Parent Socioeconomic Status on In-School Adolescents’ Attitudes Towards Schooling Questionnaire (Pssiaasq)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

            Parents socio-economic background has a lot of roles to play in students’ achievements as well as their attitude towards schooling.It is key to a students’ life and outside of school, is the most important influence on student learning. Socio-economic status of parents do not only affect the academic performance, but also makes it possible for children from low background to compete with their counterparts from high socio-economic background under the same academic environment (Hill, Castelino, Lansford, Nowlin, Dodge, Bates & Pettit, 2004).

            Socio-economic status is the social standing of an individual in society with respect to his or her level of education, income, type of occupation and general quality of life. It also includes individuals’ access to goods and services in the market place (Ornstein & Levine, 2006). Kaufman, Cooper and McGee (2007) defined socioeconomic status as an access to such resources that enables individuals and/or groups to thrive in the social world.

            Socio-economic status can be defined as a person’s overall social position to which attainments in both the social and economic domain contribute (Loes, 2014). When used in studies of children’s school achievement, it refers to the SES of the parents or family. Socio-economic status is determined by an individual’s achievement in: education; employment and occupational status; and income and wealth. Several comprehensive reviews of the relationship between SES and educational outcomes exist (Bornstein & Bradley, 2003; Makokha & Onditi, 2018).

            Qakes & Rasi (2003) assert that it is a fact that in families where the parents are privileged educationally, socially and economically, they promote a higher level of achievement in their offspring. Sirin (2005), also give assert that the parents give a higher level of psychological support for their children through enriched atmosphere that promotes and encourages the development of skills required for success at school. According to Jeynes (2002), the socio-economic status of a child is usually determined by parental occupation

status, income level and the environment in which the child is brought up.

            According to Peters and Mullis (2007), parents living in urban informal settlements find it hard to provide for their children adequately. Lack of good social amenities and the presence of social evils affect the children attitude in a negative way towards schooling.

            Children in slums across sub-Saharan Africa are less likely to attend school than non-slum children (Buckland, 2000). In Nigeria, children in slums are 35% less likely to attend than non-slum residents (Chen, 2009). The situation of slums in Kenya is similar to that of slums around the world, such as India and Bangladesh. According to Cameron (2010), there were areas in Bangladesh which lack access to government schools and which are too poor for even the lowest cost private education, meaning that they attend school infrequently, repeat years of schooling and have poor achievement. Ramey & Ramey (2004), observe that, in third world countries, families with lower socio- economic status often lack the financial, social and educational support that characterizes high socio-economic status families. Lower socio-economic status parents have inadequate or limited access to community resources that promote and support children’s development and school performance. According to Eamon (2005), at secondary school level, students hailing from low socio-economic status are trained to respect authority and obey orders that employers like in manual labourers.