ABSTRACT

This study sought to examine the influence of parents’ child-rearing styles on self-esteem and academic achievement of students in Idah educational zone. Three research questions and two null hypotheses (tested at P<05) guided the study. The design of the study is ex-post facto or causal comparative research design. The sample was made up of four hundred senior secondary class two (SS11) students in Idah educational zone in Kogi State.

Three instruments were used by the researcher to collect the data. There were two questionnaires titled Parents’ Child-Rearing Styles Questionnaire (PCRSQ) used to collect data on students’ perception of their parents’ child-rearing styles and Students’ Self Esteem Scale (SSES) used to assess the state of the students’ self esteem were the researcher-made instruments. The third instrument was the senior secondary school class I students’ term and annual results and their senior secondary school class II term result. The questionnaires were validated by experts from Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The internal consistency reliability measures of the Parents’ Child-Rearing Styles Questionnaire (PCRSQ) and the Students’ Self Esteem Scale (SSES) were ascertained using Cronbach Alpha. Cronbach Alpha is applied to instruments that are not scored dichotomously. For the PCRSQ, an internal consistency reliability estimate of 0.805 was obtained for authoritarian style; 0.695 for authoritative style; and 0.945 for permissive style respectively. The students’ self esteem scale (SSES) yielded 0.862. Mean, standard deviation, and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data collected. Major findings of the study include:   

• Authoritarian, authoritative and permissive parents’ child-rearing styles are dominant in Kogi state.
• Influence of parents’ child-rearing styles on the students’ self-esteem is significant.
• Parents’ child-rearing styles have a significant influence on the students’ academic achievement.

Based on the findings, conclusions were drawn and educational implications were discussed. Among the recommendations made were: that aspects of the secondary school curriculum relating to human growth and development along side the family interaction patterns should be enriched. Government should organize seminars and workshops for parents through the Parents Teachers Association forum. This is to enable the parents have the opportunity to be enlightened regarding the need to adopt authoritative parenting skills that are necessary for ensuring that students become  self confident, independent, and self-propelled.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

          The poor academic achievement of students in Nigeria has been a source of concern to government, educators, and parents. Parents and government are in total agreement that their huge investment in education is not yielding the desired dividend. The great importance of education in the development of` the country can not be overemphasized.  Education is an investment as well as an instrument that can be used to achieve a more rapid economic, social, political, technological, scientific and cultural development in the country. The role of secondary education is to lay the foundation for further education, and if good foundation is laid at this level, there are likely to be no problems at subsequent levels (FRN, 2004).  Regrettably, however, all over the country, there is a consensus of opinion about the poor academic achievement of students in Nigeria (Adebule, 2004).  

Achievement could be said to entail accomplishing whatever task or goal one sets for oneself. Davison Institute (2004) sees achievement as a measure of quality and quantity of success one has in the mastery of knowledge, skills or understandings. It is also the attainment of a standard of excellence (Umeano, 2010). 

Academic achievement is the extent to which students make success in academic work. Donnell, Reeve, and Smith (2005) perceived academic achievement as the extent of an individual’s knowledge in a given task in school. Donnell et al further explained that it indicates how well a learner performed after learning experiences. Academic achievement in the context of this study is the measure of students’ success in their school work (which is either good or poor).

        In recent years, the achievement of students in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) released by West African Examination Council (WAEC) make very grim reading.  According to the West African Examinations Councils Chief Examiners’ Reports for the years 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, out of the 1,275,330 candidates that wrote the examination in May/June 2007, only 325,754 representing 25.54 percent of the entire candidates got credits in a minimum of five subjects including English language and Mathematics. Out of the 1,369,142 candidates that wrote the examination in 2008, only 188,442 got the mandatory minimum of five credits required for admission into the universities. In essence, therefore, only 17 percent of those who wrote the examination succeeded, while 83 percent failed in achieving credits in a minimum of five subjects including English language and Mathematics.  Also the 2009 WAEC result indicated that only 356,981 students, representing 25.99 percent of 1,373,009 candidates that wrote the examination, succeeded in getting the mandatory minimum of five credits required for admission into the tertiary institutions. The statistics revealed that this represents a failure rate of 75 percent. In 2010 May/June exam, only 23 percent passed against 77 percent that failed in getting the mandatory minimum of  five credits required for admission into the tertiary institutions. The  2011 May/June West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) recorded  a mass failure as only 472,906 candidates representing 31 percent of 1, 540,250 that wrote the examination nationwide passed.  These analyses of WEAC results invariably display the academic achievement of our secondary school students as poor.