Family Structure and Parents’ Educational Levels as Correlates of Lower Primary School Pupils’ Academic Achievement in Social Studies in Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

The paper investigated the educational backgrounds of parents of elementary students in Osun state, Nigeria. It aimed to analyze the connection between parents' educational attainment and the educational performance of elementary pupils in the subject of Social Studies. Additionally, the work explored the relationship between family state and the educational achievement of elementary pupils. The investigation employed a descriptive correlational survey research design. The target study comprised pupils aged 5-8 years old and their parents residing in Osun State. The sample population consisted of 300 students and 300 parents, selected through a multistage selection technique. From every selected school, twenty (20) children were chosen using a simple random selection procedure, and all parents of the chosen pupils were purposefully employed for the study, comprising 300 pupils and 300 parents who comprised the study's sample. The two research instruments were “Questionnaire on Family Structure and Parents' Educational Levels” (QFSPEL) and “Pupils' Previous Terms Results in Social Studies” (PPTRSS). The data collected were analyzed statistically using frequency, percentage, and “Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) methods” The research findings shows that the degree of lower primary school children' family structure is very high in Osun State, at 78.5%. The findings found that the level of education of lower primary school children’s parents was high in Osun State, at 58.1% in the study results, a significant and positive correlation (r = 0.885; p < 0.05) between parents' educational levels and the academic achievement of lower primary school students in Social Studies within the study area. On the other hand, the study did not find a significant correlation between family settings and the educational abilities of lower elementary children of study area in Social Studies (r = 1.978; p > 0.05).