Influence of Family Background on Academic Performance of Students in Public Senior Secondary Schools in Emohua Local Government Area, Rivers State

Abstract

The study examined influence of family background on academic performance of students in public senior secondary schools in Emohua Local Government Area, Rivers State.  The researcher developed three (3) objectives, research questions and null hypotheses respectively that guided the conduct of the study.  The research design used for the study was a descriptive research design. The population of the study consists of all SS I and SS II students in all Public Senior Secondary Schools in Emohua Local Government Area, Rivers State with the total population size of Eighteen Thousand, Two Hundred and Seventy (18,270). The sampling technique used for the study was multistage random sampling technique, with a sample size of 800 students, which was 400 students for SS I and another 400 for SS II students. The instrument used for the data collection was self structured questionnaire titled: Influence of Family Background on Academic Performance of Students Questionnaire, which was patterned towards 4-point rating scale. The instrument was validated by the research supervisor and measurement and evaluation experts from faculty of education, while the reliability of the instrument was achieved using split-half method to obtain a reliability coefficient value of 0.85. The data gathered were analyzed using weighted mean and standard deviation for the research questions, while the null hypotheses were tested using t-test statistical tool at 0.05 level of significant. Based on the data analysis, the findings of the study revealed that parental educational level, parental occupation level and parental level of income have significant influence on the students’ academic performance. Based on the findings of the study, the researcher recommends that: Parents should try as much as possible to increase the level of education, parents should try to get better occupation since it is not only going to help the family in times of feeding but it has a positive significant it influence students’ academic performance and parents should try to diversify their sources of income to increase their income level.