclusively, those who abuse drugs are liable to poor academic performance and being out of school. It was recommended amongst others that government at various levels in Nigeria should provide enabling environment and resources for more robust and effective training as well as retraining of schools’ teachers especially in the areas of psychology/counselling for behavior management strategies and other psychological intervention services towards the prevention and rehabilitation of out of school children especially as a result of drug abuse.