Full Project – Effects of parents socio-economic status on student’s academic achievement in secondary schools

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Socio-Economic Status (SES) is a combined measure of an individual’s or family’s economic and social position relative to others, based on income, education, and occupation (Saifullahi and Tariq, 2011). It is the term used to distinguish between people’s relative position in the society in terms of family, income, political power, educational background and occupational prestige (Zarina and Hamid, 2011).

According to Zarina and Hamid (2011) learning is a change in behaviour this change occurs as a result of assimilation, accommodation and adaptation of new ideas. The social environment around an individual also affects his/her learning. The main factor of the social environment is the parent’s SES which affects the learning of an individual. The SES of the parents is determined by their education, job, income, political power and prestige in society. Domina (2005) states that:

Parental involvement does not independently improve children’s learning but some involvement activities do prevent behavioural problems, interaction analysis suggests that the involvement of parents with low socio-economic status may be more effective than that of parent with high SES.

Parental involvement means not only helping with homework but also becoming involved and active in their aspects of child’s education (Domina, 2005). Habel (1986) remarked that the psychological makeup of individual parents has a great influence on the behaviour, attentiveness and performance of a child in the school. Lankard (1995) points out that where parental encouragement is low, relatively few students, regardless of their intelligence orSES levels, plan to go to college. On the other hand, where parental encouragement is high even when socio-economic status and intelligence are relatively low; more students plan to go to school.

Yee and Eccles (1988) identified different disciplines engaged in by parents through their various education have different emphases on the education of their children. It thus appears that career modeling from parents could make a noticeable impression on children’s intellectual development.Lankard (1995), indicated that motivation, norms, beliefs, values, habits and attitudes of people with the environment and the expectations the parents have for their children influence the education performance of their wards. Bamidele (1987) asserts that parent’s aspiration for the child could affect his/her achievement in school while Morish (1995), believes that well educated parents will wish their own children to benefit as they have done from their good education and will provide the necessary cash in order that this may be accomplished.

Rouse and Barrow (2006) state that socio-economic status show effects on educational outcomes and continue to affect the child throughout their adulthood Some studies have found small but positive correlations between SES and student achievement (White, Reynolds, Thomas and Gitzlaff, 1993). The relationship between family SES and the academic performance of children is well established in sociological research. While there is disagreement over how best to measure SES, most studies indicate that children from low SES families do not perform as well as they potentially could at school compared to children from high SES families. Most studies, however, compare students from across all SES backgrounds to reach the conclusion that low SES adversely affects a range of educational outcomes. Another important dimension, however, is the factor that may influence educational outcomes within particular SES bands (Considine and Zappala 2002).

Based on these indicators people are categorized in SES classes or groups. The group that has higher degree, better job, higher income and some status in the society are categorized as super class, the other which have relatively low income, less education and less status are categorized as middle class and the group which is low on these indicators is known as lower class (Zarina and Hamid, 2011). It is a general perception that the students belonging to upper class have greater opportunities to interact with learning environment and show greater achievement, while on the other hand, students from lower SES class that have less opportunity and less resource remain behind in the walk of life. They may not be more productive as compared to other groups (Zarina and Hamid, 2011).

This study is an attempt to investigate the influence of Socio-economic status of parents on learning achievement of their children. Attempt will be made to explore the various factors that have an impact on achievement, depending upon different socioeconomic status in the society and how it affects the academic achievement of students.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Observations and reports from examining bodies like WAEC, NECO and JAMB revealed that a high percentage of secondary school students continue to perform poorly in examinations. This poor performance is likely to be caused by factor known as socio-economic factor. As a result of this factor, this study sought to investigate the extent to which the variables of this factor influence the academic achievement of secondary school students in Kano State, Nigeria. It is against this background that the researcher is set out to examine the influence of socio-economic status of parents on student’s academic achievement in secondary schools.

1.3 Research questions

Does parent’s education influence the academic achievement of students in Nassarawa L.G.A of Kano State?
Does parent’s income level influence the academic achievement of students in Nassarawa L.G.A of Kano State?
What is the influence of parent’s occupation on students’ academic achievement in Nassarawa L.G.A of Kano State?
Does family size influence student’s academic achievement in Nassarawa L.G.A of Kano State?

1.4 Research Objectives

The objectives of this study include;

Find out whether parent’s education influence student’s academic achievement.
Find out whether parent’s income level influence student’s academic achievement.
Find out whether parent’s occupation influence student’s academic achievement.
Find out whether family size influences the academic performance of students.

1.5 Significance of the study

The research will serve as an assessment ground by exposing the influence of socio-economic status of parents on the academic performance of their children and make the government see the importance of the well being of her citizen so as to, alleviate and combat poverty. This research will also serve as a reference to academicians, interested in studying this topic It also serve as a guide to the government to be of assistance to students who’s parents’ SES influence the academic achievement of their wards and boost their moral standards so as to reduce the level of illiteracy in the society. The research will help to enlighten teachers, about the academic achievement of students in secondary schools as influenced by their parent’s irrespective of their SES. It will also help students to strive more in their academic achievement and to encourage those who are determined to achieve their goal not minding their SES as determined by their parents which serve as a hindrance to their academic achievement.

1.6 Scope and Limitation of the study

This project is limited to students in Private and Government Secondary Schools within Nassarawa LGA, Kano State. Fully aware of the fact that there are many secondary schools all over the country, and there are many secondary schools in the state only some selected schools in Nassarawa LGA will be engaged in this study. The stream-lining of the population to selected secondary schools in Nassarawa LGA would take care of time and financial constraints encountered by the researcher.

1.7 Definitions of Operational Terms

The following abbreviations and terms are defined, as will be used in this study:

SES: Socio-economic Status

WAEC: West African Examination Council

NECO: National Examination Council

JAMB: Joint Admission Matriculation Board now called UTME (Unified Tertiary

Matriculation Examination)

KERD: Kano State Education Resource Department

Parent’s Socio-economic Status: refers to parent’s education, income level, occupation and the family size

Academic Achievement: refers to student’s level or grade in the field of education that is excellent, good, average & below average

Parent’s Education: refers to parents with the educational qualification from diploma level, degree level upward.

Parent’s income: refers to parents that are civil servants that is both state government and federal government workers.

Parent’s occupation: refers to the parents who are civil servants, business men and women, bankers, force-men and women, housewife and farmers.

Family size: refers to the number of children in a particular family.

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Full Project – Effects of parents socio-economic status on student’s academic achievement in secondary schools

Full Project – Effects of parents socio-economic status on student’s academic achievement in secondary schools

Full Project – Effects of parents socio-economic status on student’s academic achievement in secondary schools

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