FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A

1 FACTORS AFFECTING STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE: A CASE STUDY OF PUPLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ILALA DISTRICT, DAR-ES-SALAAM, TANZANIA JAMILLAH H. MAGANGA A DISSERTATION SUBMMITED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE MASTER DEGREE IN EDUCATION ADMINISTARATION, PLANNING AND POLICY STUDIES OF THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA 2016 ii CERTIFICATION The undersigned certifies that he has read and hereby recommends for acceptance by the Open University of Tanzania a dissertation titled: FACTORS AFFECTING Students ACADEMIC Performance: A case of Public Secondary Schools in Ilala District, Dar es Salaam.. Dr. Zacharia R. Rwejuna (Supervisor) .. Date iii COPYRIGHT No part of this dissertation may be reproduced, stored in any retrieved system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise without prior written permission of the author or The Open University of Tanzania on behalf.

2 Iv DECLARATION I, Jamillah Maganga, do hereby declare that, this dissertation is my own work and it has not been submitted for any ACADEMIC award in any other university for a similar or any other degree award.. Signature .. Date v DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my beloved late parents Ms. Mwajuma Mrisho Matwili (mother) and Mr. Haroun Mzee Maganga (father) who encouraged me wholeheartedly in my studies from primary school up to the master s degree level. This work is also dedicated to lovely sons Haroun Massa, Harith Massa and AbdurRahim Massa vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I am especially grateful and thank Almighty God for His gracious love and endless blessings, without Him the entire dream of completing this dissertation would not have been possible.

3 This work is a product of collective efforts, dedication and support from various individuals. I convey special gratitude to my Jamhuri Secondary School fellow Staff for their cooperation. I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to all of them for helping me to achieve my goal. Moreover, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Zacharia R. Rwejuna who generously and tirelessly extended his expertise, guidance, aspirations and contribution to shape the quality of this work. He made constructive criticisms, suggestions and comments that made this dissertation in its present form. Again, I would like to extend my special thanks to my family especially my beloved husband Ahmad Massa, my son Abdallah Massa, my daughters Zainab Massa, Zuhra Massa, and Fatma Massa who were patient during my studies, their encouragement, advice moral and materials support were very important source of motivation to complete my studies.

4 Also I would like to thank my brothers Mzee Maganga, Mrisho Maganga and Karim Maganga as well as my sisters Saadah Maganga, and Safina Maganga for their prayers and encouragement during undertaking of this study. Generally, my sincere gratitude is directed to anyone who, in way or another, assisted to make this study a reality. vii ABSTRACT The study focused on the FACTORS that affect the ACADEMIC performance in secondary schools in Ilala district. The study was guided by the following research objectives: to relate how English capacity among the students affects the student ACADEMIC performance, to relate the how the teaching and learning facilities such as (text books, chemicals facilities) and the students ACADEMIC performance in secondary schools in Ilala District, and to establish how guidance and counseling affect ACADEMIC performance of students in secondary schools.

5 The study employed qualitative research design. Interview, focused group discussion and documentary were employed in data collection. The findings revealed that many learners could not master the English as (LOI), and they had very poor knowledge of vocabularies used in various subjects, they had weak English capacity to the extent of failing to make good and logical sentence in English. Altogether poor capability in English limited their ability to understand concepts in various discipline like Geography, Physics and Chemistry. Further, the results showed that with exception of arts textbooks, Science textbooks were not enough in Ilala Secondary Schools. This limited effective learning of various discipline like Physics. The funding further indicated that the schools were experiencing problems of science on one side and interaction during learning of the other side.

6 Schools were observed to skip formative evaluation because of high costs of stationeries. Lastly, the results showed that many schools had no counselors to counsel teens. The finding further indicated that even if teens were pretending learning, they lost in between many hours for non ACADEMIC activities like charting on email, smart phones and they had poor concentration in their studies. Recommendations to improve the ACADEMIC performance are attached. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATION .. ii COPYRIGHT .. iii DECLARATION .. iv DEDICATION .. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .. vi ABSTRACT .. vii TABLE .. xiii FIGURE .. xiv LIST OF ABBRREVIATIONS .. xv CHAPTER ONE .. 1 INTRODUCTION .. 1 1 Background of the study .. 1 Statement of the 3 Purpose of the Study.

7 3 Objectives of the Study .. 4 Research Questions .. 4 Significance of the Study .. 4 Scope and Delimitations of the Study .. 5 ix Operational Definition of Terms .. 5 Conceptual frame 7 CHAPTER TWO .. 9 LITERATURE REVIEW .. 9 9 The Concept of Ordinary Secondary Education .. 9 Curriculum .. 10 Aims and Objectives of Secondary Education .. 10 Importance of having Ordinary Secondary Schools .. 11 Theoretical Literature Review .. 11 The Role of English Command/Capacity in Influencing Students ACADEMIC Performance in Secondary School .. 12 Effects of Teaching/Learning Facilities on School Performance .. 16 School Guidance and Counseling and Students ACADEMIC Achievement .. 16 Summary .. 19 CHAPTER THREE .. 20 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .. 20 20 Research Design .. 20 Limitations of Qualitative.

8 22 x Location of the 23 Target 23 Data Collection Methods .. 25 Interview .. 25 Focus Group Discussion (FGD) .. 25 Documentary Review .. 26 Justification of Interview Method .. 26 Validity and 27 Data Analysis Techniques .. 28 Ethical 29 Summary of the Chapter .. 29 CHAPTER FOUR .. 30 DATA PRESENTATION AND 30 30 English Ability among Students and ACADEMIC Performance in Ilala Secondary Schools .. 30 Effects of the Teaching and Learning Resource on the ACADEMIC Achievement .. 32 Text Books and ACADEMIC Performance in Ilala Secondary 32 Science Laboratories and the ACADEMIC Performance in Ilala Secondary Schools .. 33 xi Classrooms Congestions and the Student Learning In Ilala Secondary Schools .. 34 Stationeries and ACADEMIC Performance in Ilala Secondary Schools.

9 35 Effects of Counseling Practice on the Students ACADEMIC Performance .. 36 CHAPTER FIVE .. 38 DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS .. 38 38 The English Capacity among Students and ACADEMIC Achievement/Performance .. 38 The Effects of Teaching and Learning Resources on the ACADEMIC Performance .. 40 Textbooks and ACADEMIC Performance .. 40 Science Laboratories and ACADEMIC Performances .. 41 Classroom Congestion and ACADEMIC 42 Stationeries and ACADEMIC Performance in Ilala Secondary Schools .. 43 The Effects of Guidance and Counseling Practice on the Student ACADEMIC Achievement in Ilala District .. 43 CHAPTER SIX .. 46 SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .. 46 Summary .. 46 Summary of Findings .. 46 xii Implications of the Findings .. 47 Conclusion .. 48 49 Areas for Further Research.

10 50 REFERENCES .. 51 APPENDICES .. 55 xiii TABLE Table: : Poor ACADEMIC Performances of Four Secondary Schools 2013-Ilala District .. 3 xiv FIGURE Figure : Conceptual Framework for Studying FACTORS AFFECTING Students ACADEMIC Performances in Secondary Schools .. 8 xv LIST OF ABBRREVIATIONS BAKITA Baraza la Kiswahili Tanzania CSEE Certificate of Secondary Education FGD Focus Group Discussion LoI Language of Instruction NECTA National Examination Council of Tanzania SEDP Secondary Education Development Plan 1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Introduction Schools, colleges and universities have no worth without students. Students are most essential asset for any educational institute. The social and economic development of the country is directly linked with students performance.