Influence of parental social-economic factors on academic performance as expressed by secondary school students in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the influence of parental social-economic factors on academic performance as expressed by secondary school students in Kwara State, Nigeria. The study employed a descriptive survey design with a multi-stage sampling procedure which involves, purposive, stratified and simple random techniques to select 380 respondents from the study’s population (97, 187). An instrument entitled “Influence of Parental Social-Economic Factors on Students’ Academic Performance Questionnaire” (IPSFSAPQ) was used for the study. The instrument was validated by 5 experienced lecturers in the field of education, and test and measurement. The instrument was also subjected to test re-test method of reliability test and a reliability co-efficient of 0.88 was established. One general research question was raised and answered and three null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance in the study. The results of the study revealed that high parental social-economic status has positive influence on student’s academic performance, but this finding not necessarily suggested that low parental social-economic profile is automatic condition for poor academic performance among secondary school students. The study also discovered no significant difference in the influence of parental social-economic factors on the academic performance of students in Kwara State based on gender and religion but significant difference was discovered based on family type. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended among other things that; students from non-intact families should be assisted in their areas of social-economic need to let them achieve maximally in their education pursuit like their counterparts from the intact families.