CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1       BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM
            The responsibility of training a child always lies in the hand of the parents. This is congruent with the common assertion sociologist that education can be an instrument of cultural change which is being taught from home is relevant ion this discuss. It is not out of place to imagine that parental socio-economic can have possible effects on the academic achievement of children in school. Whatsoever affect the development environment of children would possibly affect their education or disposition to it. Parental status is one of such variables. When a woman’s nutritional status improves, so too does the nutrition of her young children (Lisa et. al, 2003). Rothestein has asserted as follows; Parents of different occupation classes often have different styles of child rearing, different ways of discipline  their children and different ways of reacting to their children. These differences do not express themselves consistently as expected in the case of every family, rather they influence the average tendencies of families for different occupational classes. (Rothestein, 2004).
            In line with the above ascertain, Hill etal (2004) had also argued that socio-economic status of parents do not only affect the academic performance, but also makes it possible for children from low background to compete well with their counterparts from high socio-economic background under the same academic environment. Moreover, Smith, Fagan and Ulvund (2002) had asserted that significant predicator of intellectual performance at age of 8 years included parental socio-economic status
            Socio-economic status and host of other factors relating to home environment of student such as educational background of parents, health status of students, parental occupation and family size could affect the children academic achievement.
            Socio-economic status can be defined as a person’s overall social position to which attainments in both the social and economic domain contribute. (Ainley etal, 1995).
            Socio-economic status is determined by individual achievements in education, employment, occupational status, income and wealth. Several parents may provide higher levels of psychological support for their children through environment that encourage the development of skills necessary for success at school (Williams etal, 1980, Williams, 1987, Williams etal 1993).
            Socio-economic status is commonly conceptualized as the social standing or class of an individual or group. It is often measured as a combination of education, income and occupation. Examinations of socio-economic status often reveal inequities in access to resources, plus issues related to privilege, power and control.
            The children that comes from low socio-economic households develop academic skills more slowly compared to the children from higher socio-economic background. The rates of school drop out can be traced to the socio-economic status of the parents.
The financial resources or time availability of parents that are of low socio-economic background can not be compared to that of the high socio-economic background. It is very well known that children’s educational outcomes vary sharply with their parents’ socio-economic background. Differences in out comes with parental background emerge early at the pre-school level and are re-inforced in childhood and the teenage years through to tertiary education.