ABSTRACT

The academic performances among grade 10 learners become a matter of concern in Namibian schools since independence, despite deliberate effort made by the government. Many of the learners perform poorly in their grade 10 examinations, especially in the Onamutai circuit. This situation frustrates everybody and creates a blaming spirit among the Onamutai circuit stakeholders. The public have blamed educators for the failure of learners and the educators on the other hand, have blamed the environment in which schools are located. However, few studies have addressed the factors that contribute to poor performance among learners in urban areas and no study was conducted for the rural schools. Therefore, the focus of this study was to find out the factors that contribute to poor Grade 10 learners‟ performance in the Onamutai circuit in Oshana region.

A mixed research methodology was utilized to gain an understanding of the views of the learners, teachers, principals and parents on the factors that contribute to poor performance of the Grade 10 learners in the Onamutai circuit of Oshana Region. Stratified random sampling was used to select 252 learners and 22 teachers from eight Combined schools and one Senior Secondary school in the Onamutai Circuit, Oshana Region in Namibia who participated in the research by completing questionnaires. Out of 252 only 176 learners returned their questionnaire and only 18 out of 22 teachers returned their questionnaire. Maximum variation sampling was used to select 24 teachers for interviews, and only 16 accepted the interviews. All 12 principals were supposed to be interviewed, but only eight principals accepted the interviews. Homogenous sampling was used to select parents for interviews. Parents were supposed to be 12, but only six accepted the interviews. The

actual total sample for the study was 224 participants, this consisting of 176 learners, 34 teachers (for both questionnaire and interviews), 8 principals and 6 parents. Questionnaires and structured interviews were utilized to collect data from the sample.

The Microsoft Excel spreadsheet was used to sort and analyze quantitative data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected from the questionnaires for teachers and learners. Interpretative data analysis was used to ensure that important constructs, themes and patterns emerged from the data. The results from the analysis of questionnaires showed that the teachers did not use teaching aids when teaching; overcrowded classes resulted in behavioural problems and the home environments for many learners were not conducive for studying.

The results further showed that low English proficiency for teachers and learners, lack of resources, ineffective teaching strategies, negative teachers‟ and learners‟ attitudes toward learning, low socio-economic status of learners, lack of parental involvement and lack of motivation and support contribute to learners‟ poor performance. Some of the strategies that might be used to reduce poor performance of the Grade 10 learners in schools included teaching Life Skills to learners, building more school hostels in rural areas so that learners cannot travel long distances, educating parents about the value of education in order to be actively involved and carrying out further in-depth research and comparative studies on ways of improving the performance of learners in schools in the circuit.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The average pass rates of the three circuits in Oshana region 2004-2010………4 Table 2: Sample of learners per school........................................................ 43

Table 3: Learners participants per school......................................................................... 53

Table 4: Learners‟ ages.................................................................................................... 54

Table 5: Distance travelled by learners from home to school…...................................... 55

Table 6: Teachers‟ competences..................................................................................... 56

Table 7: Learners‟ attitudes toward learning.................................................................... 58

Table 8: The relevance of the curriculum and resources…................................................ 60

Table 9: Socio economic conditions of the learners............................................................ 62

Table 10: Parental involvement in the education of their children…............................... 64

Table 11: Motivation and support received by learners from different groups in the community................................................................................................................... 67

Table 12: Teachers‟ ages and gender…............................................................................ 70

Table 13: Teachers‟ highest education qualifications…................................................... 71

Table 14: Teaching experience of the teachers…............................................................. 72

Table 15: Teachers instructional strategies…................................................................... 73

Table 16: Attitudes of the learners toward learning........................................................ 75