Assessment of students’ academic performance under secondary education development plan (SEDP I) implementation: the case of Nyamagana district, Tanzania

Abstract

The study was conducted to assess students’ academic performance under Secondary Education Development Plan (SEDP I) implementation in Nyamagana District, Tanzania. Data were collected using both structured and non-structured interviews. Field observations and secondary data supplemented the data collected using questionnaires. Purposive sampling procedure was used to select 5 schools that were in place before and after SEDP 1 implementation. At the school level, 12 teachers and 8 students from each school were randomly picked leading to a sample size of 100 respondents. The collected data were analyzed using SSPS software. The results indicated that there was no significant difference (P < 0.05) in students academic performance before and after SEDP I implementation. The results suggested that major factors which could have affected students’ academic performance included poor teaching/learning environment such as inadequate classrooms, text books, basic laboratory and library equipment/facilities. These were largely attributed to inadequate funding of the planned activities, misallocation of funds, poor participation by the key stakeholders and untimely disbursement of funds. In light of the above, it is recommended that successful implementation of future similar programmes should take into consideration the following: (1) Provision of adequate funds for budgeted activities and proper financial management, (2) Sensitization of key stakeholders in programme/project management, (3) Provision of regular in service training to teachers aiming at improving teaching methodology and professional skills, and (4) training more teachers in mathematics and science based subjects in order to reduce the existing deficit.