TABLE OF CONTENT
Title Page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgment iv
Table of Content v
Abstract ix
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study 1
Statement of the Problem 5
Purpose of the Study 6
Research Question 6
Research Hypothesis 7
Scope of the study 8
Significance of the study 8
Operational Definition of Terms 9
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Concept of Social-economic status 11
Concept of Academic Performances 13
Students’ Academic Performance in Nigeria 14
Socio-economic Status of Parents and students’ academic Performance 16
Parental Occupation and Students’ Academic Performance 18
Parental Academic Background and students’ Academic Performance 20
Other Factors Affecting students’ Academic Performance 23
Empirical Studies 27
Appraisal of Literature Reviewed 29
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design 31
Population, Sample and Sampling Techniques 31
Instrumentation 32
Validity and Reliability of the instrument 33 Procedure for Data Collection 33
Method of Data Analysis 33
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
Hypotheses Testing 34
Summary of the Findings 38
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Discussion of the Findings 40
Conclusions 42
Recommendations 42
REFERENCES 44 APPENDICE 49
ABSTRACT
This study examined socio-economic status of parents and students’ academic performance in Lagelu Local Government Area, Oyo state. The researcher adopted descriptive survey of correlational type. The study used random sampling technique to select ten public secondary schools out of twenty-six secondary schools. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select two hundred respondents. A research questionnaire titled “Socio-Economic Status of Parents Questionnaire (SESPQ) and Students’ Academic Performance Proforma (SAPP)” were used to collect relevant data from the respondents. One main hypothesis and three operational hypotheses were formulated and tested for this study. The hypotheses were tested using Pearson product moment correlation statistical method at 0.05 level of significance.The findings revealed that:
1. There was significant relationship between socio-economic status of parents and students’ academic performance in Lagelu Local Government Area, Oyo state.
2. There was significant relationship between educational status of parents and students’ academic performance in Lagelu Local Government Area, Oyo state.
3. There was significant relationship between parents’ occupation and students’ academic performance in Lagelu Local Government Area, Oyo state.
4. There was significant relationship between family structure and students’ academic performance in Lagelu Local Government Area, Oyo state.
Based on the findings, it was recommended that every parent could be able to provide for the needs of their children. Parents should endeavour to improve on their socio-economic status in order to aid the performance of their children. Parents should endeavour to enhance their educational status so that they could assist their children in any of their class assignment.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Socio-economic status is a definite background variable that represents a feature of the social structure in society (Oakes & Rossi, 2003). It is a fact that families where the parents are privileged educationally, socially and economically, promote a higher level of achievement in their offspring. The socio-economic status of a child is usually determined by parental educational level, parental occupational status and income level (Jeynes 2002). It is understood that low socio-economic status negatively and depressingly affects students’ academic achievement. Due to low socio-economic status, a student does not have access to important resources and generates additional stress and tension at home (Jeynes, 2002, Eamon 2005). According to Parson, Stephanie and Deborah (2001), Socio-economic status is an expression which is used to differentiate between people’s relative status in the community with regard to family income, political power, educational background and occupational status.
Socio-economic status is an economic and sociological combined total measure of a person’s work experience and of an individual’s or family’s economic and social position in relation to others based on income, education and occupation. When analysing a family’s socio-economic status, the household income, earner’s education and occupation are examined, as well as combined income verses with an individual, when their own attributes are assessed (Keltner, 2008).
In the current era of globalisation and technological revolution, education is considered as a crucial step for every human activity (Farooq, Shafia, &Berhanu, 2011) and it is considered as the lifeline for efficient and stable working of human society. Education does not only provide knowledge and skills, but also inculcates values, training, fostering right attitudes and habits. Cultural heritage and values are transmitted from one generation to the next through education. Education is the best legacy parents can give to their children. The development of the nation starts from the family. When the family succeeds in teaching and impacting good values in their children, the country becomes a better place to live. It is generally believed that the basis for any true development must commence with the development of human resource. Formal education is the demonstration of such desires to effectively and efficiently build a sound and strong economy. Education is very vital in the human existence because the society and education are interrelated and inter-dependent. This can also be seen in the nature and development of a child born in a given society.
The school is an umbrella governing children from different parental background and social backgrounds and as such the children’s learning and rate of academic development is closely related to other experiences. Education in Nigeria is overseen by the Ministry of Education. Local authorities take responsibility for implementing policies for state-controlled public education and state schools at a regional level. The education system is divided into kindergarten, primary education, secondary education and tertiary education. This study is focused on secondary education. Students spend six years in secondary school that is 3 years of JSS (Junior Secondary School), and 3 years of SSS (Senior Secondary School). The Senior Secondary School ends with Senior Secondary Certificate Examination. Junior secondary school is compulsory and leads to the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), which opens the gate to Senior Secondary School. SSS curriculum is based on 6 core subjects completed by 2 or 3 elective subjects. Core subjects are: English; Mathematics, Civic Education, Computer: one major Nigeria language and others are elective; it contains vocational subjects which include; marketing, Animal husbandry, food and nutrition, technical drawing, music and fine arts. Students can also join, after the BECE a technical college. The technical college curriculum also lasts 3 years and leads to a trade/craftsmanship certificate.
Nigerian education has been experiencing a geometric set back since the past two decades which makes the academic performance of students to be getting poorer, this pathetic situation has always been an issue to attend to by government and the stakeholders in the educational sector. Numerous factors have been identified in various research studies to be responsible for the continuous declining of our educational system. Various factors such as classroom size, poor teacher-student ratio, in-adequate instructional materials, attitude of teachers towards work and lack of seriousness on the part of students.With the availability of more qualified teachers, improved technology and facilities for teaching and learning, educational system in Nigeria is still losing it values.
Motivation for this study is based on the fact that some students are exceptionally good in their work, while some extremely bad. When variations in scores are traced it is more often discovered that family background is a major contributory factor. It is therefore important that the levels of such contributions and the influence they have on children be examined so that useful suggestions to parents, teachers, educational planners and government could be made.
Orhungur (2003) asserts that the cultural background of the family is determined to a large extent by its socio-economic background. As the child grows up moves out to the interest wider society his/her interaction with it and perception of it are largely determined from her earlier, experiences at home.
Besides, the other factors such as individual and household characteristics, school related factors and government policies, socio-economic status is the most researched and debated factor that contribute towards the academic performance of students (Farooq et al, 2011). Furthermore, little empirical evidences are found in Nigeria regarding the association between parental socio-economic status and academic achievement of their students (Odoemena, 2010). As a result, conducting research on such issues would provide great insights on the association between socio-economic status of parents and academic performance of students.
The researcher is being motivated to study the effects of parental socio-economic status on the students’ academic performance, as most families are poor and cannot adequately affords 3-square meals not to talk of meeting the educational needs of their children. The researcher wishes to study the serious implication that the family socio-economic status had on the learning and performance of students’ academic performance. Osunloye, 2008 observed that there is an awareness of the importance of the home environment or family on children academic performance.
