Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to explain the influence of selected parental factors on students’ academic performance in public secondary schools in Keumbu Division, Kisii County. The specific objectives of this study were: to determine how parents’ education level influence students’ academic performance, to determine whether parental socio-economic status influence students’ academic performance and to find out if parental involvement influenced students’ academic performance in Keumbu Division in Kisii County. The social learning theory by Albert Bandura guided this study. The study employed descriptive survey design. The target population consisted of 5168 students, 16 Director of studies, 16 principals and 10 parents in public secondary schools. The division has 16 public secondary schools which include 1 girl’s school, 2 boys school and 13 mixed schools. Form 2, 3 and 4 students participated in the study. Simple random sampling technique was used to sample 108 students from all the participating schools. The 16 principals, 16 directors of studies and 10 parents were purposively selected to participate in the study. This gave the total sample size of 150.The data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. Content validity of the instrument was established before embarking on the actual study. Reliability of the instruments of research was determined by test- retest technique and a coefficient of 0.7852 was obtained. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics which involved the use of frequencies, percentages and presented by use of tables. It was established that the average grade scored by students whose parents had education level of primary was found to be D+ (plus) translating to average number of points of 4.0000 whereas the average grade scored by students whose parents had education level of secondary was found to be C (plain) translating to average number of points of 6.0000. It was further established that the average grade scored by students whose parents had education level of tertiary was found to be B (plain) translating to average number of points of 9.0000. It was also established that the lower the parents level of education the lower the students average grade and number of points in performance. It was established that the lower the parents socioeconomic
status the lower the students average grade and number of points in performance. It was further established that the lower the parents involvement the lower the students average grade and number of points in performance. Based on the
findings of this study, it can be concluded that the lower the parents level of education the lower the students average grade and number of points in performance. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were made: The Kisii county government should sensitize the parents, that they play a major role in mentoring the students to attain excellent academic performance in examinations.
