THE IMPACT OF FAMILY BACKGROUND AND SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Education is the most valuable legacy a nation can leave to its population, particularly its kids. This is due to the importance of education in the development of any nation or community. Education is the process of passing on what is valuable to members of society (Okafor, 2001). Education encompasses all of the individual's experiences that lead to the acquisition of information and the enlightenment of the mind. According to Nwabachili & Egbue (1993), education is what passes from one generation to the next. In this context, education refers to the process of socializing a kid to become a productive member of society using informal, formal, and non-formal means. Informal education is the process of learning about the surroundings and beyond by living together. Formal education, according to Nwabachili & Egbue (1993), is an intentionally organized method of socialization in a formal context such as school. They emphasized that non-formal education encompasses all systematic programs and processes of education and training that take place outside of the official education context. All of these types of education are impossible to achieve without the support of the family.

The child's first social environment is his or her family. According to Clifford (2012), the child's primary environment is his or her family. The author underlined that a child's intellectual achievement is more likely to be increased or decreased by his or her familial environment. According to Akubue & Okolo (2008), a family is a tiny kinship structured group with the primary role of natural socialization of the new born. Similarly, Okunniyi (2004) defines family as a major social group consisting of parents, children, and possibly additional members of the household.

All of the situations and circumstances in the family that influence the child physically, mentally, and emotionally are referred to as the child's family background (Muola 2010). Children from varied family backgrounds are influenced differently by such family settings, which is why some children come from a good family background while others come from a bad family background. Eke (1999), citing fleege, observed that in some families, the backdrop method varies from time to time for the same individuals.

As a result, formal education remains the vehicle for human development, which must begin in the home. Families are classified into several types. According to Anderson & Taylor (2000), the major categories of families include: traditional families–where the father is the primary breadwinner and the mother stays at home to raise children; divorced families–families that have been reconstituted following the dissolution of marriage; single parent families–typically headed by women; and step families–with new siblings and new parents resulting from re-marriage.

According to Rouse & Barrow (2006), students from less disadvantaged homes had higher average test scores and were more likely to have never been held back a grade than students from more disadvantaged families. They did, however, point out that it was unclear to reflect the causal effect of family backgrounds on the child's educational achievement, which created a gap that this study sought to fill by determining the influence of family backgrounds on the students' academic performance. Furthermore, McIntosh (2008) stated in his study that in Canada, children from low-income households with divorced or separated parents performed better than average if they came from homes with good attitudes and significant support for their children. Another study on Children and Youth in Canada conducted by Ryan (2000) found that family background characteristics, parental support, and teacher support all had a substantial effect on a child's educational attainment.

The school environment is an important component to consider when determining a child's ability to learn. The nature of the teaching process and its outcomes, which may or may not be fruitful in reaching the targeted educational goals and objectives, is influenced by the school environment. The efficacy of the many environmental conditions to which the system's components are susceptible determines the efficiency of a school system in attaining its organizational objectives. According to Oluchukwu (2000) and Ajayi (2001), the school environment, which includes the classroom, libraries, technical workshops, laboratories, the quality of teachers, school management, teaching methods, classmates, and so on, is a variable that influences students' academic achievement. As a result, the school environment remains an important area that should be handled and thoroughly researched in order to improve students' academic performance. The quality of education is reliant not only on instructors and their fulfillment of their duties, but also on the successful coordination of the school environment (Ajao, 2001). Stewart (2000) defined school environment as an atmospheric environment created by the occupants of the school, seen differently according on their rank within the institution, but impacting all and communicating to observe. According to Thomas (2010), the school environment is defined as the overall conditions prevailing throughout the school as observed by students, instructors, and principals. It is the organizational aspects of the school as a community, according to him. Interpersonal relationships, decision making, communication structure, sensitivity to teacher difficulties, attitudes, values, and morals of the entire school are among these qualities. Non-availability of school facilities such as chairs, tables, a good library, teaching aids, textbooks, and so on, school location, school size and class size, dilapidated building, and poor indoor ventilation are some of the environmental factors that work against students' academic performance in economics. According to Evans & Matiu (2001), this factor may be affecting children's physical health because the dilapidated building has been found to exhibit clear signs of sensory irritation, skin rashes, and mental fatigue, all of which have been found capable of reducing students' ability to perform very well (Ogbeifum & Olisa, 2001).

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Poor academic performance at the secondary level, particularly in the terminal stage, has been a major issue in the education sector. Every year, following the yearly release of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination results, the public's dissatisfaction grows since students' performance do not match the government and parental investment (Ogbeifum & Olisa, 2001). All stakeholders are worried about why the system produces graduates with bad outcomes. According to Ogunsaju (2004), the academic standard in all Nigerian educational institutions has fallen far below social standards. The diverse influences of family history, environment, and inadequate teaching on students are among the reasons for this downward trend in student accomplishment. This research is looking into the relationship between student achievement and family background, poor school environment (including problems with student-teacher ratios, school location, school population, classroom ventilation, poor lighting in classrooms, and inconsistent temperatures in classrooms).

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim of this study is to examine the impact of family background and school environment on students academic performance. Specifically but not limited to, other objectives of this study are:

i.          To examine the influence of parental income on students’ academic performance.

ii.        To find out the different school environmental factors that affects academic performance of students

iii.      To examine the influence of parental level of education on academic performance of senior secondary school students

iv.      To examine the influence of parental motivation on students’ academic performance

v.        To determine the effect of school environment on the academic performance of students

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following questions which are in line with the objectives of this study will be answered:

objectives of this study are:

i.          Does parental income influence students’ academic performance?

ii.        What are the different school environmental factors that affects academic performance of students?

iii.      Does parental level of education influence academic performance of senior secondary school students?

iv.      Does parental motivation influence students’ academic performance?

v.        What are the effect of school environment on the academic performance of students?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of this study are significant because they can help provide empirical information in identifying and explaining the numerous family background characteristics and their influence on students' academic achievement.

This study's findings will be valuable to the following people: instructors, students, parents, school guidance counselors, Parents Teachers Association (PTA), educational administrators, and the general public.

This study's findings will be extremely beneficial to teachers. Teachers will recognize the importance of individualizing their teaching by tailoring their teaching techniques and instructional materials to accommodate the students' diverse family backgrounds.

This strategy may produce more positive results than the standard system, which presume that all children come from similar families. The study's findings will also assist teachers in exercising tolerance with slow learners as they change instructional strategies to accommodate varied family backgrounds.

The findings will be extremely useful to students. Students, particularly those from low-income households, will discover that their poor performance is not always their fault. Such understanding will go a long way toward reducing student discontent and dropouts that come as a result of frustration. Rather, students should be encouraged to adjust and help themselves by studying hard at home and making good use of the books and materials available to them in the school library.

Finally, this study will be beneficial to scholars and researchers as it will serve as an existing material for further studies and future references.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will be focused on examining the impact of family background and school environment on students academic performance. Specifically, it will focus on examining the influence of parental income on students’ academic performance, finding out the different school environmental factors that affects academic performance of students, examining the influence of parental level of education on academic performance of senior secondary school students, examining the influence of parental motivation on students’ academic performance and determining the effect of school environment on the academic performance of students.

Teachers and students of selected secondary schools in Gwale LGA of Kano State will serve as enrolled participants for the survey of this study.

1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

This study will be limited to examining the impact of family background and school environment on students academic performance. Specifically, it will be limited to examining the influence of parental income on students’ academic performance, finding out the different school environmental factors that affects academic performance of students, examining the influence of parental level of education on academic performance of senior secondary school students, examining the influence of parental motivation on students’ academic performance and determining the effect of school environment on the academic performance of students.

Teachers and students of selected secondary schools in Gwale LGA of Kano State will serve as enrolled participants for the survey of this study, thus the sample size was limited because only a few respondents were chosen to answer the research instrument, therefore the results cannot be generalized to other secondary schools outside the state.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Impact: a marked effect or influence

Family background: the set of social, economic, cultural, and welfare characteristics of a family, which has been proved by continuous multi-scale education research to be an influential factor in determining student achievement

School environment: refers to the set of relationships that occur among members of a school community that are determined by structural, personal, and functional factors of the educational institution, which provide distinctiveness to schools

Academic performance: is the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has attained their short or long-term educational goals. Completion of educational benchmarks such as secondary school diplomas and bachelor's degrees represent academic achievement.

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