Full Project – INFLUENCE OF PARENTS’ SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Agricultural science is a discipline that is concerned with the art and science of crop and animal husbandry to the benefit of man and his environment. It involves moving crop and animal products from production until that reach the final consumer. Rubentein (2003) sees agricultural science as a deliberate effort to modify a portion of the earth‟s surface through the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for sustenance or economic gain. Rimando (2004) views agricultural science as the systematic raising of useful plants and livestock under the management of man. Agricultural science is therefore seen as the cultivation of soil for raising crops and livestock for producing plants and animals and the preparation of such products for man‟s use and their disposal through market outlet. Agricultural science also seeks to prepare and develop students‟ abilities to make a beginning in farming to be efficiently done.
The subject matter of agricultural science covers not only crops and livestock production but also areas relating to soil management, machinery operation, processing, marketing and storage of farm produce. The National Policy on Education (NPE, 2004) and the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act of 2004 both provide for the study of agricultural science for 6 years of primary school and 3 years of junior secondary school. The major difference lies in the structure of the new curriculum of primary school and junior secondary school, which is to run for 9 years of continuous schooling. The study of Agricultural science was introduced into the secondary school curriculum in 1967. But with the commencement of 6-3-3-4 system of education in 1980s, agricultural science was made a core subject both in the junior and senior secondary school curricula.
The responsibility of training a child always lies in the hand of the parents. Parents’ socio-economic background can have influence on the academic performance of the child in school. Whatsoever that affects the development and environment of the child would possibly affect his/her education or disposition to it. Parents’ status is one of such variables. When a woman‟s nutritional status improves, so too does the nutrition of her young children. Rothestein (2004) asserts that “parents of different occupational classes often have different styles of child rearing, different ways of disciplining and interacting with their children. These differences do not express themselves consistently as expected in the case of every family, rather they influence the average tendencies of families for different occupational classes.
In line with this assertion, socio-economic status according to Banks (1991) is an economic and sociological measure of a person‟s work experience and of an individual‟s or family‟s economic and social position based on income, education, and occupation. Income as a factor of measuring socio-economic status emphasize on the income level or earning of an individual and how such income influence the social and economic life of his or her dependants. Education on the other hand describes the level of training and awareness of parents, whereby those with high quality education could have better job or occupation and earn good pay for service delivery. Occupation in the opinion of Falex (2003) is a broad term that encompasses employment sectors or the categories of jobs which an individual is undertaking to earn a living. Anonymous (2012) stated that occupation includes one‟s vocation or job or something that one undertakes to provide one‟s livelihood regularly. If parents take up good occupation, they can make a worthwhile living, in addition to having more interest in catering for their children‟s education. For instance, Eamon (2005), stated that children of highly educated mothers obtained higher test scores in schools than those with less education. Occupation has to do with what parents are doing to earn a living. Those parent that are well trained in some specific disciplines for instance medicine, laws or are even engaging in business transaction at formal level could have their socio- economic status enhanced. When analyzing a family‟s, socio-economic status (SES), the household income earners, education, and occupation are examined. Hill, Castelino, Lansford, Nowlin, Doge, Bates, and Pettit (2004) explained that these socio-economic factors /statuses of parents do not only affect the academic performance, but also make it possible for children from low background to compete well with their counterparts from high socio-economic background under the same academic environment. Fan (2008) opined that parents who are rich provide adequately for the physical and educational needs of their children.
Academic performance is the outcome of an educational process and the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved educational goals. Academic performance is commonly measured by examination or continuous assessment but there is no general agreement on how it is best tested or which aspects are most important (Ward, 1996). Academic achievement can also be referred to as the level of attainment of performance obtained by a child from lessons taught which may include experiences, knowledge and skills. Gerda and Dennis (1980) explained that the child‟s good or poor performance does not depend on any attributes a child is born with, but is a complex response to his family, home environment and the overall climate of his school and its assessment procedures.
Academic performances of students are usually reflected by their academic achievement during test in their various subject areas through continuous assessment tests and examinations. The test scores are usually rated as below average, average and above average among students of agricultural science in secondary schools. The performance of the students sometimes is usually a reflection of the socio-economic background of their families whereby some are usually provided with all the learning materials, and some students will have some while others may not have at all.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Agricultural science has been playing a very vital role in the development of the nation as it has introduced agricultural consciousness in the minds of the youths towards the provision of food, employment and raw materials for the sustainability of the economy of the nation. Its inclusion in the NPE as a course of study right from primary to the university level may not be unconnected with these laudable roles it has to play in the development of the Nation. However, the study of agricultural science at Senior Secondary School level in Kano State is not encouraging as a result of the poor academic performance of students of agricultural science over the years. Students‟ performance in agricultural science in May/June WAEC 2013 and 2014 in the schools under investigation is very dismal and discouraging. Poor performance of the students is attributable to a number of factors such as teaching and learning environment, unavailability of instructional materials, poor emphasis on practical, inadequate teachers of agriculture as well as the general commitment of students toward the study of agricultural science. The researcher’s interaction with some secondary school students revealed that some students complained of some basic necessities such as feeding, health problems, learning materials, unavailability of qualified agricultural science teachers and not having access to the laboratory as some of the challenges confronting their academic achievement in school. The researcher felt that the socio-economic background of the parents cannot be divorced from these apparent lacks of some basic needs such as feeding, shelter and learning materials by the students. It is a known fact that no meaningful activities such as learning can actually take place among students that are lacking its basic needs such as food, shelter and learning materials. These can lead to discouragement, frustration and withdrawal of students from academic activities thereby affecting their overall academic performance. It is these observations from the interaction with some of the students that spurred the researcher’s interest to carry out this study.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The general objective of the study is to investigate the influence of parents’ socio-economic status on the academic performance of agricultural science students in secondary schools in Kano State, Nigeria.
The specific objectives are to determine the influence of parents’:
- Educational level on the academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science.
- Occupational status on the academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science.
- Income level on the academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science. .
- Residential location on the academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science.
1.4 Research Questions
The study sought to answer the following research questions.
- How does parents’ educational level influence the academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science?
- What are the influences of parents’ occupational status on the academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science?
- How does parents’ income level influence the academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science?
- What are the influences of parents’ residential location on the academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science?
1.5 Research Hypotheses
The following Null Hypotheses are formulated to be tested in the study:
- There is no significant influence of parents‟ level of education on academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science.
- There is no significant influence of parents‟ occupational status on academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science.
- There is no significant influence of parents‟ level of income on academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science.
- There is no significant influence of parents‟ residential status on academic performance of secondary school students in agricultural science.
1.6 Significance of the Study
The results of this study could provide information that benefits to students, teachers, parents and governments. Particularly, the research work will expose the students to various influence of parents’ socio-economic status on their academic performance.
It will also provide information to parents on the need for adequate parental care for the provision of schools needs such as books, feeding allowances and accommodation to their children. It will provide teachers with useful information to guide students towards enhancing their academic performance especially those with low economic status. It will also provide information to school Administrators on how to encourage students in developing good study habits that could improve their academic performance.
The findings of this study will provide information that will assist Government to identify areas where assistance is urgently needed towards enhancing parents‟ living conditions. The information provided by this study could serve as a spring board for future researchers in the area of the influence of parents’ socio-economic status on academic performance of agricultural science students in secondary schools in Nigeria.
1.7 Basic Assumption of the Study
This study was based on the following assumptions that:
- Parents’ socio-economic status will have influences on the academic performance of students in Agricultural science.
- High parents’ educational background has influences on the academic performance of students in Agricultural science.
- Students are involved in the study of Agricultural science in schools despite their parents’ type of occupation.
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Full Project – INFLUENCE OF PARENTS’ SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA