RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DELINQUENT BEHAVIOUR AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NORTH-CENTRAL, NIGERIA

The study examined the relationship between delinquent behaviour and academic performance of public senior secondary school students in North-Central, Nigeria. Four objectives, two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. Descriptive-correlational research design was employed for the study. The population of the study comprised of 685,795 public senior secondary school students in North-Central, Nigeria, with a sample size of 396. Simple random sampling technique was used for the study. A researcher structured questionnaire was used for data collection. A pilot test was conducted to establish the reliability of the questionnaire, which yielded reliability index of 0.86. The data collected was analyzed using mean scores and standard deviation for to answer the research questions, while Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) and independent sample t-test Analysis were used to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that students exhibited delinquent behaviours such as drug abuse, violating school rules, creating disturbance in the classroom, throwing dangerous weapons at peers, deceitfulness and theft amongst. The findings also revealed a no significant relationship between delinquent behaviour and academic performance of public senior secondary school students in North-Central, Nigeria. The findings equally revealed a significant difference between male and female students’ delinquent behaviours on their academic performance. Based on the findings, it was recommended that government at all levels should provide adequate learning materials, functional and conducive learning environment in order to enable students learn well and abide by school rules and regulation