Journal of CUDIMAC (J-CUDIMAC) http://cudimac.unn.edu.ng/volume-7/ ISSN 0794-4764 (Print) ISSN 2651-6063 (Online) Vol 7, No.1 2019 58 | Page http://cudimac.unn.edu.ng/volume-7/ PERCEIVED INFLUENCE OF CHILD LABOUR RELATED ACTIVITIES ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND SCHOOL ATTENDANCE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS Oluwatayo, J.C., Ugwude, D.I. & Ikebuaso, R.A Department of Early Childhood and Primary Education Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Abstract This study was conducted to ascertain the perceived influence of child labour related activities on the academic achievement and school attendance of primary school pupils in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State. Four research questions were formulated for the study. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The entire population of 409 primary school teachers in the 54 primary schools in Nkanu West were studied without sampling. A four-point rating scale questionnaire containing 16 items were used for data collection. Cronbach Alpha method was used to establish the internal consistency of the instrument which yielded reliability coefficients of0.84, 0.72, 0.96 and 0.80for the different clusters with an overall coefficient of 0.83. The researchers administered the instrument to the respondents with the help of three research assistants. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. Findings of the study revealed that respondents strongly agreed that child labour related trading and agricultural activities influence the academic achievement of primary school pupils and the school attendance of primary school pupils in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State. The researchers concluded that, child labour related activities will reduce the mental capacity of pupils to effectively participate in academic and non-academic learning experiences capable of facilitating academic achievement and retention of subject matters in primary school education. It was recommended among others that, a monitoring channel should be created among schools, government and members of local communities geared towards discouraging primary school pupils from engaging in child labour related activities during school hours. Keywords: Child Labour, Academic Performance and School Attendance Introduction A Nigerian child in any rural settlement has experienced one form of child labour. In urban areas, there are lots of incidences of child labour in the market place or in households of wealthy Nigerians. Without an iota of doubt, child labour exists in different countries of the world but it is very high in sub-Saharan Africa especially in Nigeria, the most populous black nation of the world with an estimated population of 170 million people (World Youth Report, 2018). It has been reported that Nigeria shares up to 10 percent of the total global out-of-school-children due to child labour related indices (Azeez & Nwauwa, 2018). Child labour is the act of subjecting a child to perform the responsibilities of an adult. According to the International Labour Organization in Nwokoro (2011), child labour is any work that deprives children of their childhood, their potentials and their dignity and is harmful to their physical and mental development. In the same vein, Rodgers and Standing in Azeez and Nwauwa (2018) opined that child labour is an employment situation where children under the age of 15 are being engaged on a more or less regular basis to earn a living for