A comparative study of academic performance of grade 12 pupils in grant aided and army aided secondary schools in Lusaka province.
Date
2019
Authors
Fridah Bobo
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Religious bodies make a significant contribution to quality educational provision in Zambia through their Grant Aided Schools. The other set of aided schools include Army Aided in military cantonments whose academic performance for certain schools has been exceptionally very good meeting the set bench mark by Army command. The factors that account for the difference in academic performance between the two sets of schools are unknown. For this reason, the study was carried out to compare the academic performance of learners in Grant Aided and Army Aided Secondary Schools in Lusaka Province. The research design of this study was a quasi-experimental design. The target population for this study was made up of all secondary school Head teachers, Deputy Head teachers, teachers and pupils from the seven selected Grant Aided and Army Aided Schools in Lusaka Province. The sample size for the study was one hundred forty-four (144) respondents consisting of fifty five (55) pupils from grant aided forty five (45) from army aided schools; seven (7) Head teachers, seven (7) Deputy
Head teachers, and thirty (30) Class teachers. The study used simple random and purposive sampling procedures to select participants. Questionnaires and interview schedule were used as instruments for data collection. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS and qualitative data was analyzed thematically to come up with findings. The findings of the study indicate that granted aided schools performed better than army aided schools. Some of the reasons were that
grant aided schools had a smaller number of Grade Twelve (12) pupils per class. Army aided schools had on average of 77.2 pupils while grant aided schools had an average of 37.6 pupils. In terms of the number of teachers teaching grade twelve (12) pupils, it was found that army aided schools had more teachers. Similarly, army aided schools reported to have more grade twelve (12) classes than grant aided schools. The reason for the differences were attributed to better
work attitudes by teachers in grant aided school, better attitude towards school by pupils, high level of discipline and morals and better facilities and programmes. Respondents spoken to at both Army Aided and Grant Aided Schools pointed out that motivation for pupils and teachers was an important factor that was put in place to enhance pupil performance. Most Head teachers as well as class teachers were of the view that the type of school affected a pupil’s performance unlike most pupils who said that the type of school does not affect one’s performance. The study concluded that in comparison, academic performance of grade twelve (12) pupils in Grant Aided Schools was better than those in Army Aided Schools in Lusaka Province.
Description
Thesis of education in sociology of education
Keywords
Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::Education