Parental Engagement in Schooling: A Survey of Secondary Schools in Kwara State, Nigeria

This study inquired about parental engagement (PE) in schooling, focusing on secondary schoolstudents in Kwara State, Nigeria. The study also examined the existing differentials in parental engagements based on school type, geographic location, and students’ academic level. To accomplish the objectives, a descriptive survey design was adopted for the research. One thousand two hundred and ninety-six students were sampled from 72 secondary schools with multi-stage sampling procedures. A questionnaire titled “Parental Engagement Assessment Questionnaire” (PIAQ) was utilized as a data collection instrument. Mean scores, standard deviation, t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were appropriate statistical tools used in analyzing the collected data. The key finding made known was that the general level of parental engagement in schooling among secondary school students in Kwara State was moderate. Explicitly, students in private schools experienced higher PE than those in public schools; students schooling within the Kwara Central senatorial district experienced higher PE than those in Kwara-South and Kwara-North respectively; even in grade 10 students received a higher level of PE compared to those in grade 11and grade 12 respectively. The study concluded that, despite the moderate level of PE in secondary school students schooling, significant disparitiesexistbased on school ownership, geographic/senatorial distribution, and students’ academic level. Thus, further studies are needed to investigate other students’ characteristics that determine PE.