Effects Of Level Of Literacy Of Parents And Pupils Academic Performance
[A CASE STUDY OF ILORIN WEST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KWARA STATE]

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Education can be regarded as the most important path through which the child’s potential can be developed. In order for the child’s potential to be developed, teachers and parents need to work together to ensure that the child develops to the best of his or her ability (Dipontsheng 2010). Kok and Rambiyana (2002) cited in Dipontsheng (2010) indicate that education should not be offered for the sake of the school but for the child, family, the community and even the state.
Parents that are intelligent academicians, well educated and professionals provide their children with a favourable environment to motivate or encourage them to develop similar interest and perform well in their parent’s subject areas (Ozurumba, Briggs, Ebuara, and Emanghe, 2007).
In a study of educational achievement of institutions of learning of education and uneducated homes in western Nigeria, Ogunlade (1995) cited in Ozurumba et al (2007) that children of illiterate homes perform worse than their counterparts from the education homes. Students from this home also study and concentrate in the class a lot more than the former. Wilton (1975) confirmed the significant relationship between educational background and academic performance. Bamisaiye and Williams (1971) supported the observations on two of the family background, the elite and traditional household, that the family set up affect the child degree of verbal behaviours, their instruction attitudes, and communication which in turn affects the child academic performance in several courses. Entwisted and Nisbet (1977) on the child study attributed academic performance at school to the parents attitudes and their level of educational attainment children from the parents who have high interest in science subjects tend to imbibe some attitude towards parental professional occupational subjects which affects their academic performance.
Smart (1992) cited in Entwisted and Nisbet (1977) has concluded, that in most homes today, it is apparent that parents educational level correlate positively with the academic performance of their children, for better educated parents are more likely to give their children practice in their school subjects at home, go to school to find out their progress report and assignment records and function as achievement models
According to Kibaara and Ndirangu (2014) children have two main educators in their lives: their parents and their teachers at school. Parents are the prime educators until the children attend nursery or start school and remain a major influence on the children’s learning through school and beyond. There is no clear line to show where parents’ input stops and the teachers’ input begins. The parents and the school both have crucial roles to play and the impact is greater if parents and schools work in partnership (Scott, 2003). Many parents are already involved in their children’s education. Research findings reveal that engaging in leisure activities such as artistic and music related leisure, reading for pleasure and writing for pleasure all have positive effects. Each of them increases the likelihood of getting a first degree, taking a course in adult education and being a member of a voluntary organisation. According to Robson (2003), these activities also raise earnings potential in later life.  
Today, parental involvement in education of their children is one of the most important ongoing discussions in the field of education. There is a remarkable boost to the learners’ academic success when parents are involved in their education (Eliason and Jenkins, 2003) cited in Kibaara and Ndirangu (2014). In some cases, more attention is given on the decline of educational achievement among students. Kieni-West sub-County is a semi arid area and in most cases the residents experience prolonged drought. The parents have to travel long distances in search of food when there is no rain and the children are not left behind. Most pupils miss classes and accompany their parents to go and work on people’s shambas to earn extra cash or be paid with food such as potatoes or maize (Hussein, 2010). Due to lack of proper follow-up, the area is faced with a high percentage of children not attaining quality grades.
Therefore, this paper examined the effects of literacy of parents and pupils academic performance.