Response and Adaptation of University of Benin Students to Economic Hardship: a Social Study

In most cases, students’ academic performance is not totally and entirely a function of their intellectual capability and ability. Some other extraneous variables such as the state of the nation’s general economic condition play major role in their academic performances. Undergraduate students are constantly influenced by multiple stressors from different aspects of their lives and the society.1 Life and academic stress often generate difficulties and impact on university students’ mental health. University students have been stressed by intensive demands of developmental and academic tasks. With current economic contraction, many additional economic stressors are added to university students’ existing stress levels.2 It is against this backdrop, this study examine the response and adaptation of University of Benin students economic hardship. Over the years University of Benin has played significant roles in actualizing quality education to Nigerians, with array of academic programmes and courses offered in the areas of Medicine, Law, Journalism, Banking and Finance, Engineering and Technology, Architecture, Health, Safety and Security, Agriculture, as well as the field of education itself where teachers are raised as architect of nation building.3 Economic hardship is a general down turn in any economy. Economic hardship is associated with high unemployment, under-employment, slowing gross domestic product, and high inflation. Julius Shiskin sees economic hardship as a business cycle contraction which results in general slowdown in economic activity.4 Macroeconomic indicators such as GDP (Gross Domestic Product), investment spending, capacity utilization, household income, business profits and inflation fall while bankruptcies and unemployment rise. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending. This may be triggered by various events, such as financial crisis, and adverse supply shock, external trade shock or the bursting of an economic bubble. During an economic hardship, the slowdown of the economy is associated with reduction in an hourly wage rate, number of hours worked for, and the amount of public and private funds available for schools. Such conditions affect children’s educational outcomes such as school enrolment, attainment, attendance and performance.5 However, the reduction in adult income makes it hard for parents to bear the direct cost of education such as tuition fees, book supplies, uniform and private tutoring. Educational outcomes are consequently hampered because the student is either withdrawn from school or inadequately prepared for it. Furthermore, the reduction of income may also force parents to become more reliant on child labour, as a result, a student who prior to the recessed economy was not a child labourer will definitely become one.6 If the child was already a child labourer prior to the crisis, he/she may have to work longer hours. This increase in child labour hours can hamper educational outcomes because the additional labour is physical and emotional draining, and leaves fewer hours for studying. Current economic downturn is around for the past couple of years. The adverse impacts of economic downturn on mental health have become a social issue rather than an isolated or personal condition. Reports continue to reveal adverse impacts of economic stress that describe the increasing perceived stress and the potential pathological reactions to economic induced stress.7