Impact of parental support on pre-school pupils’ learning outcomes in the Kasena Nankana Municipality

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine parental support and its perceived impact on pre-school pupils learning in the Kasena Nankana Municipality. The study adopted the descriptive survey as the research design for the study. The total population of pupils was made up of 4,792 participants. The sample for the study was 341. Pupils were randomly sampled from the selected schools in order to reach their respective parents. The instrument used for data collection was a set of questionnaires with reliability co-efficient of 0.96, 0.94 and 0.84, using Cronbach Alpha formula. Frequency distribution tables, and percentages were used analyse the data gathered from the field. Findings from the study revealed that: Importance of parental support to the educational development of the pre-school pupils includes: Enabling the pupils/students to learn seriously, allowing the pupils/students to attend school regularly; students performing well academically; helps in monitoring both teachers and pupils; promoting good morals and social behaviour; making pupils to attend good schools of their preference; solving pupils school related problems; setting high objectives for their future concerns; meeting their psychological needs (of love, economic and security); encouraging irregular pupils to be regular and giving pupils students quality time and personal attention. The findings further revealed that, paying children's welfare (pocket money, transportation to school, canteen); paying of official and approved levies by the Ghana Education Service and PTA dues; ensuring that pupils go to school regularly; feeding pupils before they go to school; providing good hygiene; and giving pupils psychological needs; were the major contributions of parents. It was, however, found that parents do not provide enough motivation for their children to learn even though they ensure they go to school regularly. They do not help them do homework; they do not visit their schools to assess their progress and they do not purchase text books and other materials. The major challenges parents face was financial constraints and large family size. It is recommended that parents should support their children in diverse ways and not restrict their support to only financial commitments and demands.