International Journal of Education and Research Vol. 11 No.

10 October 2023

THE INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL LEVEL OF EDUCATION ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC

ACHIEVEMENT IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE GARISSA SUB-COUNTY,
KENYA

Authors:
1
Faith Bochaberi Nyaberi, 2 Prof.John Mugun Boit ,3 Dr. Janeth Chemeli
1
Student, Moi University, P.O. Box 094-70100, Garissa, Kenya
[email protected]
2
Department of Education Management and Policy Studies, Moi University, Kenya
[email protected]
3
Department of Curriculum Instruction and Education Media, Moi University, Kenya
[email protected]

Corresponding author:
Faith Bochaberi Nyaberi
Email: [email protected]

Abstract
Parental level of education is amongst the widely cited factors affecting student academic achievement in
arid and semi-arid areas. Despite many kinds of research, there has been a persistent low academic
achievement in the Garissa sub-county and scanty literature on parental level of education exists. This study
sought to assess the influence of parental level of education on student academic achievement in selected
secondary schools in Garissa sub-county. Social cognitive theory by Bandura informed the study adopting
concurrent triangulation mixed methods design, and stratified sampling to select 5 private and 3 public
secondary schools proportionally. Purposive and simple random sampling methods were used to select 8
teachers, 8 parents and 306 students forming the study participants, respectively. Quantitative and qualitative
data were collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews,focus group discussions and structured
questionnaires analysed using descriptive, inferential statistics and thematically respectively. Quantitative
findings revealed that; parental level of education had a statistically significant relationship with student
academic achievement at (r=0.83, p<.01). Qualitative findings indicated that educated parents provide
supportive resources and participate in various school activities which promote high student academic
achievement. It was concluded that parental level of education influence student academic achievement.

Keywords: Parental level of education, academic achievement, parental support, parental involvement

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1. Introduction
The parental level of education is the uppermost level of education earned by the mother and father as either
no formal education or uneducated, primary , secondary or tertiary level. The parental level of education
determines the occupation and income earned by the parents. Consequently, these concepts are interrelated
and were therefore not overlooked in this study. For instance,parent’s level of education directly affects the
level of financial gain for the family which has a direct and strong relationship with the facilities available
for children at home influencing children’s academic achievement (Suleman, Aslam, Shakir, Akhtar, Hussain
& Akhtar, 2012). Further, parental level of education determines children’s knowledge, skills and values.
Parents involved in educational activities at home have a positive influence on their kid’s educational
attainment which can be evident in children’s cognition which is a gateway to linguistic and social skills.
Further, educated parents at home offer proper guidance as they already have experience with the heights and
falls of educational decisions by sharing their educational life experiences to motivate children for their
studies.

Moreover, the parental level of education influences parental support and participation in the children’s
academic activities which range from the provision of a conducive home environment for learning, providing
motivational support and monitoring the development of a child (Durisic, 2017). This indicates that parents
are the most influential individuals to children, however, families are unique because of the diverse
circumstances and experiences they go through in terms of the various levels of education attained by the
parents influence the well-being of the children (Murati, 2016).

Student academic achievement is knowledge acquired and assessed using marks and grades that a teacher,
student and school have achieved over a specific period (Narad & Abdullahi, 2016). Lamas (2015)
emphasizes that academic achievement is a product given to the students measured in terms of standardized
grades as a result of learning prompted by teaching activity either by the teacher or the student. Thus, the
significance of students’ achievement is not only evident to the students but also to the secondary schools as
a measure of the success of their education process. Secondary school education is very important as it
provides a ladder to further learning and career choice (Tapia, 2020). Moreover, Secondary schools are to be
well supervised so that learners can be fully equipped with relevant knowledge and skills to become
productive members of their families, societies, nations, and the world (UNESCO, 2017). To achieve
Kenya’s vision 2030 in terms of employability, there is a need to provide quality education which is
established through student academic achievement. However, several factors have been found to influence
academic achievement such as parental level of income and parental occupation, however, student low
academic achievement still persists (Sothan, 2019). Hence, the researcher sought to assess the influence of
the parental level of education on student academic achievement in selected secondary schools in the
Garissa sub-county.

Statement of the Problem

In the Garissa sub-county, there is persistent low student academic achievement in KCSE examinations
despite various government interventions and mechanisms that have been made through funding of schools,
offering of bursaries and scholarships, provision of teachers, and security. A low record of academic
achievement in the Garissa sub-county has been witnessed for the past 6 years in which 80% of the schools
recorded a KCSE mean grade of less than C+ as the minimum entry for universities, (report from CEO,
2021; KUCCPs, 2021) as illustrated below.

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Table 1: KCSE summary of candidates in Garissa sub-county

Year of Number of candidates Number of students Percentage of students

KCSE who sat for KCSE who joined public who joined public
universities universities (%)
2016 3600 700 19.44 %
2017 3780 640 16.93%
2018 4100 400 23.80%
2019 4600 380 8.26%
2020 5000 365 7.30%
2021 5200 320 6.15%
Total 26280 2805 100%
Source: Researcher’s data, (2022)

Moreover, scholars have researched how the parental level of education influences student academic
achievement. For instance, Idris, Hussain & Ahmad (2020) found that students of well educated parents
performed well as compared to students whose parents are less educated. However, despite these findings,
still scanty information still exists. Additionally, this study controlled for the covariates; gender and student
entry behavior, to enable the main effect and the role of parental level of education to be accurately
estimated. The net effect is well-formulated policies and intervention strategies focused on addressing the
perennial problem of low academic achievement of secondary school students in the Garissa sub-county.
Moreover, if the situation of low academic achievement is not addressed, the problem might worsen thus
difficult to attain the sustainable development goal (4) of promoting quality education and Kenya's vision of
2030.

2. Literature Review
In the sustainable development goals (SDGs) of the Vision 2030 agenda, the family is the Centre of social
life essential to the welfare of its members in terms of education and socialization for children including
young people (United Nations, 2015). Several scholars have come into agreement that mothers with higher
levels of education expose higher quality interactions and express better parenting to children as compared to
mothers with lower education levels. Besides,highly educated fathers have better emotional control over their
children than those with low education (Martino, 2020).

According to Miksic, (2022) educated parents are aware of the value of education thus encouraging, guide
and motivate their children to be more focused on better grades. Similarly, providing a favourable home
environment for the students as the provision of basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing. In this study,
the researcher focused on the concept of parental level of education due to its numerous effects on other
variables used to explain the influence on academic achievement. Despite Students’ academic achievement
being determined by several factors (Eze et al. 2020), students’ efforts are reflected in examination results. In
this study, academic achievement was measured using cumulative average marks of the previous terms
converted into standardized grades.

From the reviewed literature, the parental level of education influences their knowledge, beliefs, values, and
goals about giving birth and raising children (Boi, 2020). Additionally, behaviours learnt by children and
their intelligence have more weight than a single cause for predicting academic achievement (Choi & Rhee,
2014; Nichols & Islas, 2016). The parental level of education influences the parental level of involvement in
student academic activities which in turn affects student engagement (Yusuf and Turham, 2018). In addition,
Hernandez & Napierala, (2014) argued that the type of occupation of the parents and the income earned by
them are a result of the parental level of education.

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A study by Sare, Nicholson and Stein (2017) in Ghana took 469 undergraduate students adopting quota
sampling to see the role of parents in academic achievement through continued social, fiscal support and
monitoring. Furthermore, support in terms of resources needs to be provided as well as continuous
supervision of the activities students do while in school. This study centred on secondary school students
taking a sample of 400 students through simple random sampling. In Pakistan, Rana and Khan, (2015) in
their study about the parental level of education and academic achievement asserted that highly educated
parents convey more influence on their children to attain better grades in their studies since they illustrate
great interest and concern by guiding them in their subject and career choice pushing for high academic
achievement. In support, Abu Bakar, (2017) affirmed that parents with high level of education have higher
academic expectations from their children as they attach importance to education as a key to unlocking
greater possibilities. This clearly illustrates that parents have a key role to play in a child’s education highly
educated parents understand the value of education by taking part in guiding and motivating students on how
to attain higher grades for better careers in future.

Idris, Hussain & Nasir, (2020) explored the relationship between parental level of education and their
children’s academic achievement in Mardan district and revealed that highly educated parents contribute
positively to the academic achievement of the children. A sample size of 510 comprising the tenth class of 34
government high school students chosen using systematic random sampling filled out the self developed
questionnaires. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and simple linear regression. The study above
focused only on the government high schools and only self-reported questionnaires to generate data. For this
reason, semi-structured interviews and FGDs were used to collect data and also focused on selected
secondary schools (both public and private schools) filling in the methodological gap.

Khan, Iqbal and Tasneem, (2015) in District Rajanpur, South Punjab examined parental education level and
it’s influence on students academic achievement. A sample of 200 students in Grade 10th randomly in which
oral interviews, observation, and a questionnaire were used for data collection. Their findings illustrated a
significant positive relationship between parent's education level and the academic achievements of students.
This illustrates how the parental level of education is essential for higher grades. The study was done in the
Pakistan Rajanpur district hence the current study was conducted in the Garissa sub-county in Kenya filling
in the contextual gap.

In sub-Saharan Africa, scholars have illustrated how the parental level of education influences the student's
academic achievement. For Instance, in Nigeria, Amoo, Adeyinka and Aderibigbe (2018) in a study about
the perceived effects of the parental socio-economic status on students' academic achievement found a
significant relationship between the parental level of education and student academic achievement. The
above study looked at various socio-economic factors which affect achievements such as parental level of
education, parental level of income and parental occupation, however, this study focused on the parental
level of education and its influence on student academic achievement carried out in Garissa sub-county,
Kenya.

Moreover, Ukap and Bhatia (2019), in a study to determine parental educational background and study
facilities of academic achievement among secondary school students in Calabar, using a sample of 240
students from 6 schools were selected randomly. Data was collected by the use of questionnaires in which a
reliability coefficient of 0.72 was obtained and data was analysed by use of t-tests. Findings indicated a
significant variation between the academic achievement of students with parents with high educational
backgrounds and those from low educational backgrounds.Further it has categorically shown the influence of
both the low and high education levels of parents on academic achievement using t-tests. The current study
employed Pearson correlation and linear regression to demonstrate the influence of parental level of
education on student academic achievement by collecting more data using interviews and focus group
discussions which were not used in the study above.

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Similarly, Abdu-Raheem, (2015), carried out a study on parents' socio-economic status on secondary school
student's academic achievement in Ekiti State and confirmed in the study that there was a relationship
between parents' socio-economic status and the academic achievement of secondary school students. In
addition, Akpan (2020) in a study on academic achievement in biology in public secondary schools in Akwa
Ibom estate in Nigeria, found that parental level of education has a significant positive effect on the
academic achievement of 11 students in senior secondary in biology. This indicates that the parental level of
education is not only essential in the final cumulative grade but also in the individual subjects that are done
by the students. In this, the academic achievement focus was on all the subjects amounting to the end-term
grade. This is because some students pass in some subjects and fail others which cannot aid them in transit to
the next level. In the Garissa sub-county, the problem of low average academic achievement among the
students is still persistent.

In East Africa, for instance, in Tanzania, Madegwa (2019) data reported from the interviews and focus group
discussions, employing a case study research design, purposively selected 60 participants who included
parents, teachers and students reflected that parental level of education significantly influences on student
academic achievement. In this study, a mixed method approach was adopted to provide a comprehensive
insight into the research problem. In Ethiopia, Gobena (2021) found that a statistically significant family
education level contributed to 40.96% of students' academic achievement. In support of Brew, Nketiah and
Koranteng (2021) also asserted that highly educated parents their children are above average academically as
compared to less educated parents. The 40.96% it’s nearly half of the percentage provides a moderately
significant contribution to student academic achievement. The parental level of education is a significant
factor not to be overlooked. Therefore, this current study bridged the contextual gap as it was conducted in
the Garissa sub-county in Kenya.

In Uganda, Onzima (2011) in a study on primary pupils’ educational attainment using a case study approach
of St. Jude Malaba primary school, found that both father and mothers’ levels of education have a significant
effect on the pupils’ educational attainment. This study focused on secondary school students in the Garissa
sub-county using selected 12 schools hence bridging the methodological and contextual gaps. In Kenya, in
Tana-river County, Juma (2016) asserted that parental level of education influences positively students’
academic achievement since parents who are educated appreciate the value of education and hence support
their children in studies through assistance with homework and setting a conducive home environment for
learning.Additionally, they involve themselves in student learning activities such as helping with the
assignments given and providing a sound and favourable learning environment at home.

Moreover, Caroline and Ababu (2019) in a study done in primary schools in Bungoma central sub-county
illustrated that students with educated parents can obtain higher scores in the Kenya Certificate of Primary
Education as compared to those students with less educated parents. In support, a study by Ogweno, Kituri
and Obara (2014) on the academic achievement of 754 agriculture form four students found a positive
correlation between the level of education of the mother and students’ achievement. The current study
focused on 400 students, 8 teachers and 8 parents in the Garissa sub-county.

From the ongoing studies, it’s evident that a mother’s level of education leads to higher grades, However, the
study does not clearly show the relationship and the effect parental level of education has on student
academic achievement, due to the identified gaps and scanty literature in Garissa sub-county, this study was
conducted to examine the influence of parental level of education on student academic achievement
adopting a mixed method approach to gain in-depth insight about the phenomenon and for valid and reliable
findings to solve low student academic achievement in Garissa sub-county.

3. Approach and methodology

The study was reinforced by the pragmatism research paradigm embracing a mixed methods research
approach and the concurrent triangulation in which both the quantitative and qualitative data were given
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equal weight, collected at the same time separately, analysed separately and then the results of the two
databases were merged at the interpretation stage (Creswell & Clark, 2018). The rationale is the qualitative
data was intended to support the quantitative results and provide a comprehensive understanding of the
research problem resulting from collecting both the qualitative and quantitative data. The research was
carried out in the Garissa sub-county, an arid and semi-arid area, located in Garissa County the North-
Eastern part of Kenya which is bounded by four other sub-counties namely; Fafi, Dadaab, Lagdera, and
Balambala sub-counties. The Garissa sub-county has twenty-one (21) secondary schools (8 public and 13
private). The target population comprised all public and private secondary schools, secondary students,
parents and class teachers in the Garissa sub-county.

The study applied both probability and non-probability sampling techniques. The secondary schools in the
Garissa sub-county were selected by the use of stratified proportionate random sampling classified into four
strata as; national schools, extra county, county, and sub-county schools. Further, schools from each stratum
were selected using simple random sampling, allowing the researcher to estimate statistical measures for
each sub-population with no bias to form the sample size of 8 selected schools out of 21 schools. Simple
random sampling was employed to select 400 respondents from a target population of 9676 students to
participate in the study using the sample size formula by Kothari, (2004). The researcher employed simple
random sampling as it provides a generalization of the findings from a sample to the whole population under
study Nevertheless, the 8 teachers from a total of 200, 8 students from 50 and 8 parents from 500 selected
secondary schools were sampled purposively to ensure that only form three class teachers, from three
students (not among the 400 selected using simple random sampling) and form three parents took part in the
study. The rationale of purposive sampling guarantees the researcher discovers individuals with precise
features to participate in a research study (Palinkas, 2015).

Table 2: Summary of the sampled participants, sampling method and data collection method

Category Target Number Sampling method Data collection

Population sampled method
1. Students 9676 400 Proportion Simple Questionnaire
Random
2. Parents 500 8 Purposive Interview
3. Teachers 200 8 Purposive Interview
4 Students 50 8 Purposive FGDs
Total 10426 424
Source: Researcher’s data, (2022)

The researcher employed a questionnaire survey in quantitative data collection. The questionnaire comprised
of two sections namely; the demographic section and the other section collecting numerical data to test the
research hypothesis which included statements on the parental level of education in terms of the highest
levels attained by the parents. The statements required the respondent to tick the appropriate level of the
parent as presented measured as parent uneducated/no formal education, primary level, secondary level,
college level and university level which were analysed by both descriptive and inferential statistics utilizing
the statistical package of social sciences (SPSS vs. 21). The qualitative data were collected using semi-
structured in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) to gather the participants’ perceptions
concerning the research phenomenon which were analysed by identifying themes, categories and patterns
emerging from the information collected. The researcher sought approval from the School of Postgraduate
Studies, Moi University. Research permission from the National Commission for Science and Innovation
(NACOSTI) and the Garissa sub-county education office. Interviews and FGDs were carried out in areas
participants felt were conducive and safe. Consent was obtained from the parents, teachers and students to
participate in the study which they signed voluntarily. To ensure privacy and confidentiality of the
information and participants, pseudonyms were used to protect their identity and the data was stored to the
reach of the researcher alone.
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4. Results and Discussion

4.1 Demographic information

This information was analysed in terms of respondent’s gender and age as illustrated in Table 3 below;

Table 3: demographic information of the respondents

Variable Category Frequency Percentage (%) Category

Frequenc Percentag
y e (%)
Age Below 16 Gender
41 10.9
years
16-18 years 226 60.3 Male 200 53.3
Above 18 Female
108 28.8 175 46.7
years
Total 375 100 Total 375 100

The gender distribution of the respondents in which the majority were males, representing 53.3 % (n=200)
while females were 46.7 %, (n=175). These findings show a gender parity ratio of 0.9 which is closer to 1
which is a reflection of effective government gender policy implementation at lower levels of the education
structure (Werner, 2021)

Further, the findings designate that the majority of the respondents are those whose ages ranged from 16-18
years, (n=226) equivalent to (60.3%) followed by those aged 18 years and above with 28.8%, equal to
(n=108). Finally, the least age group were those below the age of 16 years representing 10.1% (n=41). This
signifies that perceptions of different age groups were evenly captured which is vital in the context of this
study

4.2 Descriptive analysis of the parental level of education

Under the parental level of education, the researcher sought to identify the frequencies, mean and variations
(standard deviation) of parental levels of education attained by the father and mother. The student's responses
to the questionnaire entry as illustrated in Table 4 below

Table 4: mean,standard deviation and variance of parental levels of education

Parent Mean S.E mean Median S.D Variance Range Max Min Mor
eove
Father 2.87 .057 3.00 1.55 2.41 4 5 1 r, the
stud
y
1.96 .051 1.89 foun
Mother 1.00 1.38 4 5 1 d
that
the
mean of a father’s level of education was 2.87, a standard error means of 0.06, a median of 3.00, a variance
of 2.41, a standard deviation of 1.55, a range of 4 and a min-maximum of 1 -5. The mother’s level of
education had a mean of 1.96, a standard error means of 0.05, a median of 1.00, a variance of 1.89, a
standard deviation of 1.38, a range of 4, and a minimum and maximum of 1 and 5

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The researcher sought to examine relationship between the parental level of education and student academic
achievement utilizing Pearson’s Correlation coefficient.Parental level of education was measured in terms of
the father’s and mother’s levels of education. The outcomes are illustrated in table 5 below.

Table 5: Correlation coefficients of parental levels of education and student academic achievement

Construct 1 2 3
1 Student academic achievement 1
2 Father’s level of education .007 1
3 Mother’s level of education .15** .29** 1
Source: Research data (2022),**, correlation is significant at α= 0.01 level (2 tailed)

From Table 5 above, the father’s level of education has a weak positive non-significant relationship with
student academic achievement (r=.007; p<.01) while the mother’s level of education illustrated a weak
positive but significant relationship with the student's academic achievement (r=.15;p<.01) Therefore, from
the hypothesized relationships, mother’s level of education was found significant while father’s level of
education was non-significant with student academic achievement.

Table 6: Regression analysis of the parental level of education and student academic achievement

From Table 6 above the father’s level of education was not significant at F (1,732) = .03, p = 0.86 at p<.01
Adjusted R
2
R Square S.E Change Statistics

Variable R R2 Change F df1 df2 Sig.

Fathers .007a .000 -.001 1.19 .000 .03 1 732 .86

Mothers .14b .02 .020 1.18 .02 15.65 1 730 .00

Predictors: (Constant), Father's level of education; S.E –standard error: at ρ< .01

Predictors: (Constant), Mother's level of education

to predict the outcome variable. Therefore, the father’s level of education has no statistically significant
effect on student academic achievement. However, the coefficient of determination value of R2=.02 indicates
that 2% of the total variation in students' academic achievement can be explained by the mother’s level of
education. The regression model was significant at F (1,730) = 15.65, p =0.00 at p<.01 to predict the
measure variable. This indicates that a mother’s level of education has a positive and statistically significant
effect on student academic achievement.

In support of the above quantitative finding, the qualitative information from the interviews with the teachers
and parents as well as students was analysed. The findings are as illustrated below:

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Figure 1: Summary of the qualitative findings

Research
Theme:The
question:What is
association Categories
the relationship
between parental
between the Parental support
level of education
parental level of Parental
and student
education and involvement
academic
student academic
achievement
achievement?

4.3 Parental support

Parental support involves the provision of educational resources and emotional support to improve student
academic achievement (Roy,2018). The majority of the students and teachers revealed that the support
provided by the parents in terms of resources affects the student's academic achievement in terms of the
average grades attained at the end of the term. Below are some of their responses from the interviews and
FGDs;

[…] Mothers who have gone to school, their children do well in exams recording better grades as
they encourage and motivate them to do well by providing resources such as books, pay fees on time
and food for energy to concentrate in class {Teacher 2}

“My mother is a nurse in one of the public hospitals, she ensures I have enough pocket money, and
school uniforms so that I can be comfortable while in school since I am a full-time border. My final
term grade was a B”. {one of the FGD participants}

The above excerpts indicate that mothers who are educated do support their children with the necessary
resources to facilitate the learning process and further encourage and motivate them to score better grades.
The foregoing findings are supported by the works of Fatima (2020) who asserts that supportive parents keep
check on their children by providing required resources in school for better grades. Moreover, parents need
to play a leading role in supporting their children’s education through the provision of essential resources
which boost academic achievement (Martin, 2018).

Further, a mother said;

“I bond and blend well with my child ensuring that at home we stay in a conducive environment for
learning since I pay a tuition teacher for extra learning away from school, [… ]”{parent 1}

The excerpt above illustrates that educated mothers can provide a very conducive home environment for their
children and also provide extra services at home apart from the school programme, which leads to better
grades. The finding agrees with Younas and Noor (2020) who assert that educational activities at home are
connected to the parental level of education which creates different learning situations hence varied grades
attained.

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4.4 Parental involvement

Parental involvement refers to the sum of effort parents put into child-oriented education and other activities.
The teachers and parents gave their views in both contexts of parental involvement (home and school
involvement) generated from the semi-structured in-depth interviews as illustrated in the verbatim below;

A teacher said;

“When school meetings and other activities are called upon, mothers are the ones who mostly
attend, further following up their children’s academic progress” […] “He added, “[…] however,
“both parents do volunteer by participating in talks to their children on the importance of education,
guide them and instil right values which greatly contributes to their average grades at the end of the
term”. {Teacher 3}

From the above excerpt, parental involvement in the various school activities such as class meetings and
annual parents' meetings enables them to follow up on their children’s academic progress in various subjects.
Further, motivate their children to work hard towards attaining higher grades. This finding is in agreement
with Sekiwu (2020) who asserts children perform better in school when their parents are willing to
participate in school activities and also demonstrate to the less hard-working students the value of schooling,
parental interaction and time spent together equip children with good morals.

Additionally, through guidance and encouragement during class meetings, the less hard-working students are
motivated to improve their achievement as supported by a mother who said;

I spend most of my time with students during class meetings, guiding and advising our children on
how to behave while in school and also motivating them to continue working hard for a brighter
future [...] {Parent Y}.

The above excerpt illustrates that the amount of time a parent spends with the child is of value as they guide,
advise and motivate the children, instilling good discipline while in school for improved academic
achievement. Guiding the children from the moment they are young moulds their character and discipline as
they grow up. This agrees with Herbert and Aujoulat, (2018) who asserted that mothers are the important
players in influencing children's activities in goal attainment. In addition, Ritzen (2018) asserted that mothers
are the primary source of learning while implementing and maintaining socialization, beliefs and values.
From the findings, it emerged that a mother’s level of education has as significant positive relationship with
student academic achievement through the provision of necessary resources and involvement in various
school activities. This finding is in agreement with Idris, Hussain, and Nasir (2020) who assert that educated
mothers can influence the student's academic achievement through parental support with the necessary
resources for learning, involvement in school activities and also creating an enabling and conducive
environment for learning while at home.

However, the education of the father was non-significant in the student’s academic achievement which
concurs with Soharwardi, Fatima, Nazir, and Firdous (2020) who opined that the mother’s level of education
predicts the student's academic results as likened to the father’s level of education. Moreover, Veiga and
Conboy (2016) affirmed that the mother’s level of education is significant in predicting student academic
achievement as compared to the father’s level of education. Contrary, Amuda and Ali (2016) argued that the
parental level of education has no statistical influence on student academic achievement. The discrepancy in
the results above between the influence of the father's level and the mother’s levels of education on student
academic achievement is a result that, in the context of this study the findings are likely to have been
affected by the environmental conditions of the study context, the culture of the people, the religious beliefs
and practices of the host community, how the residents of the area perceive education, and biased

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participants who viewed the researcher as an outsider and not one of their own and were, therefore, reluctant
to give truthful information.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Based on the study findings, the study concluded that educated parents influence their children’s academic
achievement through parental support such as motivating the students, providing the necessary learning
resources, providing extra learning while at home in terms of tuition and parental involvement in school
activities such as attending to school/class meetings, checking the learner’s progress leads to improved
student academic achievement.

In reference of the summary and conclusion above, this study makes the following recommendations.

i. Secondary Schools should carry out parental sensitization on parental support in terms of resources
and involvement in school activities. This could be achieved by scheduling termly activities where
students and their parents interact. For instance, if there are science or language exhibitions that
parents are required by a school policy to attend, it could probably elicit their interest in supporting
their children after observing their achievements.
ii. For children whose parents are less privileged in terms of the provision of the required support
resources, the school management committees should take into consideration the needs of the student
and put a support plan for them. For instance, schools could source support from alumni students and
charity organizations such as NGOs.

REFERENCES

Abdu-Raheem, B. O. (2015). Parents' Socio-Economic Status as Predictor of Secondary School Students'

Academic Performance in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Journal of Education and practice, 6(1), 123-128.

Amuda, B. G., & Ali, D. G. (2016). Parents’ level of education as predictors of academic performance of nce
students of colleges of education in the North-Eastern states of Nigeria. OSR Journal Of Humanities And
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