ABSTRACT
The
study examined the Effect of educational status of parents on students academic performance
in selected five senior secondary schools in Oshodi local government are of
Lagos state Also, this study reviewed some relevant and related
literatures under sub-headings. The descriptive research survey was applied in
this study for the assessment of the opinions of the selected respondents for
this study, with the use of the questionnaire and the sampling technique. A
total of 80 (n=80) respondents were sampled for this study. Five null
hypotheses were formulated and tested, with the application of the t-test and
Pearson Product Moment Correlation tools at 0.05 level of significance. Some of
the research hypotheses that were formulated and tested are as follows:
parental educational background does not have a significant effect on children’s
academic performance; children of parents from high educational background will
not significantly perform better than those from parents with low educational
background.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE
PAGE
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of Contents vi
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2
Statement of the Problem 4
1.3
Theoretical of Problem 5
1.4 Purpose of the Study 7
1.5 Research Questions 7
1.6 Research
Hypotheses 7
1. 7 Significance of the Study 8
1.8 Scope of the Study 8
1.9 Definition of Terms 8
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction 10
2.2 Theories
of Socioeconomic Status 10
2.3 Influence
of Socio-economic Factor on Academic Performance 11
2.4 Influence
of Parental Conflict on Academic Success 13
2.5 Factors Affecting Students
Academic Performances In Secondary Schools 15
2.6 Parents
Educational/Occupational Status 18
2.7 Influence of
Parental Discipline Factor on Academic Performance 23
2.8 Influence
of Home Factor on Academic Performance 26
2.9 Parents'
Support to Children's Education 27
2.10 Empirical Studies 29
2.11 Summary of Review 31
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Introduction
33
3.2 Research Design Method 33
3.3 Area of Study 33
3.4 Population
33
3.5 Sample
and Sampling Technique 34
3.6 Instrumentation 34
3.7 Validation of Instruments 35
3.8 Method of Data collection 35
3.9 Method of Data Analysis 35
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA
ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
4.1
Introduction 36
4.2
Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents 36
4.3
Test of Hypotheses 42
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Discussions 45
5.2
Conclusions 48
5.3 Recommendations 49
REFERENCES 50
APPENDIX 60
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Background
to the Study
There have
been several studies done within and outside Nigeria on the effects of home
environment as well as the socio-economic status of parents on the academic
achievement of students (Ajila & Olutola, 2007; Uwaifo,
2012). Research has found many factors that influence how well a student
does in school and the amount of confidence the students have for themselves.
However, in Nigeria, like other growing economies, families are finding it more
difficult to stay connected with their children’s education. This is most
common to families living in mega cities such as Lagos where both parents work
outside of the home Carmen, (2007) noted that the extended family has become
significantly less extended as mobility has increased. Parents are becoming
isolated from their children and finding it difficult to keep a careful watch
on what needs to be done to help them succeed in school. Many families are not
even led by a parent, but by a grandparent, guardian, or some other adult.
With the
changes in family life and indeed in societal makeup, schools are now finding
it increasingly difficult to keep parents informed of and actively engaged in
the day-to-day progress of their children (Deslandes &
Bertrand, 2005). Teachers and administrators are discovering that the
support they once received in getting students to do their homework is not
there, because the parents are not home to insist that students complete their
assignments.
It must be
noted that while there are so many factors influencing the ability of students
to progress academically, Ozmert (2005) emphasized the importance of
environmental influence as a major factor in the development of student’s
academic performance. The educational background of the parents’, however is
the most important factor that affects the student’s academic performance. In
view of this, Hussain (2006) noted that secondary school students in public
schools often come from economically poor and average income families. These
families face various problems causing emotional disturbance among their
children. They have poor academic performance. This singular factor shows how
important the family is to academic achievement of students in secondary
schools as well as the centrality of parents to the academic performance of
students.
According to Ndubuisi (2005) there is a positive
correlation between parental attitude and children's social orientation and
academic achievement. Ndubuisi is of the opinion that parents' dimensions of
value placement on their children's well-being or otherwise, significantly
affects the child's positive or negative adaptation to his/her society and even
the way he/she carry out his/her may academic
work in school.
Many factors contribute directly or
indirectly to the educational development of a child both within and outside
the school system. These factors stem from either heredity or environment. Many
psychologists such as Freud and Adler now de-emphasize the significant role of
heredity in the total development of the child while underlining the prominence
of the environment. Craft et al (2002), made some contributions to the
understanding of the relationship between the child's home background and his
academic performance in school. A child is the product and reflection of the
society. While the school runs the formal education system, the home provides
formal and in formal educational experiences.
Many psychologists have advocated that the
immediate environment (Home) should be made quite stimulating so as to enhance
the development of a child's intellect and good academic performance. According
to Locke (1970) we are like a clean slate at birth and that the environmental
influences determine what fills the vacuum.
This is what he referred to as "Tabula
Rasa". In other words, whatever we inherited from our parents may be
enhanced or dampened by the kind of environment we live in ..
In some situations, parents adopt care free
attitude towards the learning of their children, even their social orientation,
and this has in many instances, caused the low academic performance of children
even their maladaptive behaviours in their immediate society (Rake, 1999).
The quality of students' performance remains
at the top priority for educators. The variables affecting students academic
performances are both inside and outside the school. There are a number of
factors that affect students' performance like parental parent's education and
their involvement in child's studies, student's gender, time allocation,
technology, available facilities and lots more.
Studies carried out by Mudock and Mudock
(2004), show that the first six years of a child are very important because
whatever goes wrong at this stage will have long lasting effect on the child
when he grows up. It is during this early period that the personal
characteristics and mental health of the child are established. The child
learns how to love and be loved and how to cope with sibling rivalry. Also, it
is at this time that the child develops feelings of hostility and aggression if
the environment is not conducive. This early socialization process is important
because it helps a child adjust to places outside his home.
Psychologists and sociologists like Jersild
(2005) and Hurlock (2006), believe that if solid foundations are not laid for
the acquisition of basic skill when the child is young, learning becomes a
problem later in life as it is often unsuccessful. This should involve parents
monitoring efforts to accountability and acting as advisors in school
improvement efforts. This may be achieved by having parents serve on standing
and ad-hoc special committees and boards of the school such as special events
committee, disciplinary committee and governing board. This way, parents get firsthand
knowledge of the needs and problems of the school and work co-operatively with
the school in resolving them (Aloe, 2006). When parents possess the necessary
knowledge and skills relevant to the school curriculum such parents may serve
as information sources, the audience for school academic activities and/or
class assistants. There also seems to be ample evidence to suggest that
parental involvement in home work and assignments may improve children's
performance in school.
Parental positive and co-operative attitude
towards the development of the school has been found to influence positively on
children's learning outcomes in school. Such parental behaviours are reflected
in good attendance at PT A meetings, sending children to school on time, fees
are paid on time, children are made to complete homework on time and parents
visit the school regularly to monitor the progress of their children. Teachers
have a remarkably difficult job and will appreciate anyone who supports them and
acknowledges their work.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The
idea that good educational qualification of parents translates directly to good
academic achievement and poor parental educational qualification translate
to poor academics for children to be a general consensus . This study
hereby seeks to find out from teachers their perception of parental educational
qualification and children academic achievement
The problem of low socio-economic status and low
educational status among parents, and its attendant effect on the academic
performance of students cannot be overemphasized. Most parents in Nigeria today
are poor, uneducated, and majority of them are unemployed (Jimoh, 2006). This
can be linked to poor economic situation in the country and the world economic
recession. As a result, parents lack the wherewithal to maintain themselves and
their children (Jimoh, 2006). Most Nigerian parents fail in their duties to
send their children to school. Many of them whose children are in school, do
not take adequate care of them because they lack the financial power to carry
or foot their children's school bills. This has caused many children whose
parents are poor and not educated to constantly absent themselves from school,
while majority of the children have finally dropped out of school. These
parents do not purchase relevant books for their children or foot other school
expenses for the child (Jimoh, 2006).
Not only that the children of the poor are
not properly cared for. For instance, children whose parents are not rich do
not feed well before and after school. Thus most of them go to school in an
empty stomach, and while in school, they do not pay attention to what is going
on in the classroom. A child needs proper feeding to complement cognition, but
children of the poor and uneducated do not feed adequately not to talk of
balanced diet. For lack of money, children whose parents are poor and uneducated
are meant to live in an unfriendly environment where they are incapable of
reading freely and the materials to study are not available for them to carry
out meaningful academic work. As a result of these, the children record poor
academic performance at school. The above problems therefore, necessitated this
study.
1.4 Theoretical
of Problem
This
work is underpinned under Bradley Wright theory of social causation and social
selection. This theory advances that human beings who possess some certain
characteristics may have the tendency to perform better in some certain areas
due to their possession. In this wise, it becomes clear that having literate
parents may be the reason why some children will perform better than children
of the illiterate. If parents
exhibit positive values in terms of providing for their children's education,
such children who are well catered for, will no doubt, be high academic
achievers, while those whose parents place negative values on their education
will grow up to be low achievers in their educational career. This will equally
show in their poor social adjustment to the larger community. (Uzomah, 2006).
Startup (1992) defined social class as a
level in society made up of people who consider themselves equals due to
similarities in educational background, level of education, occupation race an
attitudes towards social values. Researchers such as Mundi and Arnold (1999)
have revealed that there is a close relationship between the educational and
socio-economic status of parents and academic performance of their children.
Afred (2004), also supported the fact that socio-economic status of the family
influences the academic performance of the child in school and that there are
several ways in which extreme poverty exert influence on school performance.
Malnutrition and poor living conditions are bound to have an influence on the
health of the child and his ability to learn. Poor housing and overcrowding
cannot only impede on the child's ability to complete home-work but even his
ability for reading or engaging in constructive play.
Studies have also confirmed that the higher
the income level of the parents, the greater the ability to finance the
children's education and vice versa especially in Nigeria where the ability to
buy educational materials depends on one's income. According to Fraser (1993),
there is correlation between income and good student performance. According to
her, the standard of living is dependent on income, the nutritional state of a
child and possibly also the sense of tension and insecurity in a family living
on the brink of poverty may all contribute to the poor performance of the
child.
Stone (2005), is also of the opinion that
children from poor homes are likely to show to a great extent the effects of
under-nourishment, illness' and lack of sleep. She went further to state that
there is likely to be negative attitude to school which manifests itself in
truancy thereby lowering the academic achievement.
Swell and Hauser (1996), found out that
youths whose parents enjoy more prestigious positions perform better than those
whose parents occupy low socio-economic status. They do everything possible to
cater for their children.
1.4 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study was to examine
the effect of educational status of parents on student academic performance in five
selected senior secondary schools in Oshodi Local Government Area of Lagos
State.
The specific objectives of the study included:
i.
To examine the effect of
parental educational background on children performance
ii.
To ascertain whether
education of children from high educational background will perform better than
those from low educational background
1.5 Research Questions
The following research questions were raised
for this study:
i. What
is the effect of parent’s educational background on children academic
performance?
ii.
Will children of parents
with high educational background perform better than those with low educational
background?
1.6 Research
Hypotheses
The following research hypotheses were formulated
to guide this study.
H01:
Parental educational background does not have a significant effect on
children’s academic
performance
H02: Children of parents from with high
educational background will not significantly
perform better than those from parents with
low educational background.
1. 7
Significance of the Study
This study will be of great benefit to the various
segments of individuals and group of individuals in the society. For instance
(1) The students will benefit
from this study because its findings and recommendations will help them to
appreciate that they need parental care and positive values for them to be
successful in school and society at large. It will make the students to be more
adaptive to parental control and care.
(2) Parents would also benefit
from this study because it will enable them to be up and doing in the
upbringing of their children if they want them to be successful in academic and
in life. This study will enlighten parents on the best methods of bringing up a
child in the home.
(3) Teachers would be
beneficiaries of this study because; it will enable them to be more enlightened
on how best to train their children in the home and at school, as surrogate
parents.
(4) The society will
undoubtedly, benefit from this study because it will enable the adult members
of the society to learn that parental value system has something to do with the
child's behaviour and his/her academic success in the school.
1.8 Scope of the Study
The study examined the effect of
socio-economic status of parents on student academic performance in five selected
senior secondary schools in Oshodi Local Government Area of Lagos State.
1.9 Definition of Terms
Operational definitions of terms were
appropriately provided in this study. Virtually, all the variables in the study
were defined accordingly.
Academic Performance: This refers to the level or rate at which
students in school perform in their academic career. It also shows the level at
which students carry out their school works at a given period of time and the
result of it.
Educational Status: This term is used for social processes in which
one achieve social competence and individual growth, carried on in a selected,
controlled sitting which can be institutionalized as a school or college.
Educational Upbringing: This refers to education of children and how
they perform in academics when subjected to test or examination.
Effects: Is the result or outcome of anything be it
positive or negative.
Home Environment: This refers to parental experience and
aspirations for children, objects and material conditions in the home for
comfort and also specific behavioral processes conducive to learning.
Low Educational Status: Refers to little or no academic background of
parents.
High Educational Status: Simply means parents who have quality
education.
Occupational Status: Person's trade, vocation or principal means
of earning living.
Parental Attitude: Parents disposition to respond in a
characteristics way to some stimulus in their social environment. Some
responses determine the way and manner their children are brought up by them.
Parents: This means father, mother or ancestors e.g. our first
parents (Adam and Eve).
Socio-Economic Status: This refers to the level of social
stratification of individuals in a given society. It is the socio-economic
distinction amongst members of the society.
Students: This means a person who is studying at a college, polytechnic or
university; boy or girl attending schools; anyone who studies or who is devoted
to the acquisition of knowledge.
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