Investigating the Benefits of St.Edmunds secondary School from its transformation from Boarding to a Day School
Date
2011-12-09
Authors
Chomba, Gertrude M
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Abstract
This dissertation considers the benefits of St. Edmunds Secondary School to the community as a day school. To cover the subject, reasons St. Edmunds was changed to a day school from a boarding school and problems it faced as a day school were investigated.
Ever since boarding facilities were phased out in 1985 at St. Edmunds Secondary School, attempts have been made by the Ministry of Education and other stake holders to restore boarding facilities at the school. Yet, the proprietors, Christian Brothers, have gone ahead with the provision of day school facilities charging that St. Edmunds has more benefits as a day school than it had as a boarding school. The study therefore, sought to establish the benefits of St. Edmunds Secondary school as a day school to the community.
A total of fifty (50) respondents were selected for the study consisting of representatives of pupils, teachers, Christian Brothers, community members and the Ministry of Education (MoE), respectively.
The research instruments employed in the study were: questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in the study. Thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data, while Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used to analyze quantitative data.From the study, respondents cited increased enrollment for local children, affordable school fees and community participation in decision making at school as some of the major benefits of St Edmunds as a day school.The study however, found out that St. Edmunds as a day school experienced several challenges; namely; poor academic performance, long distances covered by pupils, high absenteeism rate and indiscipline among pupils.The research concluded that St. Edmunds was more beneficial as a boarding school to the community of Mazabuka than a day school.
On the basis of the research findings, some of the recommendations were that: the community of Mazabuka and the school should ensure that the root cause of the challenges are identified and dealt with, while the Christian Brothers should ensure that a consensus is reached with the community as to whether St. Edmunds must continue as a day school or revert to a boarding school.
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Boarding schools(st.Edmunds secondary school)--Zambia , School management and organization--Zambia