Abstract
This study examined parental perception as a correlate of girl-child academic attainment in public senior secondary schools in Rivers State. To achieve the purpose of the study, the researcher developed three objectives of the study, three research questions and three hypotheses that guided the conduct of the study. The research design used for the study was a correlational research design. The population of this study was 11,920 parents and senior secondary II (SSII) students of Public Secondary Schools in Port Harcourt Metropolis for the 2024/2025 academic sessions. The sample size of the study was 398 parents and students. This figure was generated using Taro Yamene formula. The simple random sampling technique was employed in the study. This study used self-structured questionnaires for data collection titled “Parental Perception Questionnaire and Girl-Child Academic Attainment Questionnaire. The instruments were divided into two sections. The data collected were analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation for the research questions and test of null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Based on the data analysis, the finding of the study revealed that parental socio-cultural beliefs, parental economic factors and parental education level have significant relationship on girl-child academic attainment in public senior secondary schools in Rivers State. Based on the findings, the study recommends that: government, community leaders, and educational stakeholders should organize awareness campaigns and community sensitization programmes to discourage harmful socio-cultural beliefs that undermine the education of girls, government and non-governmental organizations should introduce scholarships, grants, and financial assistance programmes specifically targeted at supporting the education of the girl-child, especially for families with limited economic resources and Adult education and literacy programmes should be strengthened to improve parents’ level of education and awareness about the importance of education for all children