The Socio-economic variables, parental involvement and academic performance of pupils

Abstract

The study examined the influence of socio-economic variables (parents’ income and parents’ educational background) and parental involvement on academic performance of pupils. The survey research design was adopted for the purpose of this study. A sample of 200 pupils in primary four was randomly selected from 10 basic schools for the study. Three research questions were raised and tested for the study. Data were collected using Questionnaire. Data were analysed using Analysis of Variance and Pearson Product Moment Correlation statistics. Significant difference existed in the academic performance of pupils based on their parents’ income while no significant difference existed in the academic performance of pupils based on their parents’ educational background. Furthermore, significant positive relationship was observed between parental involvement and academic performance of pupils. Findings of this study recommends among others that schools managers should develop intervention programmes aimed at addressing the strategies that will help the improvement of the quality and consistency of parental involvement in their children’s education activities if they anticipate better academic performance.