FAMILY SOCIO-ECONOMIC- STATUS AND EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AS PREDICTORS OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS IN MATHEMATICS

The study investigated family socio Economic status and emotional intelligence as predictors of academic achievement among pupils in mathematics. Based on the purpose of the study three research questions guided the study. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of 1,243 primary six pupils from Alvan primary school in Owerri Municipal Council of Imo State. A sample of 300 primary six pupils was selected using simple random sampling technique. The instruments for data collection are Mangal Emotional Intelligence Inventory, Socio-economic Status Scale and Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)in mathematics. The validity of the instruments was done by five experts, two from Measurement and Evaluation, Educational psychology and two from Mathematics Education. The reliability of the instruments was 0.73 and 0.81 determined using test retest method respectively. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions. Results of the study indicated that Socio economic status together with Emotional intelligence have positive relationship with academic achievement of pupils in mathematics. One recommendation among others was that Parents should always try to encourage their children in all that they do and try to give moral support so that the children can be emotionally stable and have confidence in all that they do, whether at school or at home.