THE IMPACT OF FAMILY BACKGROUND ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE ON PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

THE IMPACT OF FAMILY BACKGROUND ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE ON PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

Abstract

The study looked at how a student’s familial history affected their academic achievement in primary school. The study especially aimed to evaluate academic achievement in elementary schools for students from wealthy families and those from poor families. All primary school students in AMAC, Abuja were included in the study. A simple random sample procedure was used to select the respondents, and 122 primary school students were chosen. All respondents completed the survey in full. To gather data from the respondents, a well-designed questionnaire was created. The acquired data were examined using descriptive statistics, and the chi-square test, with a significance level of 0.05%, was used to assess the proposed hypotheses. The study’s findings showed that parents’ educational attainment, line of work, family size, and level of motivation are important factors of family background that have a big impact on students’ academic success. Additionally, students from stable families typically perform better than their counterparts from less stable families. Based on this, the study suggested that parents, teachers, and other adults should assist, encourage, and monitor students.

Introduction

The best gift a country can leave its people, especially its young people, is education. This is so because education is crucial to the growth of any country or community. The process of passing on valuable information to society’s members is known as education. As said by Okafor (1981). All of a person’s experiences that lead to information acquisition and intellectual enlightenment are included in their education. According to Nwabachili and Egbue (1993), education is something that is passed down from one generation to the next. In this context, education refers to the informal, formal, and non-formal processes used to socialize the kid to develop into a happy member of society.Informal education is the process of learning about the world around you and beyond through interpersonal interaction. Formal education, as defined by Nwabachili and Egbue (1993), is a consciously organized method of socialization that takes place in a formal environment like a classroom. They emphasized that all those systematic programs and activities of teaching and training that are carried out outside of traditional educational settings are included in non-formal education. Without the support of the family, none of these forms of schooling are possible.

The child’s first social environment is their family. Family continues to be a child’s primary environment, according to Clifford (1981). The author underlined that a child’s family environment has a greater potential to either increase or decrease their intellectual achievement. Family was characterized by Akubue & Okolo (2008) as a tiny familial structured group whose primary purpose was to naturally socialize the newborn. Similar to this, Okunniyi (2004) defines family as a major social group made up of parents, children, and possibly other family members.The situations and events in the family that have an impact on the child’s physical, intellectual, and emotional development are referred to as the family background. Muola (2010). (2010). Some children have good family backgrounds while others have poor backgrounds because children from varied family backgrounds are affected by such family settings differently. In reference to fleege, Eke (1999) highlighted that for the same individuals in some families, the background can occasionally change.

Therefore, formal education continues to be the means of promoting human growth, which must begin in the home. Families can be divided into various groups. According to Anderson and Taylor (2000), there are four main types of families: traditional families, where the father provides the majority of the family’s income and the mother stays at home to raise the kids; divorced families, which have been reconstituted after a marriage has ended; single parent families, which are typically headed by women; and step families, which are made up of new siblings and new parents as a result of remarriage.

A family may also be classified as nuclear or extended. Extended families are those in which parents and kids share a home with a sizable group of related relatives. This is the typical family structure in African nations. Families classified as nuclear have a married couple living together with their kids. Families with thin members are typical in Western nations (Andersen and Taylor 2000).

Families come in a variety of sizes. Family size refers to the overall population of a single family, which may include the father, mother, children, and even extended family members — all of whom reside in the same hamlet. The size of the family has an impact on schooling, according to Alio (1995).The author stressed that the relative amount of physical attention and time that each child receives from his parents depends greatly on the size of the family. The poorer classes of society tend to have larger families. Children from large families may experience poverty and lack parental support, which can push them to succeed in school (Eamon, 2005). Similar to this, a smaller family size has been associated with superior academic performance (Majoribank 1996) Majoribank emphasized that kids with fewer siblings are more likely to receive parental support and attention, which improves their academic achievement. Family, whether tiny or vast, continues to be every child’s primary environment.Families start the educational process and meet the child’s physical and emotional requirements. This backs up Maduewisi’s (1982) assertion that a child’s intellectual ability is greatly influenced by the environmental experiences they receive in their family, peer group, and educational setting. She argued that clever children from disadvantaged families might become boring as a result of their circumstances. She also mentioned how intellectual development is influenced by mental development. This is consistent with Hebb’s (1987) observation that children’s intrinsic potentials cannot be realized without a healthy, stimulating family environment since they cannot develop intellectually without it. The inference is that a child will perform to their highest potential in a proper, stimulating family environment with intellectual capacity and appropriate educational methods. In their investigation on the connection between students’ family size and academic achievement, Durosaro and Durosaro (1990) discovered that family size had an impact on academic achievement. According to their research, students from small-sized households outperformed those from average-sized and large-sized families in terms of academic performance. In addition, Yoloye (1989) carried out a study to see whether the family background characteristics could be helpful in explaining their academic success. Family size and parents’ level of education are two examples of family background characteristics that were looked at in the study. According to his research, polygamous families tend to have larger families overall, which lowers the likelihood that kids will attend school.

Children from such families who attend school also have fewer likelihood of succeeding in their objectives. Thirdly, compared to nuclear families with literate parents, most members of these households lack the skills necessary to adequately motivate their kids at school.

Okuniyi (2004), who discovered from his study that when families grow, parents cannot provide their children the same amount of individualized attention, provides a better explanation of the economic implications of big family size.

They were unable to afford to give them access to a wide range of resources that would have allowed them to make the most of their time in school, including educational tools, quiet, comfortable spaces where they could complete their homework without interruption from the television, field trips to interesting locations, opportunities for leisure activities, and opportunities to travel. The fact that parents of large families were found to not talk with their children as much as parents of small families is, in his opinion, the most crucial finding of all. The family’s organizational structure is another element of the family environment.A family is either structurally complete or broken. In this sense, a shattered family is one that isn’t structurally solid due to a variety of factors, such as the passing of a parent, a divorce, a separation, a child’s abandonment, or illegitimacy, in which case the family was never complete (Coukline 1996). Assuming new roles and responsibilities, establishing new patterns in intra-family relationships, and reorganizing routines and schedules are just a few of the issues experienced by families with a single parent, which can be stressful for both the parent and the child (Agulanna 1999).Children in single-parent households may experience some psychological and social issues that have an impact on their academic achievement. In their study, Danesy and Okedian (2002) lamented that street hawking among primary school students has psychologically imposed other problems, such as sex networking behavior and juvenile delinquent behavior, which take up much of the student’s time in school and are necessary for the subpar academic performance and dropout syndrome observed among young school pupils. They bemoaned the fact that young students’ low performance in public exams like the JSCE, WASSCE, and NECO was influenced by their parents’ deprivation of their basic requirements.

Similar to this, Okunniyi (2004) said that a kid who experiences maternal and paternal deprivation may have academic issues, including school absences. This is due to the child’s potential lack of certain essentials including school supplies, uniforms, and books. According to the authors, these circumstances do not support good parenting since single parents who are overwhelmed with obligations and their own emotional responses to their situation frequently exhibit irritability, impatience, and insensitivity to their children’s needs.

In addition to the family’s structural makeup, the socioeconomic condition of the family is a significant factor in determining the academic success of the children (SES). According to (Jeynes 2002), a child’s socioeconomic status is often calculated by adding up their income, employment status, and educational attainment. The kind of school and level of education the parents want for their children are determined by their social class and economic standing. When evaluating and tracking their children’s academic progress, parents are at an advantage or disadvantage depending on their occupation or profession, educational level, and whether or not they are working mothers.Even though it is sometimes attributed to the individual, status is frequently established by the individuals’ economic attainment. Okunniyi (2004) defined three main socioeconomic statuses or categories that are prevalent throughout the world. They are the upper class, which includes wealthy businessmen and high-ranking government officials, the middle class, which includes professionals, skilled workers, and middle-ranking government employees, and the lower class, which includes manual laborers, small-time traders, and low-paid government officials.Even though status is occasionally attributed to a person, it is frequently established by their level of economic achievement. Three unique socioeconomic statuses or categories that are prevalent in many nations were discovered by Okunniyi (2004). The upper class includes wealthy businessmen and high-ranking government officials, while the middle class includes professionals, skilled workers, and medium-ranking government employees. The lower class includes manual laborers, small-time traders, and low-paid government officials.Francis (2007) believes that although lower income families may be aware of the value of education in society, they are equally conscious of their limited ability to meet these demands. A family that struggles to meet their fundamental requirements, such as food, shelter, and clothing, won’t likely encourage their children to flourish in school; instead, they’ll put pressure on them to find employment with what little education they have already received in order to maintain the family. According to the agreement, families are likely to provide their children with a weak academic foundation due to a lack of financial support.

The socio-economic status of a family is capable of affecting the behavior of the children and determines their aspiration. Families 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 emphasized that parents confront significant obstacles while attempting to give their children the best care and education possible, and that these obstacles are more severe in low-income families. This is because, in some cases, parents must prioritize housing, food, clothes, and health care while treating educational resources and books as extras when fundamental requirements are lacking. They went on to say that low-income families can also have insufficient or restricted access to neighborhood services that support and foster children’s growth and preparedness for school. They added that these drawbacks may have a significant impact on how families decide to raise and educate their children.

According to Ojo and Yilma, this circumstance may also put infants from low-income households at a higher risk of entering kindergarten unprepared than their peers from wealthy families.

Another aspect of a student’s home history that affects their academic performance is their parents’ drive. Students that are driven display deliberate behavior that is intended to help them reach their academic goals. The motivation is determined by the accomplishment of these aims. Situational and dispositional approaches on motivation were clearly separated by Hickey and Lindsey (1995). They claim that the disposition perspective relates the students’ priority and nature via probing questions regarding the students’ general orientation to learning.

According to experts, the situational perspective focuses on the learning context. These researchers have discovered some elements that have a significant impact on students’ motivation. They are: interpersonal factors (intrinsic-variables) like tenacity, perseverance, and autonomy, as well as environmental factors like parents, peers, and siblings (extrinsic factors).

According to research, encouraging and attentive parenting styles have a positive impact on academic attainment (Eamon, 2005). High parental expectations have also been linked to a rise in students’ interest in education (Majoribanks, 2005).Parental motivation and involvement in their children’s education have been connected to both good and negative affects on academic achievement, but the impact of these factors is less obvious (Domina, 2005). (McNeal, 2001, Domina, 2005). There are conflicting explanations for this disparity. It is believed that the sort of motivation and involvement could make a difference. In other circumstances, parents get involved after their child has already experienced academic challenges (Domina, 2005, McNeal, 2001). While parental motivation may not aid academic attainment, it does help reduce behavioral difficulties, according to more recent research (Domina, 2005).

Less siblings mean that students are more likely to receive parental motivation and attention, as well as better access to resources than kids from large families. Greater focus and motivation result in improved academic performance (Majoribanks, 1996, Thondike, 1997 and Samon, 2005).

Thondike reorganized the seven methods of motivating students as follows: parents’ awareness of the importance of education, regardless of whether they are literate or illiterate; books, newspapers, comic books; good nutrition and sleeping habits; adequate sleeping, studying, and resting spaces; satisfaction of physical needs, such as food, shelter, and clothing; and items in the home that pique children’s curiosity.According to Douglas (1984), motivation and children’s academic success are positively correlated. The author placed a lot of stress on a child’s aptitude as a determinant of their prospects of admittance to grammar school. According to the author, parental interest in their children’s education appears to be the single most important factor influencing the educational attainment of children. Douglas went on to say that middle class parents show a lot of interest in their kids’ education as evidenced by their frequent visits to the school to discuss their progress, as well as their purchases of vital school supplies like textbooks.

The author also discovered through his research that as kids get older, parental attention and support play a bigger role in helping them achieve high standards. Additionally, he valued a child’s early years since, according to numerous ease:*, achievement in kindergarten and first grade is indicative of future performance in primary schools. He proposed that middle-class kids get more attention and stimulation from their parents throughout the early stages of socialization. High academic accomplishment in the school system is based on this.

Students from low socioeconomic households can not be very motivated to perform well in school and might not be aware of strategies for academic achievement.Parents of high socioeconomic level who have benefited from education in a number of ways are an effective and passionate supporter of education (Carlson, 2003). In accordance with this, Qkwulanya (2003) asserts that encouragement from educated parents increases their children’s academic aspirations and language development, resulting in improved academic performance. The expert claims that some kids may come from households where education is highly valued, where books are all around them, and where parents read most of the time. They might receive books for Christmas from their parents.

By setting up a little library for them at home or by encouraging them to visit the state library, they urge them to read a lot of books. The author went on to underline that some kids can come from homes where no value is placed on reading. Children in these families hardly ever see their parents at home.

The researcher’s overall finding is that motivated students are more likely than unmotivated ones to engage in an activity vigorously and effectively. Goal-oriented motivation is constantly present.It is impossible to overstate how crucial parents’ educational backgrounds are to their children’s academic success. Students with professional backgrounds, and to a lesser extent management ones, perform better academically (Gary, 2001). Onochie and Okpalla (1985) offered the argument that parents’ educational attainment, which is a measure of their socioeconomic standing, has a direct bearing on their children’s morals and academic success in school. They pointed out that children from illiterate families would receive little to no home education that could encourage an interest in academics. This contrasts with the results attained by kids from literature-loving homes, where the parents foster an environment that encourages the development of healthy study habits (Qeca, 1980). Another significant factor affecting family background is the parents’ line of work. The ability to attend primary schools or not may be greatly influenced by the parents’ occupations. Ezeji (2001) noted that parents, even those who are musicians, attorneys, and doctors, among others, prefer that their children pursue their profession. Examples of these individuals in the nation include Gani Faweiheni, a well-known human rights attorney, Oliver Akalite (Oliver De Coque), and Osita Osadebe, a well-known musician. Each of these remarkable men had one or more of his children work in a related field. According to Uwaomn (2066), the majority of vocational students are young people whose parents are farmers or artisans.The majority of kids in Nigeria whose parents can’t afford to pay for their expensive formal education engage in apprenticeship programs like carpentry, bricklaying, petting trading, and others. There appears to be a general lack of performance among primary school students in the study area. Poor performance is seen in both the internal and external exams given to the students. For instance, data on WAEC result analyses from 2005 to 2011 show a decline in academic achievement among students. The findings show that students’ achievement levels are as follows: 27.53% in 2005, 15.56% in 2006, and 25.54% in 2007. 2008 13.76%, 2009-25.99%, 2010-24.94% and 2011 -30.99% (source: WAEC Lagos) (source: WAEC Lagos).In light of this, the researcher is interested in examining how students’ academic success at AMAC, Abuja, is influenced by their family backgrounds. The researcher plans to look at the factors that make up a family’s history in order to gauge how much of an impact they have on the academic performance of students in primary schools in AMAC, Abuja.

statement of the problem

The majority of students in Nigerian elementary schools have a higher chance of performing poorly on academic tests taken both internally and externally (WAEC and NECO). For instance, the records of the WAEC result analyses that are now available from 2005 to 2011 reveal a consistent deterioration in the overall performance of students in school certificate tests.

The government, parents, instructors, and students all take responsibility for students’ subpar academic performance. Parents accuse teachers of being unreliable in their work. Teachers blame the government for their low pay, which makes them unmotivated; parents accuse the government of not providing learning resources for the schools; the government accuses parents of not doing their homework; and students are held accountable for their lack of self-control and commitment to their studies.Given the aforementioned concerns, it is important to know how family background affects students’ academic performance in primary schools.