1.0.

Introduction

School life balance is essential for effective academic performance. Students usually add more
value to their studies at the detriment of personal activities, including exercises and relationships
in an ideal situation, but that is not always the case in student’s life. Prioritizing personal factors
may leads to decline in academic performance, as general well-being and health of the student
counts for successful academic functioning. Some basic factors are considered influencing a
student state of mind towards studies as observed. Such factors could be; attending a university
away from home, keeping a relationship with opposite gender while in school, and keeping a
friendship with the wrong choice of students on campus.

Attending a university away from home is a common challenge faced by many students within
the age bracket of 15-25. Quite a good number of students choose to study in different states
within a country or in a foreign country. That is to say, they spend all that time outside their
families. This can affect the mental state of a student as many of them may feel homesick almost
every day. Such a situation can affect the student ability to manage their time effectively.
Students can maximize their productivity by providing a to do list of activities and follow up
rather than falling behind some aspects of their lives.

More often students who feel they are of age normally expected to have a companion, someone
they can share their most intense feelings with. This point is when students tends to choose a
partner from the opposite gender to keep a relationship without considering the intrigue of
maintaining a relationship. Hasty manner of choosing a partner has it flaws because you may not
probe to know your intending partner in Toto. Peradventure, when the relationship wobbles, the
student may lose control over other activities of life including your school-life. The other factor
almost looks similar to this, but not a total replica. Keeping friends on campus is relatively good
when one choose his/her friends rightly, it can help boost a student academic performance, but
when a student make wrong choice of friends, it could turn out to be dilemma and school-life
balance can hardly be achieved. The both factors are controllable but not avoidable.
2. Methodology

The methodology is chapter in a research work that comprises the various approaches and
techniques which a sample can be designed and the means by which data can be collected and
analyzed will be clearly outlined, (Walliman, 2011).

Sample Size: In this mini research work, a sample size of 60 students out of the total number of
students in KTG Education Group is randomly selected to represent the entire population.

Stratified Random Sampling: is used because it can help me divide the whole population into
"strata". Then choose a simple random sample from each stratum, combine them into the overall
sample. This technique is suitable for all sizes, concentrated as face-to-face contact is required.
Other than that, it is less expensive though relatively difficult to explain, but better comparison
and representation can be made among strata to actualize differential responses.

Data collection techniques

The relevant data for this mini-research is primary data, and as such, two data collection
techniques which are questionnaire and interview were used to extract raw information related to
the study.

Questionnaires; as it is relevant to this study, questionnaire data collection technique was

employed to collect raw data from the estimated sample size of 60 respondents online. The major
reasons why this technique was used, is to carefully formulate and structure accurate data
collection plan with pithy questions. Respondents may take their time to read through the
questions and provide relevant answers as required by the researcher.

Interview: the nature of this research required the researcher to carry out interview with five
respondents within the sample size selected. The use of qualitative data collection technique
(interview) is relevant to this study for the following reasons; some crucial questions are better
asked in person so the researcher can build a deeper knowledge of what the respondent feels
about some sensitive issues. The presence of the researcher also gives more confident to the
respondents in terms of assurance to protect their privacy.
Statistical Tools: The statistical tools used for this mini research are tables and charts. The
tables and charts are used for illustrations and demonstration of findings and results in order to
make interpretations of findings easier for students and further researchers who may make
reference to this work in future.

Data Analysis: Two types of data were collected and used for this research which are primary
and secondary data. The secondary data are information extracted from relevant text-books,
articles, journals, newspaper, and internet sources. While the primary data are the information
gathered by the researcher, a quantitative technique (questionnaire), and a qualitative technique
(interview) methods were used for the data collection.

Sixty questionnaires were administered to sixty respondents through Surveycrest online and all
the sixty questionnaires were returned successfully. The responses of various respondents are
illustrated in the tables and charts below.

Question 1: Age?

Figure 1: the graph above indicates that students in the age ranging from 20-25 are more in
schools followed by 15-20 as compared to 25-30, 30-35, and 40 above.
Question 2: Gender?

Figure 2: The above graph shows the male and female respondents. It indicates that there are
more male students than female students in schools.

Question 3: : What is your nationality?

Figure 3: The above bar chart reveals that at the time of this research more Nigerian students
were online and were accessible to the researcher by the time questionnaire were administered.
More Nigerian students responded to the questionnaire administered followed by Malaysian
students and Chinese students respectively.
Question 4: Name of your school?

Figure 4: The table above shows the number of students from different universities that
responded to the questionnaire online. 70.% of the respondents are from Linton University,
15.6% of the total respondents are students of Niger Delta University and 7.8% form Kusk
University. More students responded in Linton University because the research was carried out
there.

Question 5: Your program of study?

Figure 5: The above table illustrated the number of students from various program of studies
that responded. 45.3% of the respondents are of business related studies and 48.4% are of
engineering faculty.
Question 6: Your undergoing educational level?

Figure 6: From the above graph, about 45% of the respondents are undergoing Diploma, 35%
are currently in their degree program while the balance 20% are in Master program simply
because majority of the total respondents are between the age of 15-25.

Question 7: Rate your ability in managing your time.

Fi
gure 7: Following the graph above, 38% of the respondents can averagely manage their time,
32% are poorly managing their time and 30% are excellently managing their time while in
school. Students averagely or poorly manage their times because they do not have schedule of
activities for their selves.
Question 8: Do you face challenges to manage your time?

Fi
gure 8: About 92% of the students in higher institutions face challenges managing their time and
just 8% of the respondents can comfortably manage their time. On the ground that majority of
students in schools today did not draw line between their studies and their private life, as
indicated by the above graph.

Question 9: Do you face challenges managing your time now than you did in high school?

Fi
gure 9: About 77% percent of the respondents have improved their ability in managing their
time, while 23% are yet to proffer solution on how to improve their time management because
they do not discover their lapses and the consequences for not managing their time properly in
high schools.
Question 10: Does your academic timetable affect your time on private activities?

Fi
gure 10: 66% of the respondents agreed that the academic timetable affects their private
activities, while 34% said no. it shows that students who totally devoted their time for studies
will follow the academic timetable successfully and students who have other commitments
outside their studies cannot do so.

Question 11: Can you use lecture period for another thing outside your studies?

Figure 11: from the above graph, 64% of the respondents said yes, 20% says no, while
remaining balance of the respondents skipped the question. Majority of the respondents prioritize
certain things more important to them than studies, some value their studies more and other may
weigh the importance of everything to make a decision.
Question 12: At what rate does your academic timetable affect your private life?

Figure 12: As shown above, at the long-run the academic timetable affects every student in one
way or the other, but the degree at which it affect individual students defers even though they can
adjust the time for other activities to fit in their study time.

Question 13: Are you punctual in all you scheduled classes?

Figure 13: 96.7% of the respondents said yes they are punctual, while 3.3% says no. this shows
the level of importance students add to attending classes from the beginning..
Question 14: Are you regularly attending all your scheduled classes?

Figure 14: regularity rate of students as indicated in the table above, 56.3% of the respondents
say yes they are regular while 37.8% say no, and 6.3% skipped the question. The regularity of
students in attending classes is determined by how much the academic timetable affect students
private life.

Question 15: Have you ever attained 100% attendance status in all subjects for a given
semester?

Figure 15: the graph above shows that 87% of the students find it difficult to maintain 100%
attendance rate in all subjects in a given semester, while 13% of the respondents have attained
100% of attendance. It indicates that most students in schools do not have the zeal to attend all
classes.
Question 16: Do you like sleeping?

Fi
gure 16: 65% of the respondents fall on the scale of 1of5 and 35% fall under the scale of 2of5.
This shows that very few students like sleeping.

Question 17: Have you ever missed lectures or exam paper because you over slept?

Fi
gure 17: 90% of the respondents said no, they have not missed class or exam paper because they
overslept, while 10% says yes. This indicates that sleeping contribute little or nothing to
student’s ability to manage time.
Question 18: How does your time spent with friends affect your academic success?

Figure 18: 64% of the respondents says that time spent with friends affects their academic
success negatively, while 34 said positive and 2% are neutral. This reveals that majority of
university students are making wrong choice of friends on campus and few of them know whom
to choose as a friend that can contribute to their academic success.

Question 19: Rate the level of influence your social life has on your studies.

Fi
gure 19: The above graph shows that 10% of the students fall on the scale of 5of5, 23% at 4of5,
and 65% of them fall under 3of5 below. This illustrates that only few students finding it difficult
to balance their time between studies and social life.
Question 20: Do you have schedule of activities for your daily life as a student, apart from the
school timetable and the academic calendar?

Fi
gure 20: About 60% of the respondents said no, while 40% says yes. This shows that student’s
inability to manage time is as a result of not having an activity schedule for their selves while in
school.

Question 21: Would you blame it on anything/person if you’d realized your inability to manage
your time?

Fi
gure 21: Good number of the respondents up to 60% said no, while 40% says yes. This reveals
that some students completely lacks the ability to manage their time and self, rather want every
of their activities planned for them by others, e,g. schools, minders, parents etc.

Question 22: Can having a boyfriend/girlfriend affect one’s academic performance negatively?

Fi
gure 22: There is a very strong indication from the graph above that keeping a relationship with
opposite sex as a student affects one’s academic performance negatively as 65% of the
respondents said yes.

Question 23: Can any other thing consume your time more than studies as a student in the
higher institution?

Fi
gure 23: 75% of the respondents answered no and 25% no. this illustrates that once one have
decided to go to school, nothing should consume your time more than your studies. The 25% of
students who do not adhere to this fact are prone to face challenges balancing their time.

Question 24: Would you like to improve your time management skills?

Figure 24: Majority of the respondents about 80% are willing to improve their time management
skills if found the means to do so, while 20% are adamant to improve their time management
even if they have the opportunity to do so.

4. Discussions and results (600 words)

Students within different age brackets, male and female from diverse nationalities were selected
for this study. The main aim was to find out whether students of the same age group, gender,
nationality, schools, and program will share common characteristics totally different from other
age groups, gender, and nationalities when it comes to balancing study time and private life. The
limitation was that only students from Nigeria, Malaysia, and China, undergoing Diploma,
Degree, and Master, of engineering and business studies responded to the questionnaire and
interview conducted. The analysis was done base on 6o responses received from the above
mentioned categories of students and the findings were directly extracted from it.
The first aspect of student school life balance understudied was time management. The analysis
shows that managing time accurately as a student is the most challenging task in school life. 92%
of the total respondents honestly stated that they are facing difficulties managing their time to
suit their studies and private lives. The worst part of it was that, students who are currently in
higher institutions might have pass through some stages of school life (from primary to high
school and then to college/university) but are unable to recognize the significance of time
management, because they failed to draw line between private activities and school activities. In
addition, students these days does not dedicate a specific time for studies and ignoring some
aspects of their private activities, rather the concept ‘jack of all trades, master of none” which
basically preventing them from achieving much either from their studies or private life. Some
among the students engaged their selves on activities that are more demanding than even their
studies. For example, all the five students (three males and two females) are young entrepreneurs
who have their own businesses running, and 40 out of the respondents are also engaged in one
time consuming activity or the other. Relating this to the analysis above on Figure: 10, 15, 18, 22
and 23, it was revealed that the academic timetable is conflicting with their private activities in
life.

Another aspect of students school life balance understudied was the likely factors that are
contributing negatively to student’s successful time management and academic success. Some of
such factors considered were; sleeping attitude, time spent with friends, keeping intimate
relationships with opposite genders, and social life in general. Quite impressive none of the
respondents had a very bad sleeping attitude that could possibly leads to missing classes or
exams as illustrated in figure: 16 & 17 above. 65% of the respondents fall on the scale of 1of5
and 35% fall under the scale of 2of5. This shows that very few students like sleeping and it is
controllable. The more tedious factor is spending time with friends. 64% of the respondents are
suffering are negatively affected by this factor because they make the wrong choice of friends on
campus. This is also a controllable factor but requires the student’s critical thinking ability to
tackle it. The most overwhelming factor tested was that of keeping intimate relationships with
opposite sex. I refer to it as unavoidable factor because modernity has made it almost
compulsory for school students to keep a relationship while in school; hence the stigma is social
discrimination among peers. Keeping a relationship with opposite sex as a student affects one’s
academic performance negatively as 65% of the respondents attest to it because they are directly
involved in it.

5. Conclusion

Greater number of students cannot manage their time to balance their studies and private lives
because they do not have a schedule of activities. As result, they are facing difficulty prioritizing
their activities according to the level of importance attached to each of the activities. In addition,
students should dedicate a specific time (3-4 years) and avoid some of their private activities in
order to participate fully in academics while doing some vital personal activities successfully
also.