Good parents more important than teachers

Good parenting is more important than good schooling for academic success, a study by a US university has found.

Parents who help with homework, attend school events and read bedtime stories give their children a better chance of success than those who rely solely on teachers to get results, the Daily Express reported.

The study which involved more than 10,000 students found that children with high levels of family involvement in a low-performing school did better than those in high-achieving schools but with little parental input.

"While both school and family involvement are important, the role of the family is stronger when it comes to academic success," Toby Parcel, who led the study at the North Carolina State University, was quoted as saying.

The study was published in the journal Research in Social Stratification and Mobility.