INFLUENCE OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS IN MINNA METROPOLIS, NIGER STATE.

Abstract

This study investigated the influence of socioeconomic status on the academic achievement of senior secondary school students. The population for the Study comprised of 276 respondents, and a sample of 161 S.S.1 students in Minna metropolis were used for the study. The students were randomly selected. Descriptive survey design was adopted in the study. The instrument used for Data collection was questionnaire which was developed by the researcher and validated by lecturers of Science Education Department, Federal University of Technology, Minna. For data analysis Mean, Standard Deviation and t-test were employed. The result of this study showed the difference between high and low socioeconomic status groups. The study carried out to examine the influence of socioeconomic status on academic achievement of students in Minna metropolis in Niger State, in order to achieve this purpose, three specific objectives were set for the study among which include; to determine the academic achievement among students from wealthy and poor family background at senior secondary School level. This study further reveals that gender does not affect the academic achievement at Secondary School. It is also found that the academic achievement was influenced by the socioeconomic status and those who belonged to wealthy socioeconomic status shows better achievement. The following recommendations were made: students of poor background should be encouraged to participate in different activities so that they can compensate their feelings of inferiority with education and co-curricular achievement. Such activities should also be organized for students of lower class to enable them compete with the students belonging to higher status families.