Influence of Parental Educational Status on Educational Aspiration of the Tea Tribes’ Adolescents: A Study on Sonitpur District of Assam

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Page: 464-468

Nirmali Puzari¹ and Zulfiqar Ullah Siddiqui² (Department of Education, University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya¹ and Department of Psychology, University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya²)

The present study aimed to examine the educational aspiration levels among the tea tribe adolescents and explore the influence of parental educational status on these aspirations in Sonitpur district of Assam. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population comprised adolescents studying in the tea garden model high schools of Sonitpur district of Assam. 200 students from Classes VIII, IX, and X were selected through stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a standardized Educational Aspiration Scale developed by Kumar, which includes 20 items rated on a four-point scale, yielding scores between 20 and 80. The results revealed that 37.5% of students had average educational aspirations, while 24.5% showed above-average aspirations. However, a considerable percentage (28.5%) fell into the low or below-average categories. Regarding parental education, over 80% of both fathers and mothers had education only up to the primary level or had no formal education. One-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD tests revealed that students whose parents had higher education levels (up to Class 10) had significantly higher educational aspirations compared to those whose parents were uneducated. Maternal education had a slightly stronger influence than paternal education.