Critical Examining the Relationship Between Fear and Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students in Zamfara State of Northern Nigeria: In the Context of Insecurity

Abstract

This study seeks to investigate the influence of insecurity on psychological well-being and academic achievement of secondary school students in volatile areas or Local government of Zamfara State, Nigeria. Two objectives with corresponding research questions were formulated to guide the study. A descriptive cross-sectional survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprise of all the senior secondary school students that were traumatically affected by the insecurity in the state and forced their schools relocation to Internally Displaced Camps. The total numbers of sampled respondents were 403 i.e. 202 (50.12%) male and 201 (49.88%) female. A Purposive sampling technique was used to select the traumatized students. Findings from the study revealed that Fear badly affects the brain architecture of memory and learning; students who confront fatal and chronic fearful experiences often lose their learning; due to which they were mentally disturbed. Finally, it was recommended the need for proper implementation of effective counselling services to address the problems and were the situations become chronic referral services of expertize like clinical psychologists were recommended for addressing the problems.