Factors Leading to Poor Academic Performance in Secondary Schools in Luuka District Uganda. A Case Study of St. Steven Kituuto Secondary School.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION

APPROVAL ii

DEDICATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

LISTOFFIGURES ix

ABSTRACT x

CHAPTER ONE 1

1:1. Background 1

1:2. Problem Statement 2

1:3. Purpose of the Study 3

1:4. Objectives of the Study 3

1:5. Research Questions 3

1:6. Scope of the Study 3

1:7. Significance of the Study 3

1:8. Conceptual frame work 4

CHAPTER TWO 6

LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2:0. Introduction 6

2:1:0. School related factors leading to poor performance 6

2:1:1. Inadequacy school facilities, teaching and learning resources like laboratories, libraries,

classrooms, desks among others 6

vi

2:1:2. school~ .7

2:1:3. Meals provision at school and academic performance’ 7

2:1:4. Lack of motivation and academic performance’ 7

2:1:5. Inadequacy teachers and quality’ 8

2:2:0. Student based factors and academic performance’ 9

2:2:1. Indiscipline cases by students and academic performance’ 9

2:2:2. The negative attitudes of students towards study’ 9

2:2:3. Students’ characters like Love affairs, laziness, and poor time management’ 10

2:3:0.Home based factors and academic performance’ 10

2:3:1. Influence of parents’ occupation on academic performance of students 10

2:3:2. Influences of parents’ income on academic performance in secondary schools 11

2:3:3. The parents’ involvement in PTAs 11

CHAPTER THREE 13

3:0. Introduction 13

3:1. Research design 13

3:2, Study population 13

3:3:1. Sample size 13

Table 3:3:1 .Categories of sample 13

3:3:2. Data collection procedure 13

3:4. Methods of data collection 14

3:4:1. Sources of data 14

3:5. Data processing and Analysis 14

CHAPTER FOUR 15

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION. ..................................,,.. 15

VII

4:0. Introduction.15

4:1. School related factors leading to poor academic performance 15

4:1:1. Inadequacy school facilities, teaching and learning materials 15

4:1:2. Inadequacy teachers and quality 15

4:1:3. Lack of motivation by both the teachers and the students 16

4:1:4. Meal provision at schools 17

4:2. Student related factors leading to poor academic performance 17

4:2:1. Indiscipline levels and academic performance of learners 17

4:2:2. Negative attitude of students towards study 18

4:2:3. Students’ characters like laziness, love affairs, poor time management 19

4:3. Home based factors leading to poor academic performance 20

4:3:1. Influence of parents’ occupation on academic leading to poor academic performance, .20

4:3:2. Influence of parents’ income levels on academic performance 20

4:3:3. Influence of educational levels of parents on academic performance 21

4:3:4. The influence of parents’ involvement in PTAs on academic performance 22

CHAPTER FIVE 23

DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 23

5:0. Introduction 23

5:1. Findings 23

5:2. Summary of the findings 24

5:3. Conclusions 24

5:4. Recommendations 25

5.5 Further Research 26

REFERENCES 27

APPENDICES 29

APPENDIX 1 :QUESTIONNAIRES 29

ABSTRACT. This study was conducted from Nawampiti sub county Luuka District. It was carried out to investigate the factors leading to poor academic performance in St. Steven Kituuto secondary school. The purpose of the study were to determine the factors that influence academic performance, to evaluate the root causes of these factors and come up with strategies and conclusions from which recommendations are made by both the government and other stakeholders to make important decisions. The study employed both qualitative and quantitive design in which data was collected through open ended and closed ended questionnaires. A total of 200 respondents were involved in the study in which 75% were students, 20% were parents and 5% teachers. Stratified random sampling was used to get the intended respondents. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and tabulation were used to summarize the information. Results show that poor academic performance in secondary schools in Luuka are due to only three factors that is; school related factors like inadequate school facilities, library and laboratory equipments, poor administration among others. Student related factors for instance absenteeism, escapism, late coming, dodging classes, disrespect of teachers, aggressiveness (indiscipline cases), students’ characters like love affairs, laziness, poor time managers, drug abuse, negative attitudes towards learning (Team No Study). Home based factors for example socio-economic status, parent’s education levels, income levels, occupation, lack of parental support variables. This study wishes to recommend strategies vital for the enhancement of proper administration and management, sound leadership in schools and focused parents. The study observes that proper monitoring and supervisory services to be scrutinized in schools for meaningful academic advancement in the school under study, district and Uganda as a whole.