Socio-economic status of parents and academic performance of pupils in some selected basic schools in Odoben township

Abstract

This study aimed at examining the influence of socio-economic status of parents on the academic performance of pupils in selected schools in the Odoben township in the Asikuma-Odeben-Brakwa District. The objectives of the study were to find out the socioeconomic background of parents of the pupils, analyse the performance of pupils in junior high schools in Odoben township and determine the relationship between the socio economic status of parents and the academic performance of pupils. The Social Constructivism theory was used to guide the study. The study aligned itself to the positivist philosophical paradigm hence the quantitative research approach was used with descriptive survey as the research design. A sample of 200 respondents from five (5) basic schools within the Odoben township were used for the study. Stratified sand simple random sampling techniques were used to select the school and respondents. The data was gathered directly from the respondents using a structure questionnaire. Data was analyzed quantitatively using frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviations to examine the influence of socio-economic status of parents on pupils‘ academic performance. The study found that the socio-economic status of parents of the pupils is low. It was also realized that majority of the students performed below average. The statistical analysis of results also pointed to the fact that there is no significant relationship between the socio-economic status of parents and the academic performance of pupils. The study recommended that parents should be encouraged to get involved in their children‘s education irrespective of University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh ix their socio-economic status. The Ghana Education Service should also see the need to intensify public education and sensitization as well as create the awareness amongst parent on how their involvement is so crucial to in improving the quality of their children‘s education through encouragement, provision of educational materials and participation.