Abstract: The study examined Home Variables And Academic Performance Of Primary School Pupils In Basic Science In Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. Three research questions and 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 primary five pupils in twenty nine (29) primary schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. A sample size of 200 pupils was drawn from ten (10) schools for the study using stratified sampling technique. Two instruments were used for data collection- a questionnaire and Basic science Achievement Test. The questionnaire was used to find out the home variables of the pupils while the Achievement Test was used to examine the academic performance of the pupils.
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 pupils. 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.
Home Variables And Academic Performance Of Primary School Pupils In Basic Science In Mkpat Enin Local Government Area
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 it varies in many aspects such as the parents’ level of education, economic status, occupational status, religious background, values, interests, parents’ expectation for their children, and family size among others. Children coming from different home environments are affected differently by such variations (Ogoye, 2007). And as such, the parent at home 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 home environment in the upbringing of the child cannot be overemphasized and as such its economic status, educational background and family size among others is of vital importance (Jime, 2001). Pupils have shown that the type of home a child comes from 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 influence on the pupils depending on the traits inherited or 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 lives 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.
Home variables according to Bling (2012), are those qualities in a family that are subject to change or varies; they include all the human and material resources present at the home that may affect the child’s up bringing as well as their academic outcome, such as the parent’s level of education, their occupation, socio-economic status, parenting style, marital status, broken homes and socializing facilities available in the such family. Thus, the home is the basic institution for providing the child’s primary socialization and laying the educational foundation for the child upon which other agents of socialization are built. The education received by a child from parents at home is most likely to house highly significant and dominant effects on the behaviours of the child later in life. What the child learns at home and how his/her family motivates him/her towards education contributes to the child success of every individual.
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 children with high quality child-care, books and encourage the 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). The authors 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.
Parents’ education is another home factor which influences the academic performance of pupils. Pupils under motivated condition, exhibits purposeful behaviour aimed at achieving Research shows the supportive and attentive parenting practices positively affect academic achievement (Eamon, 2005). In addition, high parental aspirations have been associated with increasing pupils’ interest in education (Majoribanks, 2005). The effect of parental motivation and involvement in their children’s school has on academic achievement is less clear (Domina 2005), parental motivation and involvement in school has been linked to both positive and negative influences on academic achievement (McNeal, 2001, Domina, 2005). 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, 2005, McNeal, 2001). Other recent research has found more conclusively that while parental motivation may not help academic achievement, it does help prevent behaviorual problems (Domina, 2005).
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 school or not. Ezeji (2001) 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), Fela Kuti 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 (2006) asserted that most vocational pupils 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.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Generally, in the phase of educational system, success is measured by the learners’ performance or how well a child meets the standard set out by educational institution. The menace of failure among the young school pupils 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 pupils in primary schools experience academic problem that manifest itself in the form of poor academic performance mostly in their subject in schools. The government, parents, teachers and pupils blame one another for pupils’ 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 pupils are blamed for lack of discipline and dedication to their studies. It was on this background that the researcher was interested to examine home variable and academic performance of primary school pupils in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
Home Variables And Academic Performance Of Primary School Pupils In Basic Science In Mkpat Enin Local Government Area
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The main purpose of this study was to examine home variable and academic performance of pupils in primary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
Specifically, the study sought to:
- Determine the extent to which family size influence the academic performance of pupils in primary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
- Examine the extent to which income level of parent influence academic performance of pupils in primary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
- Examine the extent to which educational level of parent influence academic performance of pupils in primary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
1.4 Significance of the Study
Hopefully, the finding of this study will be of immense importance to the pupils, parents, teachers, educational administrators and the government in the following ways:
- The study will help the parents to realize how high, average or low income can affect the academic performance of their children either positively or negatively.
- The study will also help parents to yearn for higher educational attainments that will enable them to get better paid job, raise their status in the society and assist their children in their educational problems.
- The findings of this study will serve as a source of knowledge and information to other researcher who will conduct their studies on related areas.
1.5 Research Questions
- How does family size influence academic performance of pupils in primary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area?
- To what extent does income level of parent academic performance of pupils in primary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area?
- To what extent does educational level of parent influence academic performance of pupils in primary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area?
1.6 Research Hypotheses
In order to guide the research work, the following null hypotheses were postulated:
- Family size does not significantly influence the academic performance of pupils in primary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
- Parent level of income does not significantly influence the academic performance of pupils in primary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
- Parent level of education does not significantly influence the academic performance of pupils in primary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area.
1.7 Limitation of the Study
The major constrain of the study was lack of fund and time as the research work was done along side with other academic activities.
1.8 Delimitation of the Study
The study was delimited to primary school pupils in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. The study focused mainly on the influence of home variables such as family size, parental educational level and parent income level on academic performance in primary schools in the study area.
1.9 Operational Definition of Terms
Academic performance: this refers to the outcome of learning activities in the school system. In this study, it refers to student scores or grades in test or examination.
Income– refers to wages, salaries, profits, rents and any flow of earnings received. Income can also come in the form of unemployment or workers compensation, social security, pensions, interests, royalties, trusts, other governmental, public or family financial assistance.
Parents – this refers to a person’s mother or father, biological parents of a child. One, who begets, gives birth to or nurtures and raises a child.
Level of education: This means the stage one reached educationally from primary level, primary level, tertiary level/ college or university stage.
Economic status: This refers to individual’s/group’s demographic, social and economic position in relation to others. In this study, economic status was measured in terms of parents’ level of income, level of education, and occupational status.
Occupation: Is an activity that serves as one’s regular source of livelihood. In this study, occupation was measured in terms of parents’ work content, occupational prestige (formal or informal occupation), occupational class and occupation as an indicator of education/skills and income.
Family size: the type of family a child comes from which could be either polygamy or monogamy, which is reflective of the number of pupils available in such family which affects pupils’ performance academically.
Originally posted on July 24, 2021 @ 12:13 pm
