THE IMPACT OF PARENTAL FACTORS ON THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

THE IMPACT OF PARENTAL FACTORS ON THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF PRE-PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS

CHAPITER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 THE STUDY’S BACKGROUND

For educators in Nigeria, the issue of diminishing academic achievement among preschoolers and elementary school students has now taken on societal significance.

The importance of early intellectual growth in a person’s life cannot be overstated. The kind of environment a child is exposed to, the experiences they have had, and, most significantly, the kind of support they receive from their parents all play a significant role in how well a child learns during their school years (Osanyin 2022).

What a person becomes in later life is largely influenced by the environment in which they are raised, their parents’ approval or welcome, and their care and attention. This could make or break a student’s achievements or academic success at all levels of education.

Osanyin (2022) asserts that “A child’s intellectual or academic progress is based on the child’s active involvement in the environment.”

The child needs something to play with, talk about, look at, reach for, and kick. The child must also be exposed to objects of varied colors, sounds, forms, sizes, and materials. Additionally, the child needs to be involved in play, conversation, physical touch, suspense, care, and responsiveness from an adult. Additionally, it was said that a child’s overall development, including their physical, social, academic, and other aspects, is significantly influenced by the quality of the interventions and stimulation they receive.

As the child gets older, his parents, siblings, peers, and other members of his immediate family have a big impact on him. They aid in the development of the child’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors.

Parents in Nigeria are under pressure, as they are in many other countries, to be more concerned and committed to the care and well-being of their children by organizations like the United Nations Organisation (UNO) or its agencies, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the government. In his speech commemorating Children’s Day in 1973, Nigeria’s former president General Yakubu Gowon expressed the nation’s concern: “Children are a nation’s most valuable asset, as the future of any nation depends on how well they have been groomed at various stages of development until adulthood. This is when we have responsibilities to the kids as parents, guardians, institutions/schools, guardians, institutions/schools, or the government.

Our primary duty is to provide the child with all he or she needs for a tranquil and healthy development (Okon, 2022).

any person is expected to contribute to the development of children in any society. Nevertheless, despite social expectations, there is a need for a strong and effective home-based support structure as well as parental motivation, as parents’ roles in their children’s education seem to have been undervalued. In literary works, the role of the family in terms of parental involvement in a child’s education has long been acknowledged.

Hess & Caff (2022), for instance, described parents as being in “first school.” Additionally, it appears that parental influences have an impact on children (Olneck & Bills, 2022; Musgroe, 2022).

Academic success can be good or negative depending on a number of criteria (Hess & Caft, 2022). Home characteristics including socioeconomic class, parental education, employment status, family size, financial situation, parental attitude toward education, home instability, and emotional disturbance are among them. Other problems include the distance between schools, the changeover between them, a lack of moral teaching, etc. No of the situation or results, the youngster is always in the middle of the frame, with a parent on either side of them. This brings us a little bit closer to the study’s main topic, which is the influence of particular parental traits on a child’s academic success.

It seems like some parents don’t care how well their kids are doing in school. The transition from the lowest to the highest educational level is when this problem is most acute. As a result, parents need to be more aware of how they influence their kids. Dale et al. (2022) agreed, noting that while the school gives the tools, the primary spring comes from the home. As a result, a family’s failure is frequently the cause of a child’s failure, and a child’s success is frequently a result of their parents’ support and love.

As different as the human race is, parents. Although there are some who would vehemently contest the label and some who are not, almost everyone cares about kids.

To promote intrinsic motivation for successful learning in children, parents must now decide how to divide their children’s interests among them.

When it comes to their involvement in their children’s education, parents have some limitations, according to Spedek (2022). He mentioned that some parents are not aware that, in addition to what the school is doing, they are or should be their children’s instructors.

Some people might not understand which of their behaviors encourage learning in children and which behaviors inhibit it.

Additionally, parents who seem to have a lot of material possessions may not give their kids opportunities that might help them attain their goals. Sometimes parents’ expectations and concerns come before those of their kids, stopping them from delivering what would seem so natural.

SITUATION OF THE PROBLEM

The researcher has had the chance to interact with students of various intellectual abilities due to her experience as a teacher for a short period of time. Observations show that some children find it difficult to recognize objects or numbers (figures), read, write, and manipulate objects, while others have no trouble handling toys and other playthings, reading, or writing at all (Hess & Caff 2022).

This inspired the researcher to carry out this study in order to identify the likely reasons for these kids’ academic deficits and to suggest solutions that would help those who are academically weak and excite those who are academically strong.

1.3 STUDY’S OBJECTIVES

Examining the effects of parental influences on the academic success of students in pre-primary schools is the main goal of this study. More specifically, the following goals of this research are:

i. To determine whether parents’ money has an impact on their children’s academic achievement in pre-primary school.

ii. To determine whether parents’ educational status has an impact on their children’s academic achievement in pre-primary school.

iii. To determine whether parents’ socioeconomic position has an impact on their children’s academic achievement in pre-primary school.

iii. To determine whether parents’ religion has an impact on their children’s academic achievement in pre-primary school.

1.4 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH

The following research queries will be addressed by this study:

i. Do pre-primary school students’ academic achievement depend on their parents’ income levels?

ii. Does a parent’s education level have an impact on a child’s academic success in pre-primary school?

iii. Do pre-primary school students’ parents’ socioeconomic statuses have an impact on their academic performance?

iv. Does a student’s pre-primary school performance depend on their parents’ religious beliefs?

1.5 RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER STUDIES

According to a survey of pre-primary and primary students’ prior academic achievement, some kids still have difficulty achieving academic scores that are above average.

The purpose of this study is to ascertain how parental influences affect their kids’ academic performance and to suggest alternative solutions.

It is hoped that this study’s findings would help parents understand how they might contribute to their kids’ academic success. They must be able to recognize them in order to be able to recognize these essential elements of parental effects that affect children’s academic progress in school. Therefore, it will be the responsibility of parents to provide a positive home environment within their resources.

It will also help them detect and assess the degree to which parents have an impact on their kids’ academic performance in school.

In dealing with student concerns during school hours, teachers, educators, and school counselors will find this research or its findings to be helpful.

1.6 THE STUDY’S SCOPE

This study focuses on how parental influences affect the academic success of students in pre-primary schools. This study specifically focuses on determining whether parents’ levels of income, education, societal standing, and religion have an impact on pre-primary school students’ academic performance.

Children from particular nursery schools in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, will serve as the study’s responders.

Limitations of the study: 1.7

The focus of this research is solely on how parental influences affect preschoolers’ academic progress. This study focuses on determining whether parents’ income levels, educational levels, societal standing, and religious beliefs have an impact on their children’s academic performance in pre-primary school. More specifically, it examines whether parents’ socioeconomic status has an impact on their children’s academic performance.

The respondents for this study will be children from particular nursery schools in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, thus more research is required before the conclusions of this study can be applied elsewhere.

1.8 TERM DEFINITION

Parental factors: Under “parental factors” we include parenting, defined as love, responsiveness, encouragement, and education, as well as the well-being of the parents and family (anxiety, depression, parental stress, conjugality, family functioning).

Preschool: A preschool, sometimes referred to as a nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school, is an educational facility or learning place that provides early childhood education to kids before they start out with primary school as a requirement. It may be run privately or publicly and get financial support from the government.