Parents Socio-Cultural Factors on Girl Child Academic Performance Among Senior Secondary School Students in Wamakko Local Government, Sokoto, Implication for Counselling
*1Hajara Haliru and 2Umar Abdullahi Abboh
*1Department of Counselling Psychology, Sokoto State University, Sokoto
2Department of Business Administration, College of Administrative and Business Studies, Umaru Ali Shinkafi Polytechnic Sokoto State Nigeria. Email: auabboh@gmail.com
Abstract
This study examined the parental socio-cultural factors on the academic performance of the girl-child in selected senior secondary schools in Wamakko Local Government Area, Sokoto State, Nigeria. The research was necessitated by persistent challenges including early marriage, gender-biased cultural norms, parental illiteracy, and economic constraints that hinder girls' educational attainment in the region. Guided by Feminist Theory, the study adopted a descriptive survey research design with a sample of 346 senior secondary school girls drawn from three public schools using purposive and random sampling techniques. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire adapted from Mgalula (2017) and an Academic Performance Test in English and Mathematics. The instrument was validated by experts and achieved a reliability coefficient of 0.76 through test-retest method. Four research questions and four null hypotheses guided the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and Multiple Regression Analysis at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that although respondents perceived parental education, beliefs, awareness, and economic status as positively influencing their academic experiences, inferential statistics showed no significant relationships between these socio-cultural factors and academic performance (r = -0.014 to 0.014, p > 0.05). The multiple regression model indicated that the four factors jointly did not predict academic performance (R² = 0.00, F = 0.04, p = 0.997). The study concluded that while parental socio-cultural factors descriptively influence girls' learning environment, their effect on measurable academic outcomes is moderated by broader contextual variables. Recommendations include community sensitization programs, counselling interventions, scholarship schemes, and policy reforms to address socio-cultural barriers and promote girl-child education in Sokoto State.
Keywords: Parental, Socio-Cultural, Factors, Academic, Performance, Girl-child
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