Abstract

This study examined the influence of Ordinal position on the academic achievement of pupils in primary schools in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State. Two null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Ex post facto survey research design was adopted for the study. Population of the study consisted of 3212primary five pupils in public primary schools. The sample size of the study was 1500 primary five pupils obtainedusing purposive sampling technique. The instruments for this study consisted of (a) the researchers- developed twenty two (22)-item check-list titled "Ordinal position and Academic achievement Check-list” (BOAPC), and (b) the raw scores of the last session(first, second and third terms) examination of the pupils on the core four subjects (English, Mathematics, Social studies and Primary Science). The hypotheses were tested using the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The result of the study shows that there is a significant difference in the academic achievement of the middle born and lastborn child in primary schools in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun state. The results also showed that the effect of the performance of the middle born and only child differ significantly. Based on the findings of the study it was recommended that Government should employ guidance counsellors with an appreciable knowledge of ordinal position phenomenon in primary schools. This is very necessary as they will be able to give proper academic guidance to the pupils and, so, to be able to help each child to excel academically.