ABSTRACT
The study examines the effect effects of literacy of parents and pupils academic performance.

The data was obtained through the use of questionnaires.

The target population of the study includes parents, teachers and pupils of 20 randomly selected public and private elementary schools in Ilorin West Local Government Area.

The sum of 100 copies of questionnaires was administered while 89 copies were returned and analyzed.

The T-test and ANOVA was employed for the purpose of the data analysis.

The result reveals that parent literacy has a significant effect (at 5% level of significance) on pupil’s academic performance.

The study recommends that irrespective of gender representation, parents are endeavour to pay closer attention to the pupil’s academic performance; to enhance the pupil’s academic performance, parents are required to be have some literacy; parents are to maintain a good home as being a single parent has proven ineffective on pupil’s academic performance. .

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Education can be regarded as the most important path through which the child’s potential can be developed. In order for the child’s potential to be developed, teachers and parents need to work together to ensure that the child develops to the best of his or her ability (Mpontsheng 2010).

Kok and Rambiyana (2002) cited in Dipontsheng (2010) indicate that education should not be offered for the sake of the school but for the child, family, the community and even the state.
Parents that are intelligent academicians, well educated and professionals provide their children with a favourable environment to motivate or encourage them to develop similar interest and perform well in their parent’s subject areas (Ozurumba, Briggs, Ebuara, and Emanghe, 2007).
In a study of educational achievement of institutions of learning of education and uneducated homes in western Nigeria, Ogunlade (1995) cited in Ozurumba et al (2007) that children of illiterate homes perform worse than their counterparts from the education homes.

Students from this home also study and concentrate in the class a lot more than the former.

Wilton (1975) confirmed the significant relationship between educational background and academic performance. Bamisaiye and

Williams (1971) supported the observations on two of the family background, the elite and traditional household, that the family set up affect the child degree of verbal behaviours, their instruction attitudes, and communication which in turn affects the child academic performance in several courses.

Entwisted and Nisbet (1977) on the child study attributed academic performance at school to the parents attitudes and their level of educational attainment children from the parents who have high interest in science subjects tend to imbibe some attitude towards parental professional occupational subjects which affects their academic performance.
Smart (1992) cited in Entwisted and Nisbet (1977) has concluded, that in most homes today, it is apparent that parents educational level correlate positively with the academic performance of their children, for better educated parents are more likely to give their children practice in their school subjects at home, go to school to find out their progress report and assignment records and function as achievement models
According to Kibaara and Ndirangu (2014) children have two main educators in their lives: their parents and their teachers at school.

Parents are the prime educators until the children attend nursery or start school and remain a major influence on the children’s learning through school and beyond.

There is no clear line to show where parents’ input stops and the teachers’ input begins. The parents and the school both have crucial roles to play and the impact is greater if parents and schools work in partnership (Scott, 2003).

Many parents are already involved in their children’s

education.

Research findings reveal that engaging in leisure activities such as artistic and music related leisure, reading for pleasure and writing for pleasure all have positive effects.

Each of them increases the likelihood of getting a first degree, taking a course in adult education and being a member of a voluntary organisation.

According to Robson (2003), these activities also raise earnings potential in later life.
Today, parental involvement in education of their children is one of the most important ongoing discussions in the field of education.

There is a remarkable boost to the learners’ academic success when parents are involved in their education (Eliason and Jenkins, 2003) cited in Kibaara and Ndirangu (2014).

In some cases, more attention is given on the decline of educational achievement among students.

Kieni-West sub-County is a semi arid area and in most cases the residents experience prolonged drought.

The parents have to travel long distances in search of food when there is no rain and the children are not left behind.

Most pupils miss classes and accompany their parents to go and work on people’s shambas to earn extra cash or be paid with food such as potatoes or maize (Hussein, 2010).

Due to lack of proper follow-up, the area is faced with a high percentage of children not attaining quality grades.
Therefore, this paper examined the effects of literacy of parents and pupils academic performance.

Statement of the Problem
According to Ozurumba et.al, (2007), poor academic performance amongst Federal Capital Territory pupils of elementary school has constituted a serious problem and has become a cause for concern to most parents in different ways.

Government and school heads have been unable to provide adequate solution to the students’ poor academic performance.

Parents have been partly blamed for failing to lay the right foundation in their children, through informal education.

This problem has contributed to a loss of reputation by affected elementary schools of learning in the area.
Research Questions
This research work intends to answer the questions below:
1. What is the academic performance of pupils in English language in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara state?
2. Does parent’s gender influence pupil’s academic performance in English language Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State?
3. Does parent’s academic qualification influence pupil’s academic performance in English language in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State?
4. Does parent’s marital status influence pupil’s academic performance in English language in Ilorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State?
Research Hypotheses
The two hypotheses below were formulated to guide the study,
Ho1: There is no significant effect of parents’ level of education on the academic performance of pupils.
Ho2: There is no significant effect of parents’ level of education on themselves.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to critically ascertain the effects of parental level of education on academic performance of students in Ilorin West Local Government, Kwara State.

The project intends to find out the effects of level of literacy of parents and academic performance of pupils in Ilorin West Local Government Area.
Significance of the study
It is hope that the findings of this study will make various educational stakeholders like head teachers, Parents and Teachers Associations to understand the effects of level of literacy of parents on academic performances of pupils and therefore put appropriate measures to counter the problem.
The study will also help educational planners and policy makers to understand the relevant educational policies to be used to improve pupil’s academic performance irrespective of their parents’ level of literacy.
It is also hoped that the findings of this study will help parents with negative attitude towards education to change their negative attitude and start to assist pupils do homework while at home in order to improve their academic performance.