Learning disabilities refer to a variety of disorders that affect the acquisition, retention, understanding, organization and the use of verbal and nonverbal communication [1]. Persons with learning disabilities are persons whose intelligence are average or above average as measured by intelligence test and who performs above average, sometimes highly in schools but who perform very poorly and experience undue difficulties in learning to read and write well or spell or in learning to perform tasks of a numeric nature. Those who are learning disabled are normal in which they receive, perceive, interpret and communicate the contents of materials to be learnt in a formal educational setting. According to Chadha, learning disability is one form of disability prevalent in school going age. This condition in which children of when despite appearing “normal” are unable to perform academically commensurate with their age and ability levels. Learning disability causes a discrepancy between the child’s achievement and their actual intellectual ability. Due to this children with learning disabilities require specialized education. 

Learning disabilities have several implications on the child’s development. To begin with, a child with learning disabilities performs poorly and develops low self esteem. According to Woolery and Balley the child becomes disenfranchised because his/her educational needs are not adequately met in the education services. The disability is a probable cause for the high drop-out rate among primary and secondary school children with learning disabilities. Poor performance of children with learning disabilities has became a common concern of parents, legislatures teachers, counsellors and psychologists. Uwaoma [2] attributes the cause of poor performance of persons with learning disabilities to a combination of personal and institutional factors. The personal factors include the level of individual’s intelligence, knowledge and ability while the institutional factors are family or parental influence. Olayinka pointed out that the family is the bedrock of the society and reported that a stable and well developed childhood can be guaranteed by a stable family background.

The family is seen as the primary environment of the child. According to Fang and Feng [3] family remains the primary environment of the child. The author emphasized that family environment has more chances of increasing or decreasing the intellectual achievement of the child. Akubue and Okolo; defined family as a small kinship structural group with the key function of natural socialization of the new born. Similarly, in Okunniyi [4], family is defined as a primary group of parents, off springs and possibly other members of the household. Family background refers to all the conditions and circumstances in the family which influence the child physically, intellectually and emotionally Muola [5]. Children with LD coming from different family backgrounds are affected differently by such family conditions that are why some children have good family background while some have poor background. Eke [6] noted that with some families, the background way vary from time to time for the same individuals. Formally education therefore remains the vehicle for human development which must start from the family. There are different categories of families. The major categories of families according to Anderson and Taylor include: Traditional family, where the father is the major breadwinner and the mother at home rearing children; divorce families that have been reconstituted following the breaking of marriage; single parent family-likely headed by women; step families with new siblings and new parents stemming from re-marriage.

Family size has to do with the total number of people in a single family which may include, the father, mother, children and even the extended members-all living in one hamlet. According to Alio [7] family size has implication for education. The author emphasized that the size of the family determines to a great extent the relative amount of physical attention and time which each child gets from his parents. Large families are more common among the lower class of the society. Children with learning disabilities in large families may suffer poverty and lack parental encouragement and stimulus which motivate their academic achievement [8]. Similarly, smaller family size has been linked with high academic achievement [9]. Majoribanks [9] further stressed that students with fewer siblings are likely to receive more parental attention and have support that leads to better school performance. 

The economic implication of large family size is better explained in Okunniyi [4] who observed from his study that as families get larger, parents cannot give their children the same amount by individual attention. They could not afford to provide them with so many of the things which will help them to make the best possible use of their years at school such as educational aids and quite comfortable rooms in which to do have work undisturbed by the television, outing to places of interest, leisure time pursuits and appoint unities for travelling. What is most probably important of all, according to him is the fact that the parents of large families were found not to talk with their children to the same extent as parents of small families.

Apart from the structural pattern of the family, another powerful variable in the family that determines the students’ academic achievement is the family Socio-Economic Status (SES). According to Okwulanya [10], the socio-economic status of a child is most commonly determined by combining patent’s educational level, occupational status and income level. Social class and economic status of the parents determined the type of school and the standard of training they desire for their children. The occupation or profession of the parents, the educational level and whether the mother are working or non-working mothers places them and an advantage or disadvantage to evaluate their children’s academic work and monitor their progress. Status is often determined by the individual’s economic attainment, though it is sometimes ascribed on the individual. Okunniyi [4], identified three distinct socio-economic groups or status which are common in many countries. They are: upper class which is made up of rich and business men and top government officials among others; middle class-which consists of skilled workers, professionals and middle ranked government workers and the lower class-which is made up of manual workers, petty traders and low income government officials.

The Socio-economic status of a family is capable of affecting the behaviour of the children and determines their aspiration. Families with high socio-economic status often have more success in preparing their children for school because they typically have access to wide range of providing their young children with high quality child-care, books and encourage children in various activities at home. They also have easy access to information regarding their children’s health, as well as social, emotional and cognitive development [11]. Ojo and Yilma [11] also noted that in call socio-economic groups, parents face major challenges when it comes to providing optimal care and education for their children and these challenges are more pronounced in poor families. Thus, according to them, is because sometimes, when the basic necessities are lacking, parents must place top priority on housing, food, clothing and health care, regarding education materials and books as luxuries. They added that poor families may also have inadequate or limited access to community resources that promote and support children’s development and social readiness. They further asserted that these disadvantages can negatively affect families decisions regarding their children development and learning. This situation, according to Ojo and Yilma [11] may also expose the infants in poor families to a greater risk of entering kindergarten schools unprepared, unlike their peers from rich families.

Parent’s level of education is another important factor to be considered in terms of the wellbeing or downfall of academic performance of children with learning disabilities. According to Gary, students from professional and a lesser extend managerial occupational backgrounds exhibit higher performance. In support of this view, Onochie and Okpalla [12] opined that educational level of parents which is an indicator of socio-economic status has direct influence on a child’s values and academic achievement in the school. They mentioned that children from illiterate families may learn little or nothing from home that can help them develop interest in academics. This is contrast to what is obtainable from children from illiterate families where parents provide atmosphere for the formation of good study habits.

It is against this background that the researcher is interested investigating the influence of family background on academic performance of person with learning disabilities in Uyo Local Government Area, AkwaIbom State. The researcher intends to investigate the variable in the family background with a view of assessing their relative influence on academic performance of students with learning disabilities in Uyo Local Government Area, AkwaIbom State.

Statement of Problem

Most students with learning disabilities in Nigerian schools are at greater risk of poor academic performance in both internal and external examinations (from class assignments assessments, school examination, to Mock, WAEC and NECO examinations). For instance, the available records of WAEC result analysis from 2008 to 2011 show a continuous decline in school certificate examinations.

Government, parents, teachers and students blame one another for students’ poor performance in school parents blame teachers for lack of dedication to duties. The teachers blame government in return for poor salaries hence, they are poorly motivated, parent also accuse government for not equipping the school with learning materials which could compensate for the different areas of learning difficulties for students, While the government in return blame parent for not doing a good work at home on their children in order to succeed in school and the students are blamed for lack of discipline, dedication and interest to learn. In the light of the above issues, the outstanding question is: What is the influence of family background on academic performance of persons with learning disabilities in Uyo Local Government Area?

Objectives 

Specifically, the study intends to achieve the following objectives: 

• Determine the influence of parental level of education on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities

• Ascertain the influence of parental socio-economic status on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities

• Determine the influence of parental occupation on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities

• Ascertain the influence of family size on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities

Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses guided the study:

• There is no significant influence of parental level of education on academic performance of children with learning disabilities

• There is no significant influence of parental socio-economic status on academic performance of children with learning disabilities

• There is no significant influence of parental occupation on academic performance of learner with learning disabilities

• There is no significant influence of family size on academic performance of learner with learning disabilities

Research Design

This study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The design was adopted because according to Akpan, the design and construction of any instrument should ensure optimum responses rate of individuals in the sample. Uyo Local Government Area is chosen for this study since it has a representative sample of the target population. Again, literature indicates high incidence of poor academic achievement among pupils in the study area.

Area of the Study

The study was carried out in Uyo Local Government Area of AkwaIbom State. Uyo Local Government Area is bounded up on the North by Abak, Itu, Ibiono and Ikono Local Government Area, on the East by Uruan Local Government Area and on the South by Ibesipko Asutan, Etinan, NsitIbom and MkpatEnin Local Government Areas. Uyo lies between latitude 2.05 North and longitude 7.92 East. This is within the equatorial rain forest which is a tropical zone that house vegetation of green foliage of trees, shrubs and oil palm. There are four clans that makes up Uyo Local Government Area namely; Etoi, Offot, Oku and Ikono clans. Uyo is the state capital and is thickly populated. The people of Uyo speak Ibibio and are predominantly farmers. Being a cosmopolitan area various economic activities abound. Uyo Local Government is chosen for this study since it has a representative sample of the target population. Again literature indicates high incidence of poor academic achievement among pupils in the study area.

Population of the Study

The population of the study consists of 1,284 Senior Secondary two (SS2) students of two inclusive education centres in AkwaIbom state. St. Louis Inclusive Education centre, Ikot Ekpene and Special Education Centre for children with Special Needs, Mbiabong Etoi Uyo.

Sample and Sampling Technique

The sample size for the study comprised 78 senior secondary two (SS2) students of the two inclusive education centers used for the study. The purposive sampling technique was used by the researcher through class teacher’s nomination to select sample that possess the characteristics needed in the research work. The researcher intentionally used SS2 students as the respondents in the study, considering the fact that, students at this level are more matured and have been academically exposed and thus, able to handle the content of instrumentation of the study.

Instrument for Data Collection

Two instruments were used for this study. A questionnaire and students’ performance test. These instruments were developed by the researcher titled: Family Background Assessment Questionnaire (FBAQ) And Students’ Performance Test (SPT). The questionnaire assessed students’ family background, while the students’ performance test measured students’ performance. 

Validation of Instrument

To ensure the validity of the FBAQ questionnaire and the SPT test, the researcher gave the instruments to three experts in the Departments of Early childhood and Special Education and Educational Foundation, University of Uyo for content and face validation. The advice and suggestions were incorporated into the final draft of the instruments.

Reliability of the Instrument

The instrument was trial-tested using 30 secondary school students from St. Louis Inclusive Education center, Ikot Ekpene and Special Education center for children with special needs Mbiaobng Etoi Uyo, who were not part of the study. The scores from the 30 respondents in the trial testing of the instrument were used in establishing the internal consistency using Kuder Richardson Formula 20 which indicated a reliability index of 0.86.

Method of Data Collection

The researcher personally visit the sample schools on different days with a permission letter signed and stamped by the Head of Department which will be presented by the researcher to the principals of the schools for their approval and support during the research work. The principal of the school introduced the researcher to the sample classroom teacher who acted as a research assistant and nominated suitable sample for the study and helped in administering the instrument for data collection and retrieving it.

Method of Data Analysis

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.5 level of significance.

Hypothesis One

There is no significant influence of parental level of education on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities.

The result in Table 1 shows that an F-ratio of 4.642 with an associated probability value of 0.002 was obtained with regards to the influence of parental level of education on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities. Since the associated probability of 0.002 was less than 0.05, the null hypothesis one which states that there is no significant influence of parental level of education on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities was rejected. This implies that there is a significant influence of parental level of education on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities. The significance of the result caused Post Hoc Scheffe test to be conducted in order to find the independent groups between which the significant difference lie.

Table 1: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of Parental Level of Education on Academic Performance of Learners with Learning Disabilities

From the result in Table 2, it is observed that the significant difference lies in one group, group l and 4 (FSLC and B.Sc/B.Ed) with the highest significant difference (2.59000).

Table 2: Post Hoc Scheffe Test

*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level

Hypothesis Two

There is no significant influence of parental socio-economic on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities.

The result in Table 3 shows that an F-ratio of 8.127 with an associated probability value of 0.001 was obtained with regards to the influence of parental socio-economic on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities. Since the associated probability of 0.001 was less than 0.05, the null hypothesis two which states that there is no significant influence of parental socio-economic on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities was rejected. This implies that there is a significant influence of parental socio-economic on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities. The significance of the result caused Post Hoc Scheffe test to be conducted in order to find the independent groups between which the significant difference lie.

Table 3: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of Parental Socio-Economic on Academic Performance of Learners with Learning Disabilities

From the result in Table 4, it is observed that the significant difference lies in two groups, group l and 3 (Upper Class and Lower Class) and group 2 and 3 (Middle Class and Lower Class) with the highest significant difference of 2.22222 and 1.80556, respectively.

Table 4: Post Hoc Scheffe Test

*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level

Hypothesis Three

There is no significant influence of parental occupation on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities.

The result in Table 5 shows that an F-ratio of 7.136 with an associated probability value of 0.000 was obtained with regards to the influence of parental occupation on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities. Since the associated probability of 0.000 was less than 0.05, the null hypothesis three which states that there is no significant influence of parental occupation on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities was rejected. This implies that there is a significant influence of parental occupation on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities. The significance of the result caused Post Hoc Scheffe test to be conducted in order to find the independent groups between which the significant difference exist.

Table 5: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of Parental Occupation on Academic Performance of Learners with Learning Disabilities

From the result in Table 6, it is observed that the significant difference lies in three groups, group l and 4 (Public servants and Artisans) and group 2 and 3 (Civil servants and Businessmen) and group 2 and 4 (Civil servants and Artisans) with significant difference of 1.66571, 2.84127 and 2.43556, respectively.

Table 6: Post Hoc Scheffe Test 

*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level

Hypothesis Four

There is no significant influence of family size on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities.

The result in Table 7 shows that an F-ratio of 8.971 with an associated probability value of 0.000 was obtained with regards to the influence of family size on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities. Since the associated probability of 0.000 was less than 0.05, the null hypothesis three which states that there is no significant influence of family size on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities was rejected. This implies that there is a significant influence of family size on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities. The significance of the result caused Post Hoc Scheffe test to be conducted in order to find the independent groups between which the significant difference lie.

Table 7: Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of Family Size on Academic Performance of Learners with Learning Disabilities

From the result in Table 8, it is observed that the significant difference lies in one group, group l and 3 (Small and Large) with the highest significant difference (2.48333).

Table 8: Post Hoc Scheffe Test 

*The mean difference is significant at the 0.05 level

The following finding was derived from the study:

• The result indicated that academic performance of learners with learning disabilities in Uyo Local Government Area differs based on parental level of education

• The result indicated a significant influence of parental socio-economic status on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities in Uyo Local Government Area

• The result indicated that there is an influence of parental occupation on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities in Uyo Local Government Area

• The study also indicated that there is an influence of family size on academic performance of learners with learning disabilities in Uyo Local Government Area

The influence of family background has posed great challenges onthe academic performance of learners with learning disabilities in Uyo local Government area. Data were collected, analyzed and interpreted. Based on the finding and discussion of this study, it was concluded that family educational level, socio-economic status, occupation and family size influence the academic performance of learners with learning disabilities in Uyo local Government area of AkwaIbom State.

Recommendations

The following recommendations were made based on the findings of this study:

• The government of AkwaIbom State should provide functional literacy education for adults who have never had the advantage of formal education and an intensive mass literacy campaign should be launched as a matter of priority and a new all-our effort on adult literacy programs throughout Uyo Local Government Area

• The government of AkwaIbom State should give concrete meaning to the idea of equalizing educational opportunities for all children, as well as their physical, mental and emotional disabilities notwithstanding and provide adequate education to all handicap learners in order that they may fully play their roles in the development of AkwaIbom State

• The government should also provide a means of giving financial assistance to parents who experience multiple births like those having twins, triplets, quadruplets sextuplets etc, so as to enable them meet the basic educational needs of these children, especially the low class and middle class population. And also encourage family planning and birth control strategies for families

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