Al-Hikmah University Journal

This study examined child right violation and student’s educational pursuit among secondary school students in Ekiti State. The study adopted the descriptive survey and correlational research design. The population of the study comprised of 104,817 students, 7,753 teachers in 206 Public Secondary Schools in 16 Local Government Areas in the three senatorial districts in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 135 teachers and 855 students. Two set of instruments tagged “Child Right Violation Questionnaire (CRVQ with r =0.72)” and Educational Pursuit among Secondary School Students Questionnaire (EPASSSQ with r= 0.71)” were used for the study. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentages, mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while the inferential statistics involving Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was used to test the hypothesis. The hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study showed that the level of students’ educational pursuit in Ekiti State was moderate. The study showed that there was significant relationship between child right violation and students’ educational pursuit. The study further revealed that child right violation significantly contributed to students’ educational pursuit. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that child right violation influences educational pursuit. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that government should formulate policies that will protect school children from child labour.