INFLUENCE OF PARENTS’ SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE STUDENTS
ABSTRACT
This study was undertaken to investigate the influence of parents’ socio-economic status on academic performance of agricultural science students in secondary school in Kano State, Nigeria. The study had four objectives, with four research questions that guided the study. Four null hypotheses were formulated and tested at the probability 0.05 level of significance at relevant degree of freedom. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study was 9008 agricultural students and the sample size was 368 respondents. Random sampling technique was used in drawing the sample size. The reviewed literature provided content for academic performance of students. Data were collected using structured questionnaire which lasted for six weeks. Descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) was used to answer the research questions and independent t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Findings among others revealed that there was significant influence of parent’s level of education on the academic performance of students in agricultural science in secondary schools in Kano State, Nigeria. Based on the findings of this study, the researcher recommended amongst others that parents’ should provide educational facilities to their wards to enhance the educational outcomes in agricultural science.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Agricultural science is a discipline that is concerned with the art and science of crop and animal husbandry to the benefit of man and his environment. It involves moving crop and animal products from production until that reach the final consumer. Rubentein (2003) sees agricultural science as a deliberate effort to modify a portion of the earth‟s surface through the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for sustenance or economic gain. Rimando (2004) views agricultural science as the systematic raising of useful plants and livestock under the management of man. Agricultural science is therefore seen as the cultivation of soil for raising crops and livestock for producing plants and animals and the preparation of such products for man‟s use and their disposal through market outlet. Agricultural science also seeks to prepare and develop students‟ abilities to make a beginning in farming to be efficiently done.
The subject matter of agricultural science covers not only crops and livestock production but also areas relating to soil management, machinery operation, processing, marketing and storage of farm produce. The National Policy on Education (NPE, 2004) and the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Act of 2004 both provide for the study of agricultural science for 6 years of primary school and 3 years of junior secondary school. The major difference lies in the structure of the new curriculum of primary school and junior secondary school, which is to run for 9 years of continuous schooling. The study of Agricultural science was introduced into the secondary school curriculum in 1967. But with the commencement of 6-3-3-4 system of education in 1980s, agricultural science was made a core subject both in the junior and senior secondary school curricula.