THE EFFECT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND OF PARENTS ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS:  A CASE OF FOUR SELECTED SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN THE KUMASI METROPOLIS

ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to determine the effects of parents‟ socio-economic status on students‟ academic performance in four selected public Senior High Schools in Kumasi Metropolis. Descriptive survey design using mixed method approach was employed for the study. The target population for this study consisted of all students, parents and teachers of the four selected public Senior High Schools in Kumasi Metropolis. Simple random technique specifically the lottery method was used to select the four Senior High Schools that participated in the study. In all a sample size of 402 consisting of 340 students, 54 teachers and 8 parents participated in the study. Questionnaire and interview guide were the tools used to collect data for the study. The findings of the study revealed that parents‟ income level had an influence on students‟ academic performance in school. Again, the study revealed that parents‟ educational level also have an influence on students‟ academic performance. Finally, the study revealed that Parents who work in the formal sector are able to provide the required educational materials for their children and these children tend to perform better than their counterparts whose parents work in the informal sector. This implies that there is a relation between parents‟ occupation and students‟ academic performance. It is thus recommended that Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Education should increase bursary allocation to students from poor families to retain them in school and enhance their academic performance.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

1.2 Statement of the Problem

1.3 The purpose of the Study

1.4 Objective of the Study

1.5 Research Questions

1.6 Significance of the Study

1.7 Delimitations of the Study

1.8 Limitation of the Study

1.9 Organization of the Study

CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2. 0 Introduction

2.1 The Concept of Socio-economic status

2.1.1 Academic Performance Concept

2.1.2 Occupation of Parents

2.1.3 Parental background

2.1.4 Types of Family

2.1.5 The wealth of family

2.1.6 Broken Homes

2.2 Parents‟ Income and Students‟ Academic Performance

2.3 Parents‟ Level of Education and Students‟ Academic Performance

2.4 Parents‟ Occupation and Student‟s Academic Performance

2.5 Parental Involvement in Education and Students‟ Academic Performance

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

3.1 Research Design

3.2 Population

3.3 Sample and Sampling Technique

3.4 Research Instruments

3.5 Validity and Reliability of the Instrument

3.5.1 Validity

3.5.2 Reliability

3.6 Data Collection Procedure

3.7 Data Analysis

3.8 Ethical Considerations

CHAPTER FOUR: PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS, INTERPRETATIONS AND

DISCUSSION

4.0 Introduction

4.1. Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

4.2 Demographic Characteristics of Teachers

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Summary of the Findings

5.3 Conclusions of the Study

5.4 Recommendations of the Study

REFERENCES

APPENDIX I: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS

APPENDIX II: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CLASS TEACHERS

APPENDIX III: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR PARENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the Background to the study, followed by Statement of the Problem. The Purposes of the study, Research questions, Significance of the study have also been explained. Again, Delimitation, Limitation, and Organization of the study have been discussed.

1.1 Background to the Study

In the current era of globalization and technological revolution, education is considered as a crucial step for every human activity (Farooq, 2011) and it is considered as the lifeline for efficient and stable working of human society. Education helps to develop individual personality by making one become knowledgeable, competent, capable and skillful (Memon, 2010). It plays a vital role in the development of human capital and is linked with an individual‟s well-being and opportunities for better living (Farooq, 2011). Consequently, Posse and Melgosa (2002) have identified three environments that must come into play in the effective development of the educational process which include; the family, the school and the community. In the view of Epstein (1997) children learn and grow through three overlapping spheres of influence: family, school and community. He continued that these three spheres must form partnerships to best meet the needs of the child. Further, Gouda (2013), also defined six types of involvement based on the relationships between the family, school and community. These include: parenting, communicating with the school in relation to the child, volunteering as resource person providing labor to the school and supporting children educational programs such as drama, music and educational trips, Parents assisting children in learning at home for example in doing homework as well as decision making and collaborating with school in areas as provision of resources.

Osonwa (2013) also postulated that students' academic performance is predicted by a chain of socio-economic factors resident in parents and some other persons. To McMillan and Westor (2002) these socio-economic status comprises three major dimensions: education, occupation and income. They further continued that socio-economic status plays an important role in the academic achievements of students. Thus, students with high level of socio-economic status perform better than the middle-class students while the middle-class students perform better than the students with low level of socio-economic status. Kiskup (2005) shared a similar view when they retorted that the role parents play in the upbringing of the child cannot be overemphasized and as such its socio-economic status is of vital importance. Students have shown that parental influence manifests itself in parental values and experience, education, vocation/profession of parents, religion and socio-economic background of parents.

To Qakes and Rasi (2003), it is a fact that in families where the parents are privileged educationally, socially and economically, they promote a higher level of achievement in their offspring. Szewczyk, Bost and Wainwright (2005), and Thompson and Fleming (2003) have variously indicated that the socio-economic background of parents may contribute directly and indirectly to the educational performance of students. This impact may result from the inability of the parents to provide additional educational resources to augment the limited resources available in public schools. It may also result from the

inability of the disadvantaged parents, who are engrossed with earning a living, to eke out time and assist their children in other affective ways that may support learning and cognitive development.

A study conducted by Adamu and Dikko (2017) on the effect of socio-economic background of parents on the performance of students revealed that parental background may have significant influence on students' academic achievement. Again, a study conducted by Jeynes (2002), also found out that the socio-economic status of a child is usually determined by parental occupation status, income level and the environment in which the child is brought up and these factors have a strong effect on students‟ academic performance.

Generally, however, it is commonly observed that children from high socio-economic backgrounds tend to do better academically than their peers from low socio-economic backgrounds. Whether the same influence may be true in the case of social status, which is often closely associated with socio economic status, is not very clear. The study therefore seeks to determine the influence of parents‟ socio-economic status on students‟ academic performance in public Senior High Schools in Kumasi.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Low parental socioeconomic status is known to have a negative effect on academic performance of students. This has been attributed to the fact that parents‟ financial challenges distract their wards from concentrating on their studies hence scoring lower grades in school. (Ababa, 2012). In the view of Crosnoe et al. (2005) socio-economic factors such as education and income are key factors that are predictive of students‟ academic achievement. This is because family socioeconomic status background affects a child‟s perception of life that in turn could affects a child academic performance. Ewijk and Sleegers (2011) have noted that parents with high socioeconomic background greatly participate in the learning of their children while low socioeconomic families are least likely to be involved in the education of their children. This is because most of the times low socioeconomic families are engaged in strenuous manual work in order to be able to provide food and shelter for their families (Ratcliff & Hunt, 2009).

A study by Karshen (2005) in India on the effect of parental level of education on academic performance of students revealed that students whose parents attained higher level of education scored higher marks on standardized tests than those whose parents attained a lower level of education. Among the reasons noted was that educated parents encouraged and communicated with their children on school related work while uneducated parents entirely depended on the school. Further, a study conducted by Adamu and Dikko (2017) on the effect of socio-economic background of parents on the performance of students revealed that parental background may have significant influence on students' academic achievement. The studies indicated above have shown that there is a strong link between parental socio-economic income and their wards academic performance, but it appears that a study of such nature has not been conducted at the Kumasi Metropolis, a reason that informed the researcher to embark on this study. Hence this study seeks to find out the effect of socio-economic background of parents on the academic performance of students in four selected public Senior High School in Kumasi Metropolis. 

1.3 The Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of socio-economic background of parents on students‟ academic performance in Public Senior High Schools in Kumasi.

1.4 Objective of the Study

1. To determine the influence of parents‟ income on students‟ academic performance in Public Senior High Schools in the Kumasi Metropolis

2. To examine the extent to which parents‟ level of education influences students‟ academic performance in Public Senior High Schools inKumasi Metropolis

3. To establish the level to which parents‟ occupation influences students‟ academic performance in Public Senior High Schools in Kumasi Kumasi Metropolis

1.5 Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study

1. To what extent does parents‟ income level influence students‟ academic performance in Public Senior Schools in the Kumasi Metropolis?

2. How does parents‟ level of education influence students‟ academic performance in Public Senior Schools the Kumasi Metropolis?

3. How does parents‟ occupation influence students‟ academic performance in Public Senior Schools the Kumasi Metropolis?

1.6 Significance of the Study

It is hoped that the findings of this study would make various educational stakeholders like head teachers, school management committee, parents and teachers associations to understand the effects of parents‟ socio-economic status on students‟ academic performance and therefore put in place appropriate measures to counter the problem.

The outcome of the study would also inform educational planners and policy makers to come out with the relevant educational policies that will be used to improve student academic performance irrespective of their parents‟ socio-economic status.

It is also hoped that the findings of this study would help parents with negative attitude towards education to change their negative attitude and begin to assist their wards to do assignment while at home in order to improve their academic performance.

Lastly, the study will also serve as a reference tool for future researchers who want to conduct a study in this area.

1.7 Delimitations of the Study

The study was delimited to only socio-economic background of parents and its effects on students‟ academic performance in only four selected Senior High Schools in the Kumasi Metropolis. As a result, the findings may not be generalized to all Senior High Schools in the other Districts and Metropolis in Ghana.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The sample used for the study was not large enough to permit meaningful generalization of the effect of socio-economic background of parents on the academic performance of student to other districts and nationwide Ghana.

1.9 Organization of the Study

The study has been organized into five main chapters. The first chapter deals with the background introduction to the study. It also covered the statement of the problem, the purpose of the study as well as research questions. It also explained the significance of the study, the delimitations of the study and limitations of the study. Chapter two of the study deals with the review of theoretical and empirical literature related to the study. Chapter three describes the research design adopted for the study. It also examines the population of the study, the sample and sampling procedures, research materials, research procedures as well as data analysis procedures. Chapter four, presents the results of the study and discusses the findings of the study. Finally, Chapter five, summarizes the findings of the study, draws conclusions from the findings, makes recommendations and gives suggestions for further research.

1.10 Definition of Key Concepts

Academic performance: is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their short or long-term educational goals. Cumulative GPA and completion Broken Homes: family that no longer lives together because the parents have divorced

Cross Tabulation: is a method to quantitatively analyze the relationship between multiple variables. Also known as contingency tables or cross tabs, cross tabulation groups variables to understand the correlation between different variables Descriptive statistics: are brief descriptive coefficients that summarize a given data set, which can be either a representation of the entire or a sample of a population. Descriptive statistics are broken down into measures of central tendency and measures of variability (spread) of educational benchmarks such as secondary school diplomas and bachelor's degrees represent academic achievement.

Parental Occupation: is defined as the main work undertaken by the parent/guardian. If a parent/guardian has more than one job, report their main job.

Socioeconomic status: is the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation.

Social stratification : is a kind of social differentiation whereby members of society are grouped into socioeconomic strata, based upon their occupation and income, wealth and social status, or derived power (social and political)