Coping strategies of junior high school pupils from deprived households in the Awutu Senya Municipality in the Central region, Ghana towards their academic work

Abstract

The study investigated how Junior High School pupils from deprived households in Kasoa cope with their academic work. The concurrent triangulation design within the mixed method approach was used for the study. Data were collected by administering questionnaire and a semi-structured interview guide to 80 Junior High School pupils and 4 headteachers in Kasoa who were sampled using the simple random and purposive sampling techniques respectively. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics functions of the Statistical Product for Service Solutions (SPSS) version 20. The emerging themes from the interviews were used to support the quantitative data. The findings revealed that, majority of the pupils lived in large families while others lived with single parents and other relatives. The guardians of most of the pupils fall within low income earners. It also came to light that pupils adopted both positive and negative coping strategies. However, the prominent coping strategies involves engaging in petty trading, working at the chop bars and selling after school hours to make money to provide with their educational needs. The coping strategies of majority of the pupils are not effective since majority of them do not perform well academically. It was recommended that Parents in Kasoa should give birth tofew children they have so that they will be able to adequately support them in school. Also, Junior High schools in Kasoa should create conducive environment for pupils to feel happy at school, support them academically and also provide social, emotional and academic support to pupils from deprived homes. This will help them cope effectively with their studies.