Project Material on; The impact of poor family background on the academic achievement of pupils in primary schools in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State

Project Material on; The impact of poor family background on the academic achievement of pupils in primary schools in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos State

1.1 Introduction

The role families’ plays to the pupils at any given point in time in a child’s life cannot be over highlighted. The family is relevant and very significant to the well being of a child as well as his/her later development in life. Family is the first unit in the social order where the child’s upbringings began after birth, still in cradle. According to Adewumi et al (2012) childhood could be liken to a letters impressed in the shout of a young tree, which grow, and later enlarge into an integral part of the whole. Sequel to the above, rightful beginning makes the most essential part of every child’s upbringing/education. The contribution of the parent to the training of the pupil determines how far he/she will go in life. It is well noted that when the school work together with the family through learning support system, pupils tends to succeed better not just in schools but in life.

The family is an institution as well as an agent of socialization saddle with the responsibility of determining the pupil’s attitude towards intellectual, religious, character and moral upbringing. According to Aliyu (2016) the family lays the fundamentals of moral and religious upbringing of the child, and in a way dictate how he/she relate with others regarding the idea of right and wrong , good and bad. The family unit plays the role of helping the pupils in determining his/her future career pursuit through socializing them into their choice of vocation or a trade for self reliance, by exposing the child to either pursue the career of the family or any favorable skill before the child grow to become an adult (Jekayinka and Oke,2003). The family here includes everything that surrounds within the family itself and includes the family background, their socio-economic status, broken home etc. According to Mpiluka (2014), Family backgrounds have been of immense significant in determining the academic achievement of a child in schools all over the world. Specifically because academic achievement often time are motivated by the type of people the child interacts with in their early stages in life from their homes. Muola (2010) observed that family background could be likening to all the conditions and circumstances within the family which influences the child physically, intellectually and emotionally as he/she grow up. The Child that grew up from different family backgrounds are affected differently by such family condition, which are the reasons behind why some children have good family background while others have a very poor background. The differences in our family background are some of the consequences in the variation in pupil’s academic achievement in school.

Sequel to the above, primary school education remains best and first step to human development. Also, education is one of the basic requirements for good in a society where social vices are on the increase. Relating education and family together, it is noted that educated parents provide a better and good academic atmosphere for their children. In all parts of the world primary schools is the foundation upon which other levels and forms of education are built. For very obvious reasons, this foundation cannot afford to be rickety, shaking and torpid. However, the issues of pupils’ academic achievement in schools have been of great concern ever since the introduction of modern education system in Nigeria. Many countries in the world have realized that primary school is an integral part of educational process without good academic achievement at this level other facet of the society will be affected. Nyipir (2010) observed that the parents are parts of the current challenge facing the primary school system in the world. This is because the parents have often time fail to do their bid at home and by so doing makes many children even at early stage in life resort to self-help as a result of the fact their parents refuse to give them the needed attention they deserved. As a child grew up from infant to toddler and then to a preschooler, he/she learns how to speak, listen, write and read which are later develop in order to make the child to achieve academic performance (Chris and Theisen, 2009). Gadsden (2003) observed that greater parental (family background) involvement at early stage of pupil’s learning process positively affects the pupil’s performance in school. Although, family background includes other variables such as parental socio-economic status, broken homes, family size and types, parental educational background etc all these are some of the determinant of family background. Meanwhile, Ojo and Yilma (2010) noted that socio-economic status of a family is capable of affecting pupil’s behavior and to some extend determines their aspiration in life. Ojo et al (2010) further opined that families having worthy socio-economic status often have more resources in sending their children to school. Most time they usually have access to wide range of ways of providing their children with the needed care, books and also know how to engage them in various learning activities in the house after school. They also have access to good quality information about their children’s wellbeing, as well as their social, emotional and mental development both in school and at home. Although, Ojo et al (2010) further revealed that parental socio-economic status such as family income level are among some of the major challenges face in the family when it comes to providing best possible care and education for their children. Parental level of education is another key factor that influences pupil academic achievement. The role parental level of education plays cannot be over emphasized. According to Gary, (2001), pupil’s that grew up under parent who are professional and are engage in managerial occupational backgrounds exhibit higher academic performance than those from dissimilar background.

 

Similarly, family size and type are also linked to high academic achievement. Family size and type to some extent determines the level of attention and time which a pupil gets from their parents. Financial challenges associated with family with larger size and type could be better explained in Okunyi (2004) findings. In Okunyi (2004), it was revealed that as families’ increases, parents sometime cannot afford to give their children the same level of attention compare to when the family size is manageable. In a situation that the family size is large parent find it difficult to provide the necessary things needed by the pupil to succeed in School. For example provision of learning aids, comfortable rooms to stay and do their assignment and home work, away from distraction from TV, outings to places of interest, holiday trip, opportunity to visits tourist centers etc.

On the other side, Omoruyi (2014) observed that growing up with a single parent family or broken home are always very nerve-racking tasks for both the child and parent. Such families are bound to be confronted with challenges of inadequate financial resources, lack of care, no love etc. Schults (2006) once opined that if adult from broken homes are to be compared to those from a united family, you will discover that those from a more united family are more socialized, academically and emotional stable than the other. Johnson (2005) lamented that pupils from separated homes (broken home) families often fail in school and sometime, they are exposed to emotionally risk compare to the others. In a sharp contrast Omoruyi (2014) disagree with Johnson (2005) view by saying that this may not be completely applicable in all cases of broken homes. He further opined that some pupils irrespective of home background or structure may work hard to become successful in life. Furthermore, Ayodele (2007) observed that the place where a child grew up himself/herself determining his/her learning ability and ultimately his academic achievement in school.

Sequel to the afford mentioned facts, this study is interested in investigating influence of family background on pupil’s academic achievement in primary schools in Ikorodu Local Government Area ,Lagos state.

1.2 Background of the Study

Education is the process of transmitting what is worthwhile to the members of society. According to Okafor G., (2014). Education embraces all those experiences of the individual through which knowledge is acquired and intellect enlightened. For Nwabachili and Egbue (2015) education is what goes on from one generation to another. In this context, education is the process of socializing the child to grow up as a fulfilled member of the society through the informal, formal, and non-formal processes. Informal education is the process of acquiring knowledge about the environment and beyond through living with one another. According to Nwabachili and Egbue (2015), formal education is a consciously planned form of socialization in a formal setting such as school. The stress that non-formal education involves all those systematic programmes and processes of education and training that are done outside formal education settings. All these forms of education cannot be achieved without the influence of the family.

Family is the first social environment that the child finds him/herself. According to Clifford (2016) family remains the primary environment of the child. The author emphasized that the family environment has more chances of increasing or decreasing the intellectual achievement of the child. Akubuo and Okolo (2010), defined a family as a small kinship structural group with the key function of natural socialization of the newborn. Similarly, in Okunniyi (2010), family is defined as a primary social group of parents, offspring and possibly other members of the household. Family background refers to all the conditions and circumstances in the family which influence the child physically, intellectually and emotionally; Moula (2010). Children coming from differently by such family background while some have poor background citing Fleege, Eke (2012) noted that with some families, the background way vary from time to time for the same individuals. Formal education therefore remains the vehicle for human development which must start from the family. There are different categories of families. The major categories of families. The major categories of families. The major categories of families according to Anderson and Taylor (2007) includes;

Traditional families – where the father is the major bread winner and mother at homes raising children;

Divorce families – families that have been reconstituted following the breaking of marriage;

Single parent families – likely headed by women; step families – with new siblings and new parents stemming from re-marriage.

A family could also be categorized as extended or nuclear. Extended families are those in which large group are related kin in addition to parents and children live together in the same household. This is the type of family prevalent in African countries. Nuclear families are families are families where married couple resides together with their children. This type of family is common in western countries Anderson and Taylor (2000). Families are of various size. Family size has to do with the total number of people in a single family which may include the father, mother, children and even the extended members – all living in one hamlet.

According to Alion (2014) family size has implication for education. The author emphasized that the size of the family determines to a great extent the relative amount of physical attention and time which each child gets from his parents. large families may suffer poverty and lack parental encouragement and stimulus which motivate their academic achievement (Eamon, 2010). Similarly, smaller family size has been linked with high academic achievement (Majoribank, 2012) Majoribank further stressed that students with fewer siblings are likely to receive more parental attention and have support that leads to better school performance. Family (small or large size) remains the primary environment of every child. The families begin the process of education and provide physical and psychological needs of the child. This supports the view of Maduewisi (2023), that the environmental experiences from family, peer group and school location have great influence in determining a child’s intellectual ability. She maintained that brought children from under – privileged family environment may turn dull due to impoverished family environment. Another aspect of family environmental factor is the structure of the family. Structurally, a family is either broken or intact. A broken family in this context is one that is not structurally intact for various reasons; such as death of a parent, divorce, separation, desertion and illegitimacy in which case, the family was never completed (Coukline 2015). In single parent families, children may suffer from psychological and social problems which affects their academic performance. Danesy and Okedian (2012) in their study, lamented that street hawking among pupils of primary schools have psychologically imposed other problems, such as sex networking behaviour, juvenile delinquent behaviour, which take much of the pupil’s school time that necessitated the poor academic performance and drop out syndrome notice among pupils of primary school.

According to (Jeynes 2002), the Socio-Economic Status (SES) of a child is most commonly determined by combining parent’s educational level, occupational status and income level. Social class and economic status of the parents determine the type of school and the standard of training they desire for their children. The occupation or profession of the parents, the educational level and whether the mothers are working or non-working mothers places them at an advantage or disadvantage to evaluate their children’s academic work and monitor their progress. Status is often determined by the individual’s economic attainment, though it is sometimes ascribed on the individual. Okunniyi (2010), identified three distinct socio-economic groups or status which are common in many countries. They are; upper class – which is made up or rich businessmen and top government officials among others; middles class – which consists of skilled workers, professionals sand middle ranked government workers and the lower class – which is made up of manual workers, petty traders and low income government officials. Francis (2012) posits that the lower income families may be aware of the importance of education in the society but at the same time, they are also aware of their limited resources to measure up with such educational demands. According to the author, a family that can scarcely provide for the basic needs of the family which include food, shelter and clothing will hardly motivate the children instead they will pressurize their children to seek for job opportunities with the  little education they acquired so far to support the family. The implication of the agreement is that some families are likely to give their children poor academic background because of lack of financial support.

Parent’s motivation is and other family background factor which influence the academic performance of pupils. Pupils under motivated condition, exhibits purposeful behaviour aimed at achieving academic set goals. The achievement of these goals determines the motive. Hickey and Lindsley (2010) clearly distinguished two perspectives. According to them, disposition perspective asks questions about pupil’s general orientation to learning which relates to the pupils’ priority and pupil’s nature. The situational perspective according to the scholars focuses on learning context. These scholars further identified to factors that greatly influence pupil’s motivation. These are: interpersonal factors such as curiosity, perseverance and autonomy (intrinsic-factors) such as parents, peers and siblings (extrinsic factors).

Pupils with fewer siblings are likely to receive more parental attention and motivation and thus have more access to resources than additional attention and motivation leads to better school performance (Majoribanks, 2012, Thondike, 1997 and 2005). Thondike reorganizes seven ways of motivating pupils viz; awareness on the part of the parents of the value of education whether such parents are literate or illiterate; existence of books, newspapers, comic books, good nutrition and sleeping habit; adequate facilities for satisfaction of physical needs like foods, shelter and clothing; objects in the home which challenges the child’s curiosity. Okwulanya (2015) postulated that motivation from educated parents strengthens the academic performance and language development in their children to perform better in their academic activities. Parental occupation is also an important family background variable. The occupation of one’s parents may determine to a large extent one’s opportunity to attend primary school or not. Ezasi (2013) noted that parents like their children to take to their occupation, like Lawyers, doctors, musicians among others.

Uwaoma (2006) asserted that most vocational students where children whose parents where farmers and craftmen. In Nigeria most children whose parents cannot afford to pay for high cost of formal education enroll into apprenticeship programme such as carpentry, bricklaying, petty trading and others. In the study area, there is a seeming general poor performance among pupils in primary school. Evidences of the poor performances are seen in both pupils international and external examination. It is against this backdrop that the researcher is interested in investigating the family background and pupil’s academic performance in primary schools in Ikorodu Local Educational Authority of Akwa Ibom State.

1.3 Statement of the Problem

 Over the years, there has been poor performance of pupils in Ikorodu Local Education Authority in both internal and external examinations. Also, parents with low level of income, finds it difficult to provide learning materials such as note books, text books, school bags, sandals good uniform, etc for their ward(s). This is due to the fact that they don’t earn high and even if they do, these materials are too expensive for them to afford it. They therefore leave the child to cope the way he or she can with the available learning materials. This alone makes most of the children in these areas (zone) not to perform very well in their academics.

Furthermore, most children came from a very large family size, where the parents finds it uneasy to cater for all the academic needs of children, due to several demands  from both the children and other family members. Where the family size is large, and the income level of the parent is low, the tendency of the parents providing for the children cannot be guaranteed. This is because, as the family size is large so also diverse problems exist in the home. Moreover, as the family size is large, most parents would not be able to go through each child’s work before and after school as they might consider it as waste of time.

So also, parents with low level of education would find it difficult to assess their children’s work, before and after school, this is because they only have little or no idea about their children’s performance. A parent that is uneducated (illiterate) would lack the technical know-how of guiding the child at home, especially in the area of aiding the child to do homework. Now a days in most schools, homework is been considered as a tool for assessing a child’s performance, where the homework is left unattended by the parents, due to their inability to aid the child, it therefore means that the child would either do it haphazardly or left it undone and this would lead to the poor performance of the child. Moreso, parents with low level of education does not demand for progress report of their children from the school in which they attend, this is because they lack basic educational knowledge.

Finally, parents on prestigious occupation like doctor, nurse, lawyer, etc would want their children to take up their occupation and their children or child might not have that ability to take up such. Also some parents are so busy due to the nature of their job, some goes out early in the morning and comes back at night, while the children must have slept. Thereby not been able to attend to the children’s work. And as such, the children only wake up the next day and go back to school unattended. This alone makes children to perform poorly in their academic performance. These findings seek to provide solutions to the problems leading to pupil’s poor performance and to provide recommendations to parents, government and private sectors that are educationally driven.

1.4    Objectives of the Study

The purpose of the study is to examine influence of poor family background on pupil’s academic achievement in primary schools in Ikorodu LGA of Lagos state. Specifically, the study will attempt to find out the following objectives;

1)      To ascertain whether poor family background has any influence on pupil’s academic achievement in Primary schools in Ikorodu LGA of Lagos State.