International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0975-3486, (Print) E-ISSN-2320-5482, July,2013 VOL-IV *ISSUE- 46

Research Paper- Education

A Study about the Influence of Parental Education and Parental Occupation on Academic Achievement of the Students"
July ,2013 * Shri Hemanta Kr. Baruah * Research Scholar, MA in Education , Dibrugarh University, Assam A B S T R A C T
The academic achievement of student is the extent to which a student has achieved the educational goal. There are different factors which influence the academic achievement of the students. In this study, analysis was made about the influence of parental education and parental occupation on academic achievement of students. The study was conducted on a representative sample of 100 students of ninth grade and it was found that parents' education and occupation positively influence the academic achievement of their children.

Introduction Academic achievement is the outcome of education - the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational goals. An academic achievement is something you do or achieve at school, college or university - in class, in a laboratory, library or fieldwork. For good academic achievement or performance of the students, there are different influencing factors. Among these, the education of parents as well as their occupation, takes place as the important influencing factors in their child's academic achievement. Since, the academic achievement of the students reflects his/ her personality and gives the direction for their future career or for the nation building as a whole; everyone should give more importance in this area. Specially, teachers, parents and the policy makers should be more conscious in this regard. At present, many researchers are showing their interest in this field and are conducting studies. Objectives 1. To study the influence of parental qualification on academic achievement of the students. 2. To study the influence of parental occupation on academic achievement of the students. Hypotheses 1. Parental qualification positively influences the academic achievement of school students. (H1) 2. Parental occupation positively influences the academic achievement of students. (H2) Delimitations of The Study 1. The study has been restricted to the normal stu dents and parents only. 2. The study has been restricted to the IXth standard students only. 3. The study has been restricted within Dhakuakhana Town only. (District -Lakhimpur, Assam) Sample The present study was conducted on a sample of 100

students of ninth grade, which included 50 boys and 50 girls selected through random sampling from different schools of Dhakuakhana Town, District Lakhimpur, Assam. Tools Self Prepared questionnaire was used to collect the information relating to school factors and family factors of the students. Academic achievement was taken as the percentage of marks obtained in middle standard Assam School Education Board examination. Statistical Techniques Used Data analysis is done by using descriptive measures like mean, standard deviation, standard error of mean & correlation. Data Collection Data was collected by the investigator himself by personally visiting the schools & meeting the students. The students of each school were apprised of the aim of the study and it was made clear that their response would be kept confidential. Data Analysis -- Conclusion: To test the H1, the influence of qualification of mother and father on the academic achievement of their area was calculated separately. See Table 1 From Table 1, it was found that the average scores of the children's of illiterate mothers were 57.59 which were lowest of all other categories. Table 1 shows that with the increasing level of education of mothers the average scores of children are also increasing. Highest average scores of academic achievement are 75.97 which belong to the children of highly educated mothers. See Table 2 Table 2 shows that children of illiterate fathers were 61.31 which were lowest of all other categories and with the increasing level of education of fathers the average scores of children are also increasing. In case of fathers

RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION

International Indexed & Refereed Research Journal, ISSN 0975-3486, (Print) E-ISSN-2320-5482, July,2013 VOL-IV *ISSUE- 46

Table 1 Parental Qualification (Mothers) and Academic Achievement Of Their Children Qualification Category Code Mean Standard Error Standard Deviation Illiterate Class 5th + Edu1 57.59 1.003 10.097 Class 8th + Edu2 62.31 1.091 10.203 Class 10th & 12th + Edu3 69.65 1.153 10.752 Graduate or above Edu4 75.97 1.323 11.009 Table 2 Parental Qualification (Fathers) and Academic Achievement of Their Children Qualification Category Code Mean Standard Error Standard Deviation Illiterate Class 5th + Edu1 61.31 1.089 10.109 Class 8th + Edu2 65.49 1.101 10.253 Class 10th & 12th + Edu3 71.92 1.213 10.831 Graduate or above Edu4 76.08 1.363 11.390 Table 3 Influence of Parents Occupation on Academic Achievement of Children Category Code Mean Standard Error Standard Deviation Housewife/ Farmer/ daily rated workers etc (not good status) C1 65.21 0.835 10.961 Govt. Job C2 77.93 3.577 8.549 Other job like Private Job/ Profession (good/ middle/high status) C3 72.81 9.057 7.892 we see that highest average scores of academic achieve- See Table 3 ment are 76.08 which belong to the children of graduate It was found that the average scores of the children of fathers and above. There is no significant difference housewives/ farmers/ daily rated workers were 65.21 between the academic achievement of students be- which were lowest of all other categories. Table 3 shows longing to category 3 Table number 1 and 2 represent that highest average scores of academic achievement the influence of the qualification of mother and father are 77.93 which belong to the children of parents holdon the academic achievement of children and in both ing Govt. job. The children of the parents who are doing the cases it was found that qualification of the parents other jobs have got 72.81 as average scores, which is positively influences the academic achievement of the better than the average scores of the students belongchild. But the impact of mother's education is more on ing to category C 1. So we conclude that occupation of the academic achievement of the child as compared to the parents positively influences the academic achievefather. ment of the child. So H1 is accepted and we conclude that qualification of From Tables 3 it is concluded that the occupation of the the parents positively influences the academic achieve- parents positively influences the academic achievement of the child. ment of the child. So the hypothesis number 2 is acTo test the H2, the influence of occupation of mother cepted. and father on the academic achievement of their areas was calculated separately.

R E F E R E N C E
1 LOKESH KOUL 2004, 'Methodology of Educational Research'3rd Edition. Duncan O.D, FEATHERMAN D.L, DUNCAN B. 1972,'Socioeconomic background and achievement' New York: Seminar Press. HAVEMAN R, WOLFE B. 1995 'The determinants of children's attainments: A review of methods and findings' Journal of Economic Literature' 33:1829-1878. WHITE K. R. 1982, 'The relation between socioeconomic status and educational achievement' Psychological Bulletin' 91:461481. FROME P.M, ECCLES J.S. 1998, 'Parents' influence on children's achievement-related perceptions' Journal of Personality and Social Psychology' 74:435-452.

RESEARCH ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION