Geo-socio-economic determinants of primary school pupils’ achievement in English language and Mathematics in Niger Delta, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of geo-socio-economic factors of environmental degradation, school location, poverty, parental involvement in education and pupils, school attendance on their achievement in English language and Mathematics in the Niger Delta region, Nigeria. The study adopted correlational design. The sample size is made up of 1200 public primary six pupils and their parents. Five instruments: Poverty Questionnaire (r = 0.73), Environmental Degradation Level Scale (r = 0.81), Parental Involvement Scale (r = 0.79), Pupils’ Mathematics Achievement Test (r = 0.71) and English Achievement Test (r = 0.79) were developed by the researcher. Pupils’ school attendance scores were obtained from school records. Pearson correlation coefficients, path analysis and multiple regression were used for data analysis. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Environmental degradation (β = .073; .065), at-home parental involvement (β = .110; .169) and at-school parental involvement (β = -.084; -.096) had statistically significant direct effects on pupils’ achievement in English language and Mathematics. School location (β = .066) and school attendance (β = .086) had direct effects on English; while poverty (β = .082) and English language (β = .276) had direct effects on Mathematics. 2%, that is, (R² adj = .021) of the variation in English language achievement and 3.3%, that is, (R² adj = .033) of the variation in Mathematics were accounted for by these factors. This study underscores the importance of good policy which when predicated on good politics will lead to socio-economic growth and success of the educational system in the region.

Keywords: Environmental degradation, poverty, school location, parental involvement, achievement determinants.