Sultana Habibullah, Junaid Ashraf.
Factors affecting academic performance of primary school children.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;52(2):47-52.

Objectives: To determine the socio-economic, psychosocial, environmental and student related factors affecting academic performance of public and private primary school children. Study type, settings and duration: Descriptive cross-sectional survey of 600 students (300 each from public and private primary schools) using randomly selected children from Saddar town, Karachi. Subjects and Methods: Using selected schools and children, information was collected on a questionnaire. The factors studied included socio-economic, psychosocial, school and home environment and student related factors. SPSS version 15 was used for data analysis and chi-sq at 0.05 alpha level for significance test. Univariate and multi variate analysis were used to find out the association of the variables. Results: A total of 600 students filled the questionnaire of whom 300 were from private and 300 from public sector schools. The mean age of children was 11.37±1.52 with male to female ratio of 1:1.8 in public schools and 1:0.9 in private schools. Socio-economic status was classified as good, fair and poor using the parent’s job and number of family members working. Almost 34% children belonging to public and 65% to private schools were categorized as good. Among the public school children 65% fathers and 58% mothers were literate while, these figures were 62% and 67% among private school children. Overall 25% school children did not regularly take breakfast. Almost 50% public and 20% private school children remained absent once a week. Overall 35% children did not have adequate sleep and 22% children of public and 14% of private schools were suffering from some kind of illness. Based on BMI overall 24% children were underweight while, obesity was seen in 3% public and 11% private school students. Parent’s help in completing school homework was twice more in those studying in private school (11% public and 22% private) thus showing a better academic performance of students in private school (poor performance seen in 40% public and 16% private). Cognitive behavior evaluated from learning habits and overall psychosocial condition was good in both types of school children and school environment of 43% public and 54% private school was also good. Majority of the schools had no sports or physical training facilities. Using univariate and multivariate analysis it was found that younger age, female gender, better socio-economic condition, habit of taking breakfast, better condition of school, and regular attendance were significantly associated with better academic performance. Conclusion: Academic performance of public school children was poor as compared to private schools. Socio-economic, psychosocial, school and home environment and student’s own factors, affected their academic performance. Policy message: School and out of school factors both need to be improved for achieving good school achievement of primary school children.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com