SINGLE PARENTING AND EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS IN EMOHUA LGA, RIVERS STATE: IMPLICATION FOR SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

The family remains a primary agent of socialization, providing emotional, moral, and educational guidance critical to the development of children. In contemporary Nigeria, the prevalence of single-parent households has increased due to divorce, separation, spousal death, and out-of-wedlock births, raising concerns about the educational development of affected students. This study investigates the relationship between single parenting and students’ educational development in Emohua Local Government Area (LGA), Rivers State, with a focus on implications for social work practice. Guided by the Structural Functionalism Theory, the study adopted a descriptive survey design involving 400 respondents, selected respondents through purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean scores and standard deviations. Findings reveal that single parenting in Emohua LGA is primarily driven by marital conflict, infidelity, early pregnancies, spousal death, economic hardship, and cultural tolerance for polygamy. The study further establishes that children from single-parent homes experience emotional instability, inadequate supervision, limited parental involvement, and financial constraints, which collectively hinder academic motivation, classroom participation, and access to learning materials. Importantly, the study highlights the critical role of social work practice in mitigating these challenges. School-based interventions, counseling, parental empowerment, and policy-driven programs are essential in supporting both single parents and their children to enhance educational outcomes. The research underscores that addressing the educational disparities of students from single-parent families requires a collaborative, multi-sectoral approach integrating schools, social workers, community structures, and policy frameworks to foster resilience, inclusiveness, and holistic child development.