Abstract

PARENTAL DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES AS FACTORS INFLUENCING PUPILS’ PERFORMANCE IN MATHEMATICS IN SELECTED PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN ZARIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT: IMPLICATION FOR SCHOOL COUNSELLING

Salaudeen, Taofeeq Sola and Azeez, Luqman Adetunji

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Abstract This study investigated the influence of Parental Demographic Variables on Pupils’ performance in Mathematics in selected Primary Schools in Zaria Local Government, Kaduna State. The study adopted survey research design while simple random sampling was used to select 140 primary six pupils as sample for the study. Three research questions were answered. The instrument used for data collection was a self-designed questionnaire. The instrument was titled “Parental Influence and Mathematics Learning Questionnaire (PIMLQ). The instrument was pilot tested using twenty pupils from two schools different from those selected for the study. The reliability index obtained was 0.69 using Cronbach alpha coefficient. The responses were analyzed using frequency counts and percentages. The study found that parental occupation, their educational attainments significantly affect pupils’ performance in Mathematics but parental socioeconomic status not necessarily affects pupils performance in Mathematics. The study recommended that parents should support their children in their learning of Mathematics irrespective of their occupation, learned parents should make sure that their educational attainments reflect in their wards’ performance in Mathematics and the illiterates should support themselves with those who know in the education of their children while teachers should understand and appreciate the diverse domestic environment of their pupils and should be treated as such. Key words: Parental demographic variables, Academic performance, Mathematics, school counselling.

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