Parenting Styles and Pupils’ Academic Performance in Selected Primary Schools in Rusizi Districts Rwanda

ABSTRACT This study was carried out to correlate parenting styles and pupils’ academic performance in selected primary schools in Rusizi District in Rwanda. Specifically, the study wanted (1) to determine the profile of the respondents in terms of age, gender, level of education and type of stakeholder; (2) to determine the extent of parenting styles;(3) to determine the level of Pupils’ academic performance; (4) to establish the significant difference in the level of pupils’ academic performance between male and female pupils; (5) to establish the significant relationship between the extent of parenting styles and the level of pupils’ academic performance. The data were collected from 218 respondents: 109 pupils and 109 parents respectively. The school mark sheet and the standardized questionnaire were used as data collection instruments. To analyse the data, frequencies and percentages were used to determine the profile of the respondents, the mean and standard deviation were used to determine extent of parenting styles and the level of Pupils’ academic performance. One way ANOVA was used to establish the extent of parenting styles and the T-Test was used to establish the level of Pupils’ academic performance. Majority of the parents were between 31-40 and 41-50 years old and the majority of them were female as compared to male parents. Most of them had ordinary level of education. Most of parents-respondents were parents only as type of school stakeholder. Most of pupils-respondents had between 13-15 years old. More than half of the pupilsrespondents were male as compared to their female counterparts. The level of parenting styles was generally good with a mean of 2.55. The pupils’ marks were rated good with a mean of 60.85. It was found that the extent of parenting styles was significantly correlated with the level of Pupils’ academic performance. From the findings, it was revealed that parenting styles has an influence on Pupils’ academic performance. Based on the findings of the study, the following conclusion was drawn: (1) There was a significant difference in the level of Pupils’ academic performance between male pupils and female pupils; (2) The vi extent of parenting styles and the level of Pupils’ academic performance were significantly correlated. Based on the findings of the study, these are recommended: (1) the parent teacher associations should be strengthened in order to facilitate teaching and learning to occur in good conditions. (2) The Ministry of Education should address to the parents to be involved in their children learning particularly those who are in rural areas and with less educational background; (3) The further analysis of parenting styles should be done by researchers in order to achieve efficient and effective learning of children; (4) For the future researchers to investigate these areas: (a) Parentina styles and educational efficiency, (b) Environmental factors and Pupils’ academic performance