Poor academic performance in national examinations have been attributed to many factors that are

mainly family based such as those that are faced with changing hard economic times which has made it
not possible for them to meet their responsibilities of ensuring a healthy and literate family. The size of
the family in which the child grows especially if the family does not have adequate resources will affect
the child growth and development due to lack of quality feeding, lack of proper medical care, and more
so a child will not be given the required attention on his/her academic work which can make him/her
lose focus. The issue of homework, payment of school fees, providing security is all within the confines
of the family to provide to the children. Family financial resources, which are associated with parent’s
education attainment and occupation, often imply increased learning opportunities both at home and at
school. In general, the socio-economic background of the family impacts negatively on the academic
performance of the child. Parental relationship plays very important role in determining the academic
performance of their children in school. Children that grow up in a broken home are unlikely to develop
their academic potentials to the fullest while children brought up in a stabilized and organized home are
more likely to develop to a full fledge of human beings, being able to discover their academics and other
attributes leading to success in life endeavor.

Broken home is a family in which one parent is absent, usually due to divorce or desertion. Broken
families are those families where parents doesn't live together or separated. According to Shakira (2014)
Broken family is one where the parents (mother and father) of a child or children have split up and no
longer share a single-family home as a family unit. This is also known as a shattered home. Family is a
single word with many different meanings. People have many ways of defining a family and what being
a part of a family means to them. What every family has in common is that the people who call it a
family are making clear that those people are important in some way to the person calling them his
family. Some teenagers can define a family as their best friend, teacher, classmate and people who can
always be there for them. But some other teenagers defined it as their enemy, problem, heartache and
most hated people in their life because of being into a broken family. A broken family is defined as a
family that has split or separated due to a variety of reasons. Children live with one of the parent, or
many a time there are looked after by one of the grand parent. In such family, children have bad
childhood as they witness the separation, or lack of parents love together .Broken home is a worldwide
problem and it occurs in a situation whereby the parent are not able to cope with each other may be as
a result of financial constraint or incompactibility of their behavior hence, the child live with either of
the parents. The parents in order to make bolt ends meet will not be at home most of the time. The
child is deprived of love and affection and parent s enlightenment and motivation on how to go about
things. The child can also feel low self-esteemed as if it were their fault for the broken up family. Other
things can happen is that the child may eat a lot and become obese because of sadness. Children and
teens who grow up in a broken home are nothing like kids who are raised by both of their biological
parents; they are individuals who are at an advantage in life. People who come from broken homes are
almost twice as likely to attempt suicide as those who do not come from broken homes, Children from
one-parent families achieve less and get into trouble more than children from two parent families. The
child can suffer from depression. Communication between the child and the mother or father is less,
and there is no bonding. The absence of a parent can lead to life changing behaviors and situations, and
other things that could have been prevented. Whether it is by death or divorce, children and teens
suffer the most from broken homes. If adolescents from unstable homes are to be compared with those
from stable homes, it would be seen that the former have more social, academic and emotional
problems. The family and its structure play a great role in children’s academic performance. To some
extent, there is simple evidence to show that marital instability brings about stress, tension, lack of
motivation and frustration. Manifestations act negatively on a child’s academic performance .Children of
unmarried parents/separated often fail and at risk emotionally. However, this may not be completely
applicable in all instances of broken homes. Some children irrespective of home background or structure
may work hard and become successful in life. Family requires responsibility. It is the most practical
means yet devised to care for children until they may assume their responsibilities in society. Division of
labor is required within the family, husband as the provider and the wife as the home-maker. Any
circumstance which interferes with the performance of these functions creates problems which can be
threat to the survival of the family, when the threats become actualities, we have broken family. A
classification of the circumstances which may result of broken family is as follows: death of husband or
wife, resulting widow; withdrawal of husband or wife by separation, divorce, or desertion; and extreme
poverty arising from continued disability, unemployment or crime. Family is the basic unit of society.
This is the most essential component of a country. A home is where a family lives. It may be alternated
to the word ‘house’ but a house is more appropriately referring to the material structure, whereas
‘home’ refers to the intangible things that bind together the family members. It is the immeasurable
love and care that keeps together the mother, father and their children. However, no matter how ideal a
family in the terms of their relationship, there are still hardships and misunderstandings that will come
along the way. It is just part of any relationship anyway. But, the sad part is when one of the family
members gave up and the others have no choice but to accept and let go. Thus, the family starts to be
broken. A broken home can disturb and confuse a child’s world. Broken family is a major problem of
society that should be given enough attention this paper seeks to explore the ways and means through
which positive relation in a family that could established. The home is an essential place in the
upbringing of a child as the first environment within a family. The home, which is the traditional nuclear
family, is the smallest unit and microcosm of the larger society. Therefore, the family is a universal
organization and it is hard to imagine how society can function without the family (Anderson cited in
Ekeke and Dorgu, 2014). There is a global awareness of the Importance of the home environment on
students’ academic achievement. In Nigeria, most home are not intact as a result of issues of
incompatibility of the couples, separation, divorce, death of a parent and the quest for the oversea trips
to make more money, and at times marital infidelity. This has resulted in the separation of couples and
children. In some states in the federation, this is quite clear, in that most young ladies abandon their
homes, and embark on oversea trips with a view to making money. Some men who travel abroad,
abandon their homes and would not communicate with the families back-home so children from such
homes are in dilemma, especially in schools.Moreover, a single parent faces doubled responsibilities
requiring time, attention and money of the parent. Hence, less attention is paid to the education of the
child. The teachers commonly describe children from broken homes as more hostile, aggressive,
anxious, fearful, hyperactive and distractive than children from intact family (Tenibiaje, 2011).In order to
ensure that their children acquire appropriate and balanced social, psychological, moral and academic
development; both father and mother have indispensable and unique responsibility for the
psychological, educational and career development of their children. However, the advent of broken
homes have distorted these complementary roles. This has in turn impacted adversely on the total
upbringing of the children including their psycho well-being and educational performance.