PARENTAL EDUCATIONAL LEVELS AND OCCUPATIONS AS DETERMINANTS OF THEIR CHILDREN’S EXAMINATION INTEGRITY AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

This study examined the impact of parental levels of education and occupations on students’ examination integrity and academic performance. It was based on the Cognitive Development Theory (CDT) of learning and the Modified Theory of Planned Behaviour (MTPB). A survey research design was used in the study. Data were collected with an Examination Integrity Measurement Instrument (EIMI) developed by the researchers from 3214 sampled students and their academic performance in their last school examination was collected from their school authorities. The Two-Way ANOVA was used to run the analysis for determining the association or differences between Parental level of Education and Occupations as independent variables; and, Examination Integrity and Academic Performance as dependent variables. It was found that fathers who have Master's Degrees and mothers who have Bachelors's degrees/HND exerted the most significant impact on their children’s examination integrity. Fathers who belong to the Military/Police Occupations and Mothers who are Unemployed have the most significant impact on their children’s examination integrity while parents who belong to the Civil Service and Military/Police Occupations have the most significant impact on their children’s academic performance. It was, therefore, concluded that parental levels of education and occupations significantly impact students’ examination integrity and academic performance and the implications of these findings for adopting proactive strategies against examination malpractices were discussed.