Impact of Peer Mentoring Programmes on Academic Resilience of Disadvantaged Students in Secondary Schools in Kwara State

This study investigates the impact of structured peer mentoring programmes on the academic resilience of disadvantaged secondary school students in Kwara State, North Central Nigeria. Academic resilience, the capacity to sustain motivation and performance despite socioeconomic and social adversities, is a critical protective factor for students from marginalised backgrounds, and peer mentoring offers a scalable, cost-effective intervention for building it. The study employs a quasi-experimental design with a waitlist control condition, engaging 240 disadvantaged Senior Secondary School One students from 10 schools in Ilorin West, Offa, and Edu local government areas. Students in the intervention arm received monthly peer mentoring sessions facilitated by trained senior students for six months. Academic resilience was measured using the Academic Resilience Scale before and after the intervention. Masten's Resilience Framework and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory inform the conceptual model. ANCOVA and structural equation modelling were applied. Findings are expected to show significantly higher resilience scores in the mentoring group, with self-efficacy identified as a key mediating mechanism. Student wellbeing and school belonging are examined as secondary outcomes. Recommendations address the Kwara State Secondary Education Board and teacher education institutions on embedding structured peer mentoring into school wellbeing frameworks and counsellor training curricula. Keywords: peer mentoring, academic resilience, disadvantaged students, Kwara State, secondary education