Influence of Parental Socio-Economic Status on academic achievement of Students in Selected Schools in Nigeria: A case Study of Enugu State.

Abstract

This paper explores the issue of parental socio-economic status on students’ academic achievement in secondary schools, the relationship between home-based environment factors and the academic performance of students in selected secondary schools within a local government area in Enugu State is investigated.  Samples were obtained with one hundred and eighty (180) students randomly selected from three secondary schools.  The four factors that were examined and statistically analyzed were: parental socio-economic background, parental educational background, parental educational qualification and students’ health statuses.  Diverse statistical tests were performed on the various data collected to establish statistical significance of the effects on students’ academic performance.  Parental socio-economic status and parental educational background did not have significant effect on the academic performance of the students.  However, the parental educational qualification and health status of the students were identified to have statistical significant effect on the academic performance of the students.  The two variables that indicated significant influence do reflect nature of the student home environment and played notable role in the academic achievement of the respondents.  Government could intervene to raise level of academic achievement among students in rural area.