The Disadvantaged: Parental Involvement at Home and Low School Performance

The current study explores the impact of parent’s socioeconomic status on parental involvement in their child’s education at home. Forty Indian students studying in one the best performance-based National Type Tamil Schools in the state of Kedah, Malaysia were chosen based on purposive sampling. The sample was identified as low achievement students, based on the previous final year school examination results. A questionnaire was used by the researcher to obtain quantitative data from the students’ parent; related to the parent’s socio-economic background and their involvement strategies in their children’s education at home. In addition, in-depth interviews with twenty students, that is, five students from each Year were conducted to gather information on their parent’s involvement. The findings of this study indicated that most parents from the low socioeconomic background claimed that they showed high involvement in most of the involvement strategies at home to ensure their child’s education success. However, the education level, employment status, and income among the the parents fom the lower socioeconomic background affect their understanding and their knowledge on the actual values that need to be placed on their child’s education. As a result, there is a lack among these children in terms of good skills, behaviour and values which are extremely important for their academic success.