Abstract

The purpose of the study is to examine influence of family background on academic achievement of pupils in primary schools in Port Harcourt city local Government Area, Rivers state. The specific objectives were: to identify the influence parental socio-economic status, broken home, family size and type have on pupil’s academic performance, and to find out whether educational background of parents has any influence on pupil’s academic achievement. Four structure research questions were developed to guide the study. Descriptive research survey design technique was used in the study. The population of the study comprises of all Government owned (Public) and private primary schools in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area Council with total population of twelve thousand four hundred and thirteen (12,413) while the sample size for the study was comprises of 388 pupils which were determine using yaro yamen and random sampling technique was employed in selecting the sample for the study. The instrument used was researcher’s constructed structure questionnaire on a four point’s likert’s scale type with 5-items in each cluster. The research instrument was validated by an expert in measurement and evaluation, and the researcher’s supervisor. Similarly, the reliability of the instrument was tested using the test-retest method and the data obtained were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation which gives a reliability coefficient of 0.86. Mean and percentage distribution were simple descriptive statistics used in analyzing the research questions while t-test was used to test the hypotheses at the 5% level of significance. The results from the analysis show that family background has significant influence on pupil’s academic achievement. Hence, based on results obtained from the study, recommendation were made to the parents, government and other stake holders in the education industry on how best they can work together to motivate and ensure the pupils achieved academic excellence.