CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Background of the study
Education not only provides knowledge and skills, but also inculcates values, training of instincts, fostering right attitude and habits. According to Muhammed and Muhammed (2010) they are of the opinion that, cultural heritage and values are transmitted from one generation to another through Education. The responsibility of training a child always lies in the hand of the parents. This is congruent with the common assertion by sociologist that education can be an instrument of cultural change which is being taught from home is relevant in this discuss. It is not out of place to imagine that parental socio-economic background can have possible effects on the academic achievement of children in school. Whatsoever affect the developmental stage of children would possibly affect their education or disposition to it. Parental status is one of such variables. When a woman’s nutritional status improves, so too does the nutrition of her young children “Parents of different occupational classes often have different styles of child rearing, different ways of disciplining their children and different ways of reacting to 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.” (Rothestein, 2004).
In line with the above assertion, Hill et al. (2004) had also argued that socio-economic status of parents do not only affect the academic performance, but also makes it possible for children from low background to compete with their counterparts from high socio-economic background under the same academic environment. Moreover, Smith, Fagan and Ulvund (2002) had asserted that significant predictor of intellectual performance at age of 8 years included parental socio-economic status (SES). In the same vein, other researchers had posited that parental SES could affect school children as to bring about flexibility to adjustment to the different school schedules (Guerin et al., 2001). The same view is shared by Machebe (2012), in her research, concluded that, parental socio-economic status could influence academic performance of their children at school. In a previous local finding in Nigeria, Oni (2007) and Omoegun (2007) had averred that there is significant difference between the rates of deviant behaviour among students from high and low socio-economic statuses
- STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
There is a suspicion that many parents have withdrawn their children from public schools. This notion is contrary to numerical enrollment figures which obviously have exploded in secondary school. Is it that the upper class families withdraw their children from public schools while parents of the lower class rather enroll their children into government schools? Most children in public schools therefore, may be from similar socio-economic backgrounds. The researchers are poised to find out enrollments patterns in schools and the achievements of the students according to their socio-economic backgrounds. Are these different or the same? The central question in this study therefore is: To what extent do students’ socio-economic backgrounds influence their enrollments and academic performance in secondary schools?
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