Parents’ Socio-Economic Status as Predictor of Academic Achievement of Students in Tertiary Institution in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Education has been usually considered to be the cornerstone and pillow of economic growth and development. With formal schooling, it plays an important role in the enhancement of national development programmes. It is widely believe that to survive in the competitive world economy, quality education is the key variable. The study reported upon in this paper examines the academic performance of sample of 100 students who are in 200 and 300 levels from two departments in The College of Education, Lanlate, Oyo State. This study estimates the individual combined effects of selected family, student, and school characteristics on the student academic performance. The study rely on statistical analysis and the ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis method was employed to empirically substantiate the impact of parents’ socio-economic status on the student’s academic performance. The findings of this study revealed parents’ socio-economic indicators to have a positive significant effect on the academic performance of the college students. Some key findings of the study also reveal that mother educational level, student average monthly income, reading materials and residence, when viewing together, has, to some extent, positive impact in determining students’ academic performance in college of education. It is therefore recommended that government should come up with a white paper that will bridge the gaps between children of the rich and the poor academically. There is need to enlighten parents on active participation by showing much commitment to their students’ academic endeavours.