Effects of home background factors on students’ academic achievement in agricultural sciences in Katsina state, Nigeria

PhD Thesis

Educational goals and systems around the world differ in many respects. The concerns to meet with the national and Katsina State educational goals regarding the supply of human resources stem from the decreasing number of qualified candidates for admission into the field of agriculture in the higher institutions of learning. The overall objective of this study was to establish the effects of home background factors on students’ academic achievement in agricultural sciences in Katsina State, Nigeria. The study was conducted in Katsina State, Nigeria using a cross-sectional research design. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to randomly select 300 respondents from six secondary schools. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected using structured questionnaire, students’ academic scores, focus group discussions and interviews with key informants. Descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations using Cramer’s V, multiple and stepwise regressions were performed to achieve the stated specific objectives of the study. Content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The study findings revealed that, overall students’ academic achievement was generally good. Age of students was found statistically significant to influence academic achievement. The study results also showed that respondents had different perceptions of their family roles as sources of motivation to succeed in their academic pursuits. Yet, the study findings showed that socio-economic characteristics of parents correlate significantly to students’ academic achievement. The study results further showed that there is significant difference in students’ academic achievement among family structure composition. The study results on stepwise regression (at p < 0.05) revealed that measures of parent visits to schools, provision of resource materials, provision of pocket money, parents’ occupation, parents’ education and family feeding as well as residential type positively accounted for more of the variation in students’ academic achievement. Family type and age category of parents inversely affect students’ academic achievement in the study area. The null hypotheses tested were rejected. It is recommended that parents should feature prominently in future educational reforms. This is intended to increase more support to education.

Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND)