Asian Journal of Sociological Research

Parental support plays a vital role with respect to the way the adolescent learners conduct themselves in relation to academic achievement and parents in Gem Sub-County have been observed to show minimal parental concern in matters related to academic performance of adolescents.  The study sought to establish parental guidance as a determinant of academic achievement of adolescent learners in public primary schools of Gem Sub-County, Kenya. The study adopted mixed method research approach where concurrent triangulation design was used. Vygotsky Sociocultural theory was used to inform this study. Target population comprised of 119 public primary schools and 22,665 learners from upper primary. Sample size of 377 learners, 36 guidance and counselling teachers, 36 parents and 1QASO participated in the study. Simple random and purposive and saturation sampling techniques were used to select respondents. Questionnaires and interview schedule were used to collect data. Split half technique was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaires and a value of r=0.905 was reported. Data was analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (t-test) while qualitative data was analyzed using thematic approach. Study results were presented in frequency tables, graphs, charts and percentages. Findings revealed that parental support greatly influenced academic performance of adolescent learners at p < 0.05. The results are useful to the Ministry of Education, Policy makers, education stakeholders and head teachers to enlighten parents on the importance of providing guidance to their children at adolescence stage in order to enhance academic performance in primary schools. Guidance and counselling teachers should constantly make follow-ups to ensure every adolescent learner in school receives the required parental support for better academic performance.