ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECT OF PARENTAL STATUS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF BUSINESS STUDIES STUDENTS
ABSTRACT
The study examined examines the Assessment of the Effect of Parental Status on Academic Performance of Business Studies Students in secondary school in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area. Three null hypotheses were formulated in line with the specific objectives to guide the study. The survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of all junior secondary two (JS2) students in eight secondary schools. A sample size of 200 students was drawn for the study using stratified sampling technique. Two instruments were used for data collection- a questionnaire and Achievement Test.
The questionnaire was used to find out the family background of the students while the Achievement Test was used to examine the academic performance of the students. The data collected were analyzed using independent t-test statistics. The results showed that the income level of parents, educational level and occupational level of parents influences the academic performance of students. It was recommended among others that Government should provide more equipped adult education centres for retraining of lowly educated and willing parents. Government should re-enforce the ‘free and compulsory’ education policy to enable the less privilege families send their wards to school.
Assessment of the Effect of Parental Status on Academic Performance of Business Studies Students
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Home is the first and the most significant place for the child’s inclusive growth and development. And as such, the parent provides not only the hereditary transmission of basic potentials for the child but also the favourable environment in terms of interpersonal relation and cultural pattern. The role of parents in the upbringing of the child cannot be overemphasized and as such it’s economic status is of vital importance (Jime, 2011). Students have shown that parental influence manifests itself in parental values and experience, education, vocation/profession of parents, religion and socio-economic background of parents.
Parental economic status and intelligence have either facilitating or inhibitory effect on the student depending on the traits inherited and the environment in which he is brought up. The parents provides the initial social encounter through socialization process, also provides the models with which the child can identify, consciously or unconsciously, learn from the parents by imitation. Parental set standard may greatly affect the life’s of adolescents and so motivate them to be achievement oriented. Thus parents with some particular careers are of great priority tend to orient its children in achieving that goal.
The socio-economic status of parents is capable of affecting the behaviour of the children and determines their aspiration. Parents with high socio-economic status often have more success in preparing their children for school because they typically have access to wide range of providing their young children with high quality child-care, books and encourage children in various learning activities at home. They also have easy access to information regarding their children’s health, as well as social, emotional and cognitive development (Ojo and Yilma 2010), Ojo and Yilma also noted that in all socio-economic groups, parents face major challenges when it comes to providing optimal care and education for their children and these challenges are more pronounced in poor families.
This, according to them, is because sometimes, when the basic necessities are lacking, parents must place top priority on housing, food, clothing and health care, regarding education materials and books as luxuries. They added that poor families may also have inadequate or limited access to community resources that promote and support children’s development and school readiness. They further asserted that these disadvantages can negatively affect families decisions regarding their children development and learning. This situation, according to Ojo and Yilma, may also expose the infants poor parents to a greater risk of entering kindergarten schools unprepared, unlike their peers from rich parents.
Parents’ education is another family background factor which influences the academic achievement of students. Students under motivated condition, exhibits purposeful behaviour aimed at achieving academic set goals. The achievement of these goals determines the motive. The situational perspective according to the scholars focuses on learning context. These scholars further identified to factors that greatly influence students’ motivation. These are: interpersonal factors such as curiosity, perseverance, and autonomy (intrinsic-factors) and environmental factors such as parents, peers and sibling (extrinsic factors).
Research shows the supportive and attentive parenting practices positively affect academic achievement (Eamon, 2015). In addition, high parental aspirations have been associated with increasing students’ interest in education (Majoribanks, 2015). The effect of parental motivation and involvement in their children’s school has on academic achievement is less clear (Domina 2015), parental motivation and involvement in school has been linked to both positive and negative influences on academic achievement (McNeal, 2011, Domina, 2015).
Explanations for this discrepancy are not conclusive. It is thought that the type of involvement and motivation may make a difference and that in some cases parents become involved after their child has already had academic difficulties (Domina, 2015, McNeal, 2011). Other recent research has found more conclusively that while parental motivation may not help academic achievement, it does help prevent behaviorual problems (Domina, 2015).
Parental occupation is also an important family background variable. The occupation of one’s parents may determine to a large extent one’s opportunity to attend secondary school or not. Ezeji (2011) noted that parents like their children to take to their occupation, like parents who are lawyers, doctors, musicians among others. Examples of such people in the country include Gani faweiheni, the prominent human right lawyer, Oliver Akalite (Oliver De coque) and Osita Osadebe who were famous musicians each of these great men had one or more of his children in his type of occupation. Uwaoma (2016) asserted that most vocational students were children whose parents were farmer or craftsmen.
In Nigeria most children whose parents cannot afford to pay for high cost of formal education enroll into apprenticeship programmes such as carpentry, brick laying, petty trading and others. In the study area, there is a seeming general poor performance among secondary school students. Government, parents, teachers and students blame one another for students’ poor performance in schools. Parents blame teachers for lack of dedication to duties and the teachers blame government for poor salaries hence they are poorly motivated, parents also accuse government for not equipping the schools with learning materials, government blame parents for not doing good home work and the students are blamed for lack of discipline and dedication to their studies.
Assessment of the Effect of Parental Status on Academic Performance of Business Studies Students
1.2 Statement of the Problem
In educational system, success is measured by academic performance or how well a student meets the standard set out by the institution. The menace of failure among the young school students has stared the parent’s, government and other stakeholders in the face. There is a consensus of opinion about the fallen standard of education as a problem that is hindering the posterity of the Nigerian nation in terms of quality man-power resources. Most students in secondary schools experience academic problem that manifest itself in the form of poor academic performance mostly in Economics subject.
Government, parents, teachers and students blame one another for students’ poor performance in schools. Parents blame teachers for lack of dedication to duties. The teachers blame government for poor salaries hence they are poorly motivated, parents also accuse government for not equipping the schools with learning materials, government blame parents for not doing good home work and the students are blamed for lack of discipline and dedication to their studies. It was on this background that the researcher was interested to ascertain an assessment of the effect of parental status on academic performance of business studies students in secondary school in Nsit Ubium Local Government Area.
Lawson Peter – Chief Editor in Projectvilla Nigeria. A writer and academic researcher.