AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE IMPACT OF MOTIVATION FROM PARENTS ON THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The finest gift that parents can leave their offspring is the opportunity to further their own education. The growth of the family is the first step in the development of the country. It is beneficial to society as a whole when families are successful in instilling moral principles in their offspring and making the world a better place as a result. It is widely accepted within the development community that the cultivation of human resources should serve as the point of departure for any genuine kind of progress. The evidence of such a desire to construct a healthy and robust economy in a way that is both effective and efficient is the pursuit of a formal education. The steady deterioration of our nation's educational system has been traced back to a great number of causes, which have been pinpointed as the culprits in a variety of research investigations. A number of issues, including the size of the classroom, the inadequate teacher-student ratio, the inadequate teaching resources, the attitude of the instructors towards the task, and the lack of seriousness on the side of the pupils, all contribute to this problem (Orhungur, 2022). Even though there are more competent instructors available, as well as improvements in technology and facilities for teaching and learning, Nigeria's educational system is still in the process of losing its ideals.

The observation that some pupils are very talented in their job while others are severely incompetent served as the impetus for this research project. When such variances in scores are tracked, it is more typically determined that one of the primary contributing factors is the family history of the individual. Because of this, it is essential to investigate the amounts of such contributions as well as the effect they have on children. This will allow for the formulation of helpful recommendations that can be given to parents, educators, educational planners, and the government. According to Orhungur (2022), the socio-economic background of the family is, to a considerable part, responsible for determining the family's cultural heritage. The kid's engagement with the larger society and impression of it are primarily impacted by the experiences she had earlier, while she was at home. As the child grows up and goes out into the attention of the broader society. The child's personality is shaped by the environment of the family and the opportunities it provides for socialization. For example, Nigeria is a civilization that is made up of many different ethnic groups, each of which has its own unique cultural background in regards to aspects such as the size of their families, their occupations, and in some extreme situations, their religious beliefs. These aspects each impose their own unique barrier, which makes it more difficult for children to get an appropriate education. It is possible that a child's academic achievement and, by extension, their educational upbringing are both influenced to an equal degree by the social setting or style of settlement of the family and extended family system. Motivating someone to work harder and more effectively in their chosen field is the single most important factor. It is obvious that a kid will be motivated and pushed toward high academic goals if certain elements are prevalent in the familial history of the child. These factors include: Praise, incentives, recommendations, and many other types of reward systems should be used as motivating elements to push pupils to reach greater levels of success, according to the advice given by Denga (2021) in Eyake (2022). It is very possible that the sort of household a kid is a part of will have a significant impact on how much success the child has throughout his or her time spent in school. For instance, a child whose parents take a lot of interest in what they do at school and give them the necessary support by providing all of the required books and finances needed has a significant advantage over a child whose parents do not provide him with these kinds of incentives and encouragements. This is because the child whose parents do not provide him with these kinds of support and encouragement is less likely to succeed academically. In addition, the kinds of stimuli that students are exposed to in their varied contexts have a significant impact on both their attitudes toward learning and their academic outcomes. This may be taken into account in terms of the kind of family, the house, the social orientation of the parents, the educational level, and employment, to name just a few of these factors. It is consequently self-evident that the stimulation that is provided by the household has a direct bearing on the performance of the pupils. The effect of a child's family is not unrelated to the child's educational upbringing in any way. The kid learns from each member of the family and, as a result, the youngster uses each of them as a model for his or her own behavior. Eyake (2022) was cited in the text. According to Adeyemo (2022), the child is damaged if the house does not provide the child with the necessary equipment to fit him or her into his proper place in society and guide him or her properly for his or her future career. In other words, if the house does not provide these things, the child is damaged. In today's society, an examination of the proportion of students who drop out of secondary school implies that these students often come from broken households, are raised in polygamous families, or have other issues that are socially connected. Polygamy has historically been practiced by humans due to agricultural society's emphasis on big families. The larger the family, the more the financial and other social duties that the parents take on for themselves. And the educational achievement of kids who come from these kinds of families suffers a significant setback the majority of the time. This is due to the possibility that these parents may not be able to pay the costs associated with supporting an education for their children. Other circumstances, such as a parent's relocation for employment, a divorce, or even death from an unavoidable cause, may have a negative impact on a child's growth and development, which in turn can have a ripple effect on the child's educational achievement.

In addition, the socioeconomic status of a child's parents is one of the most significant aspects that has a significant impact on the child's educational upbringing. As a result of malnutrition, along with other negative emotional and psychological effects, a child's mental development will be significantly slowed down if either or both of their parents do not earn an income sufficient enough to support the family. In the majority of families, one or both parents may not earn an income at all. According to Orhunger (2022), a low-income household that has a lot of feeding difficulties is more likely to have children whose physical and mental development provides genuine hurdles to the school's endeavor at achieving the best possible development of the kid.

In the modern world, it is widely acknowledged that the primary purpose of education is to enhance the academic performance of pupils and students. It is the responsibility of educational activities to ensure that students attain the educational objectives they have set for themselves. When a child leaves school intermittently, it is possible that the parent motivation on the academic performance of the child is lagging and lacking (Ugochi, 2022), and as a result, the parent must make an effort to motivate the child so as to enhance and boost his or her academic weakness. In order to ensure that every child participates in schooling, the National Policy on education enacted a law that primary educations should be tuition free, universal and compulsory. According to Muola (2022), students who are driven to do well in their test are more likely to do well in their examination. According to Salvin (2021), who was quoted in Ugochi (2022), the idea that motivation is what gets one moving and determines where one is heading was proposed. It is anything that prompts, compels, and energizes a person to perform or behave in a certain way at a given moment with the intention of achieving some specific goal or objective. On the basis of this, one interpretation of motivation is that it is the force that initiates, guides, and sustains goal-oriented activity such as studying in order to attain academic success. Because children shape their sense of self, their values, and their beliefs about their abilities at a young age, motivation is critical to the academic success of students at any age. Furthermore, the development of early academic motivation has significant implication for later academic performance and career choices (Slavin, 2021). It has been shown that children's academic success in school is significantly impacted by both the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that they experience (Mangal, 2021). The academic motivation of students may be exhibited in a variety of different motivational levels, which might be high, moderate, or low. Low-motivated children might be disruptive, and as a consequence, are more likely to do badly, which may lead to truancy and school dropout; high-motivated students tend to be more hyper-active in learning and excessively worried in the learning environment. Keep the kids focused on a task until they have achieved some level of success, since a modest boost in motivation results in a moderate rise in performance (Ngwoke, 2022).

The level of academic achievement attained by kids is held in the highest regard by parents, teachers, concerned citizens of Nigeria, and the government. A person's academic success may be defined as the extent to which they are able to achieve the academic objectives that they have set for themselves. According to the Davidson Institute's (2004) definition, academic accomplishment is "a measure of the degree of success that an individual has in the mastery of information, skills, and understanding." Additionally, it is the accomplishment of a certain level of perfection (Umeano, 2022). The amount to which pupils are successful in their academic work is referred to as their academic performance. According to the definition provided by Answer Corporation (2010), academic performance is the degree or extent to which one has acquired excellence in their academic pursuit of academic accomplishment. Academic performance and academic accomplishment are inextricably linked to the point that they cannot be disentangled from one another because of the intricate web of connections that exists between the two.

It has been shown by a number of studies that the majority of students who are successful, great achievers, and well adjusted came from families where there is a sustaining, wholesome relationship as well as parental care and motivation towards the child's academic performance. All things considered, this is true for the majority of students who are successful. This research has a tendency to illustrate the importance of parental motivation and how it has a derivative influence on the academic brilliance, performance, and accomplishment of the student.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Recent years have seen a decline in the overall academic performance of pupils enrolled in secondary schools, which has caused widespread cause for worry. Many people, including the student's parents, teachers, and counselors, have voiced significant worry with the student's declining academic performance. Despite the measures that have been put in place by the federal government to ensure that teaching and learning are carried out in an efficient manner, the low academic performance of students continues to rear its ugly head. There has been a persistent fall in students' motivation and participatory learning, which has led to a common worry and complaint among instructors of secondary schools: students' poor academic performance and short attention spans as a result of this decline. As a direct consequence of this, pupils in secondary schools engage in problematic behaviors such as skipping classes, showing up late, engaging in bullying behavior, and being socially reactive (Orhungur ,2022). These disruptive behaviors may be traced back to the interactions that take place between the parents and their children in the home environment. Therefore, it would appear that the parent-child relationship is flawed, and that the parents do not give a damn about the academic status and performance of their children's schools, which has severely crippled the academic performance of the students and even led to a loss of self-concept in some cases. The parents' drive on the student's academic performance, both intrinsic and extrinsic, was gone and replaced with desire (Orhungur ,2022).

The disparity in performance between students and academic excellence constitutes a huge cause of anxiety and severe concern as well as discomfiture for both parents, school managers, policy makers, and different governments that are responsible for the education of students' in secondary level institutions.

For example, some students are able to pay their school fees on time, whereas others were frequently sent away for nonpayment of school fees. Additionally, some students struggle with the provision of school uniforms, whereas others do not have this issue. Experience has shown that these kinds of differences exist among the students who are enrolled in secondary schools, and that these differences have an impact on the academic performance of the students. In a similar vein, some students' parents encouraged them to do well in school by providing them with educational tools like text books and exercise books, whereas other students' parents did not do this. Furthermore, some children arrive to school well-nourished, while others do not. Then, one begins to ponder if the impact of one's family history had had a role in these problems.                                  
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The general objective of the study is an investigation into the impact of motivation from parents on the academic achievement of secondary school students. Specifically, the study will be guided under the following:

i.          To examine the effect of motivation on the educational achievement of students at secondary level.

ii.        To find out if motivation  from parent will influence students  academic achievement .

iii.      To investigate if parents educational background will influence students’ academic performance.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

In order to achieve the derived objectives, the following research questions were raised;

i.          What is the effect of motivation on the educational achievement of students at secondary level?

ii.        Will  motivation  from parent will influence students  academic achievement ?

iii.      Will  parents educational background will influence students’ academic performance?

1.5       SIGNIFANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of this research work in the educational system cannot be over-emphasized. If the result of the study properly utilized. It is going to be beneficial to parents, the students, teachers, educators, government, proprietor, counselors etc.

It will help to understand the need for qualitative education, what, when and how to provide supportive measures and motivation that will boost the students moral and morale towards learning and help in building an evil free and economically balanced society/ nation.

The work of this nature when completed may help the parents to be aware of the effect the parent has on children and how such affect the child positively or negatively in relation to their academic performance.

The study will be significant to the academic community as it will contribute to the existing literature.         

1.6 SCOPE  OF THE STUDY

The study will examine the effect of motivation on the educational achievement of students at secondary level. The study will also find out if motivation  from parent will influence students  academic achievement . lastly, the study will investigate if parents educational background will influence students’ academic performance. Hence this study will be delimited to Oyo state.

1.7       LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Like in every human endeavour, the researchers encountered slight constraints while carrying out the study. Insufficient funds tend to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature, or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire, and interview), which is why the researcher resorted to a moderate choice of sample size. More so, the researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. As a result, the amount of time spent on research will be reduced.

1.8: DEFINITION OF TERM

Parents: A parent is a person who has conceived (biologically mother) or sired (biological father) and whose genes are therefore transmitted to the child.

Motivation: It refers to internal and external factors that stimulate desire and energy in people to be continually interested and committed to a job, roles subjects or to make an effort to achieve a goal.

Academic achievement:  It represents performance outcome that indicate the extent to which a person has accomplished scientific goals that were the focus of activities in instructional environment specifically in school.

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