The causes of low academic performances in secondary schools

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2017 in the subject Pedagogy - School Pedagogics, grade: A, Atlantic International University, language: English, abstract: This study was carried out in Kabale district to ascertain the factors responsible for poor academic performance in secondary schools. Both purposive and simple random sampling methods were used to select respondents. Both primary data and secondary data was collected and analyzed. A number of studies have found out that there are various factors that are responsible for a poor academic performance in secondary schools. However, there is a gap in studies of low academic performance in Kabale district.

Academic performance is undoubtedly a research drive at the heart of educators, teachers, psychologists, policy makers, parents and guardians, social workers etc. in their attempts to investigate what determines academic outcomes of learners, they have come up with more questions than answers. In recent, prior literature has shown that learning outcomes (academic achievement and academic performance) have been determined by such variables as family, schools, society and motivational factors.

National governments have tried to invest heavily in education in order to improve accessibility and quality of education both the secondary and primary schools. They have however not taken university education as a priority. The upper secondary education however has received little attention by governments and donor agencies a factor that could have contributed to the poor academic performance in secondary schools. The quality of education at primary section depends on the quality of teachers and their competence, their capacity the teaching and learning process and is widely recognized that the quality of teachers and teaching lies at the heart of all schooling systems intending to offer quality education.