SCHOOL CLIMATE AND STUDENTS' ACADEMIC RESILIENCE IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The ongoing structural challenges facing Nigerian public secondary schools, including inadequate facilities, post-COVID-19 learning losses, insecurity across multiple geopolitical zones, and high levels of socioeconomic distress among learners, make academic resilience an essential educational priority rather than merely an aspirational goal. Accordingly, this article examines how school climate interacts with students' academic resilience in Nigerian public secondary schools, where many adolescents face substantial educational adversity. Using an integrative review of contemporary primary research findings (2023-2025), institutional and policy documents, and relevant secondary data, the study addresses three research questions: (i) how do components of school climate interact with academic resilience; (ii) which socioeconomic and institutional factors moderate the school climate-academic resilience relationship; and (iii) which strategic frameworks can be employed to implement effective school climate interventions as a lever for resilience? The findings show that school climate domains, particularly teacher-student relationship quality, school belonging, safety, and instructional quality, can serve as important levers for strengthening academic resilience at the school level, especially among students experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage. Enhancing school climate may therefore provide an evidence-based and cost-efficient approach to strengthening adolescent academic resilience in public secondary schools across Nigeria, with implications for policymakers and education authorities.