EFFECT OF PARENTAL PROFESSION ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Background
to the Study
Education
is generally regarded as one of the most important tools for national development. This could be seen in the
huge amount of fund invested annually by Government for the main purpose of
providing qualitative and quantitative education at all levels in Nigeria. In
the education system of Nigeria, stakeholders such as parents, government and
society play a vital role that needs to be acknowledged. Educators and
researchers have long been interested in exploring variables contributing to
academic performance of students. Academic performance is affected by a number
of factors including age, gender, geographical location , ethnicity, marital
status, socio-economic status, parents‟ education level, parental occupation,
language, income, religious affiliations and school background
The
influence of parental profession on students‟ academic performance in Financial
Accounting needs to be addressed considering the fact that Government expects
good result at the end of SS 3. Parental occupation is considered to have a
place in academic performance of students because the nature of occupation affects
the time parents spend at work and at home and the attention they give to their
children especially in their studies. Maternal employment has overall impact on
the time mothers spend with their children, although one hour increase in
employment is associated with a much smaller reduction in time spent with
children. The truth is that the time consumed by one occupation differs from
the other since the length of training differs as well. Some
professions allow those engaged in them to have more time to themselves and
these include teaching and lecturing, while other professions such as banking,
piloting and sailoring take greater hours of those that are engaged in them.
Although
some parents with busy schedules may make all necessary provisions for their children's
education, children reared under such atmosphere may be delinquent and may not
be serious academically despite all the provisions made for them. Children of
average or poor parents may perform better because their parents have invested
time in the children's education. Hawthorne (2004) has stated that the role
played by parents in their children‟s education and general competencies in
understanding and use of language in understanding some concepts cannot be
ruled out. Moreover, some children tend to emulate their parents in whatever
they do so as to become like them especially in the choice of career and this
can propel them to work harder in their studies. Parents that are medical
doctors may end up having one of their children interested in becoming a
medical doctor and this may encourage the child to work hard in secondary
school to achieve his/her aspiration in the future.
Financial
Accounting, in relation to which the impact of parental profession studied in
this work, is one of the Business Studies‟ subjects offered at the senior
Secondary level. Other Business Studies subjects include Typewriting,
Shorthand, Commerce, Office Practice and Insurance. Financial Accounting can be
defined as a specialized area of instruction that deals directly with business
skills and techniques, business knowledge and facts, business understanding,
economic understanding, business attitudes and appreciations necessary to
understand and adjust to the economic and social institution called
"business" (Udoh, 2003).
Academic performance refers to how
students deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different
tasks given to them by their teachers. Academic performance is the ability to
study and remember facts and being able to communicate the facts and knowledge
verbally or in writing .The academic performance of students may negatively
correlate with the low parental socio-economic status level as it may prevent
the individual in gaining access to sources and resources of learning (Duke,
2000 & Eamon, 2005). Flegm (2005) reports that in educational institutions,
success is measured by academic performance or how well a student meets the
standards set by the institution.
Performance
of students in accounting has not been impressive as reported by researchers
such as (Drennan and Rhode ,2010).However, SSCE results of students studying
Financial Accounting at the secondary school level is poor as reported by
Akinsolu (2010) using WAEC and NECO result analysis. The extent to which
parental profession can influence the performance of students in Financial
Accounting is what the researcher has interest in knowing.
Statement
of the Problem
This study
investigates the influence of parental profession on students‟ academic performance in Financial
Accounting in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State. The challenge of
students‟ poor performance has been a frequent
issue in Nigerian secondary schools and financial accounting is no exception in
this regard. It was in an attempt to find a solution to this that Zwingina
(2009) asserted that Government college were established to promote academic
excellence in secondary education in Nigeria. However, the
decline in academic performance has been attributed to a number of reasons
including the profession of the parents of students. Parental involvement has
been defined and measured in multiple ways, including activities that parents
engage in at home and at school and the positive attitude parents have towards
their child’s education, school and teacher. What is however not clear is the
extent to which parental profession can influence their children’s performance?
This was the intent of this study and it was based on observation of students‟ performance in financial accounting.
Purpose
of the Study
The
major purpose of this research work was to determine the influence of parental
profession on students‟
academic performance in Financial Accounting in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
The specific purpose of the study were to:
1.
determine
the difference in the academic performance of financial accounting students and
the parental profession in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
2.
determine
the difference in the parental profession in teaching/lecturing and medical
services on students‟
academic performance in financial accounting in Ikere Local Government Area of
Ekiti State
3.
determine
the difference in the parental profession in teaching/lecturing and
administration on students‟
academic performance in financial accounting in Ikere Local Government Area of
Ekiti State
4.
assess the
difference in parental profession in medical services with those in
administration on students‟
academic performance in financial accounting Ikere Local Government Area of
Ekiti State
Significance
of the Study
The
result of this research study will be of significance and most beneficial to
parents, education planners, children and school counselors in the following
ways:-
It
is significant for parents to be involved in their children’s academic
activities as their profession may not be the reason for the children’s
academic performance but other factors such as the need to engage extra lesson
teacher at home which may bring about better performance academically.
It
will be of immense benefit to the educational planners as there will be an
awareness through publication of this research work that parental profession
has no effect on students‟
academic performance; instead, if school libraries are equipped with modern
textbooks and computers this may enhance better academic performance.
It
will help students to pay less emphasis on the type of job their parents engage
in as it is not a reason for better/poor academic performance but other factors
like regular class attendance and completion of home work/assignment given by
their subject teacher
It
will be of significance to school counselors so that they can provide the
needed counseling to students that the profession of the their parents has
nothing to do with their academic performance but other factors like
intelligence or diligence are responsible for better academic performance.
Scope
of the Study
There
are various factors that affect academic performance of students in secondary
school. However, this study focused on parents‟ professions in teaching/lecturing,
medical services and administration because they were the major variables in
this study. In the same way, it was delimited to parental profession based on
(biological father or mother).
The
study was also delimited to Financial Accounting as a subject because it was
the subject in focus in this study. it was delimited to Senior Secondary School
students in SS1 and SS2 classes in Ikere Local Government of Ekiti State Ikere
Ekiti.
1.
What is the
difference between the academic performance of financial accounting students
and the parental profession in Ikere Local Government of Ekiti State Ikere Ekiti
2.
What is the
difference between the parental profession in teaching/lecturing and medical
services on students ‟academic
performance in financial accounting in Ikere Local Government of Ekiti State Ikere Ekiti.
3.
What is the
difference between the parental profession in teaching/lecturing and
administration on students‟
academic performance in financial accounting in Ikere Local Government of Ekiti
State Ikere Ekiti .
4.
What is the
difference between parental professions in medical services with those in
administration on students‟
academic performance in financial accounting in Ikere Local Government of Ekiti
State
Research
Hypotheses
In
line with each research question, the following null hypotheses were raised for
this study.
1.
There is no
significant difference between the academic performance of financial accounting
students and the parental profession in government in colleges Ikere Ekiti.
2.
There is no
significant difference between the parental profession in teaching/lecturing
and medical services on students‟ academic performance in financial
accounting in government college Ikere Ekiti.
3.
There is no
significant difference between parental professions in medical services with
those in administration on students‟ academic performance in financial
accounting in government college Ikere Ekiti.
