HARARE/ CHITUNGWIZA REGIONAL CAMPUS

AN ASSESSMENT ON THE REASONS FOR THE POOR PERFORMANCE OF GRADE

7 RESULTS IN FIVE PFUNGWE SCHOOLS IN UZUMBA MARAMBA PFUNGWE
DISTRICT

BY

JONGA RUTH FUNGISAI

P0504237B

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY IN

PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE BACHELOR OF
EDUCATION DEGREE IN EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT

ZIMBABWE OPEN UNIVERSITY

HARARE, ZIMBABWE

YEAR: 2023

1
 RELEASE FORM

NAME OF AUTHOR: Ruth Fungisai Jonga

TITLE OF PROJECT: An assessment on the reasons for the poor performance of Grade 7
results in five schools in Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe District.
DEGREE FOR WHICH
PROJECT IS PRESENTED: Bachelor of Education in Educational Management
YEAR GRANTED: 2023

Permission is hereby granted to the Zimbabwe Open University Library to produce single copies
of this project and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes
only.
The author reserves other publication rights and neither the project nor extensive extracts from it
may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's written permission.

SIGNED

PERMANENT ADDRESS:Maramba Primary School

Box 009
Mutawatawa

EMAIL ruthfungisai@gmail.com

DATE: 2023

2
 APPROVAL FORM

The undersigned certify that they have read and recommended to the Zimbabwe Open University
for acceptance; a research project entitled: “An assessment on the reasons for the poor
performance of Grade 7 results in five schools in Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe District,”
submitted by Ruth F. Jonga in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor
of Education in Educational Management.

...................................................................................................
SUPERVISOR(S)

............................................... ...............................

PROGRAMME/SUBJECT COORDINATOR

………………………………………………………………………………………….

EXTERNAL EXAMINER(S)
DATE:………………………………………………………………………..

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 ABSTRACT

For a number of years primary schools in UMP District have been performing poorly in the
Zimbabwe Schools Examinations. Both the schools and individual pupils have not yet accrued
the full benefits of the competency based curriculum. This study assessed the causes of poor
performance among pupils in selected schools within UMP District, Zimbabwe.
Specifically, the study determined the profile of teachers ('Respondents') age, gender and level of
qualifications. This study employed casual- comparative design that seeks to discover possible
causes and effects of behavior patterns or personal characteristics. Questionnaires and interview
guides were used in the collection of data. Data was then presented in percentages and frequency
distribution tables. The findings from the study revealed the following: The pupils need to be
encouraged to work harder on their own supplementary time. In addition, teaching/learning
resources need to be made adequate and the school needs general improvement to be conducive
to better learning. Further research can be conducted to investigate the impact of Free Primary
Education on pupil's enrollment in primary schools in Zimbabwe.

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DECLARATION
I Jonga Ruth F, declare that this project is my original work and has never been presented to any

other university for any academic award.

Signature:

Date: 2023

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DEDICATION

To my beloved daughters Starleen and Shannabyta, my son, Talent and my sister Confidence,
you made every moment and opportunity worthwhile.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge that it was through God’s favour that inspired

me to successfully complete this project. To Him is the glory. A very sincere thank you and

appreciation is extended to my supervisor Mr. Misheck Masango, for his unequalled support,

guidance and exhortation throughout the thorny research journey together with the entire staff of

the Department of Educational Studies for their unwavering support. I would also like to

acknowledge the following: The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education for giving me

permission to assess the reasons for the poor performance of Grade 7 learners in primary schools

in Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe District of Mashonaland East Province. Sir Chiutsi for editing the

project and his insightful views on the project and all the school managers and educators who

participated in this study for permitting me to conduct face-to-face interviews with them and

agreeing to filling in the questionnaires.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

COVER PAGE i
RELEASE FORM ii
APPROVAL FORM iii
ABSTRACT iv
DECLARATION v
DEDICATION vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS viii
LIST OF FIGURES ix
LIST OF TABLES x
LIST OF APPENDICES xi

CHAPTER 1: THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Background 10
Problem statement 11
Purpose of the study 11
Objectives of the study 11
Research questions 12

RESEARCH OBJECTVES. 12

Significance of the study 12

Assumptions guiding the study 13
Delimitations of the study 13
Limitation of the study 13
Definition of terms/concepts 14

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction 16
Teaching and Learning Resources18
Teacher-Pupil ratio 19
Choice of school attended 21

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Chapter summary 23

CHAPTER III RESEACH METHODOLOGY

Introduction24
Research Design24
Population 24
Sampling design and participants 25
Sampling procedures, and sampling techniques 25
Research Instruments 25
The Questionnaires 26
The Interview 26
Semi - Structured Interview 27
Document Analysis 27
Data Collection Procedures 27
Data-presentation 27
Chapter summary 27

CHAPTER IV: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Introduction32
Response rate32
Teachers bio-data 33
Distribution by gender 34
Age of respondents 34
Teachers analysis35
Summary of responses on the factors that influence academic performance36
Summary measuring the effects of teacher- pupil ratio on academic performance 37
Presentation and analysis of findings 38 Interview
response rate 38
Factors influencing performance 39
Summary 39

CHAPTER V SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction 40
Summary40
Conclusions 41
Recommendation for further study43
Areas of further research 44

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Summary of the findings 45
Summary of the findings 45
References 45
Appendix 46
Letters

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 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: 4.1.1 Response rate page 32

Table 4.2.2.2.1 respondents’ work experience page 33

Table 4.3 Distribution of respondents by gender page 33

Table 5: 4.3.2.1 Age of respondents page 34

Table 6: 4.4.1 Relationship between school attended and pupil's performance page 35

Table 7: 4.4.2.1 Summary of responses page 36

Table 8: 4.4.3.1 Summary page 37

Table 9: 4.4.4.1 Summary on factors influencing performance page 38

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 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: 4.4.1 Summary of responses page 35

Figure 2: 4.4.3.1 Summary measuring the effects of teacher-pupil ratio page 37

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 LIST OF APPENDICES

Questionnaire for teachers page 46

Profile of Respondents page 51
ZOU permission letter page 52
District permission letter page 53
Provincial permission letter page 54

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 CHAPTER ONE

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

1.0 Introduction

This chapter discusses the background of the problem, statement of the problem, purpose of the

study, objectives of study, and research questions, delimitations and limitations in this study will

be put down.

1.1 Background of the Study

A number of studies have been carried out by specific researchers to identify the reasons for the

poor performance of Grade 7 Results in learners. Like other public examinations. ZIMSEC

Grade 7 Examination is a form of summative evaluation which measures the outcome of the

learning process rather than the process itself. What is deemed a fail falling below a set standard

is a reflection of a disadvantaged education process Indongole (2017). Learning environments

differ widely and depending on their quality, impact positively or negatively on the final

examination performance.

Indongole further observes that factors that affect candidates' performance in an examination can

be cognitive, socio-psychological or environmental in origin, while Carron (2016) argue that it is

difficult to generalize the factors and there is certainly not a single factor or few factors in

isolation which explain the differences in performance between one learner and another. Studies

conducted to establish the factors that influence candidate’s performance in examinations have

revealed many factors with which a learner interacts over the period he/she is undertaking a

course in preparation for the examination. While some factors exert their influence during the

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process of teaching/learning. Others emanate from the home environment while others do arise

as the candidate is taking the examination.

1.3Statement of the problem

For a number of years primary Schools in UMP district have been performing poorly in the

ZIMSEC Grade 7 examinations despite the introduction of the competency based curriculum.

Both the schools and individual pupils have not yet accrued to the full benefits of competency

based curriculum. Social economic factors have been cited mostly as the main contributor and

factors leading to under performance, now that the constraint is overcame, it becomes vital to try

and establish other factors contributing to under performance.

1.4 Objectives of the Problem

This study sought to:

I. Determine the profile of the teachers' and pupils (respondents')

Socio-demographic data

Age

Gender

Level of qualifications

2. Determine the impact of availability of teaching/learning resources and how they influence

academic performance.

3. Determine the effects of teacher's pupil ratio on academic performance.

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4. Determine the relationship between the type of school attended and pupils' performance.

1.5 Research questions

I. Do teaching/learning resources affect academic performance?

2. What is the relationship between the number of teachers available in schools and academic

performance?

3. Does the choice of schools attended influence academic performance?

1.6 Research Objectives.

1. To investigate how home environment contribute to learner performance in Grade 7 ZIMSEC

examinations

2. To establish how school environment contribute to learner performance in Grade 7 ZIMSEC

examinations.

3. To ascertain what other contributing factors influence learner performance in Grade 7

ZIMSEC examinations

1.7 Significance of the study

The findings of this study may be significant in a number of ways.

l. First it may provoke the need to carry out similar research in other areas of the country.

2. The findings may provide a springboard for further research into the area of examination

performance in primary schools

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3. Further still the findings may provide leads to facilitate interventions towards improving

performance in examinations.

4. It would also contribute to the existing knowledge on the causes of poor performance in

examination.

5. It would also give the researcher an opportunity to have a better understanding of the causes

that influence poor performance in ZIMSEC Grade 7 examinations.

6. Finally the findings may provide a useful feedback to the educational policy matters;

curriculum developers and implementers.

1.8 Delimitations of the Study.

The study was done in ordinary primary schoollevel in UMP district. The district is rich in nature

resembling to other districts in the country as there are public and privately owned primary

schools. Some of the schools in UMPdistrict are located in peri-urban and rural areas. Teachers

are in a position to be involved in the sample of study as they would provide reliable information

on teaching and learning process and students’ performance in grade 7 ZIMSECexaminations as

they are concerned in teaching.

1.9limitations of the Study

The foreseen possible limitations in this study would be characteristics of the respondents for

both teachers and students. The researcher might not be able to involve every member of the

population but the sample of study will be randomly selected from both teachers and students.

These will be the representative sample for which findings will be found from and generalized.

1.10 Definition of key terms

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Performance

Accomplishing or achievement of specific goals, objectives set in any academic undertaking in

basic mathematics.

Teacher Characteristics

This refers to the attributes and practices which contribute immensely to teacher success or

failure. These are such as displaying fairness, having a positive outlook, being prepared, using a

personal touch, possessing a sense of humor, possessing creativity, admitting mistakes, being

forgiving, respecting students, maintaining high expectations, showing compassion, and

developing a sense of belonging for students— center around the theme of caring.

School Environment

School environment encompasses physical environment such as buildings like classrooms and

teachers’ houses, classroom size, how dark or light it is, temperature, the arrangement of chairs,

the noise which affects teachers and students’ attraction.

Curriculum

A sequence of potential experiences, set up in the schools to discipline children and youth in

ways of thinking and acting whether it is carried out in groups or individually, inside or outside

the school.

Teaching Method

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This comprises the principles and techniques used for instruction. Commonly used teaching

methods may include class participation, demonstration, recitation, memorization, or

combinations of these, teacher centred and student centred methods.

Qualified Teacher

This is the teacher who holds the following certificate such as: Diploma in Education, B.Ed.,

B.Sc. (Ed), B.Sc. and PGDE, Masters in Education and PhD from a recognized university or

college in Zimbabwe and outside Zimbabwe.

1.11 Summary

This chapter looked at the background and a brief literature that justifies the research problem.

Delimitations were considered, as well as definition of key terms that feature most prominently

in the study. The theoretical framework that supports the study was briefly described.

CHAPTER TW0

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

This chapter reviews relevant literature on the reasons for the poor performance of Grade 7

Results in leaners in selected five primary schools. These are factors that are related to the home

19
background and environment. The factors that are related to a pupil's home background include

provision of food and participation of parent/guardian in the affairs related to the pupils'

education. The school-based factors include the type of the school, availability of

teaching/learning resources.

2.1 Teaching and Learning Resources

According to UNESCO (2020) there is sufficient evidence from both developed and developing

countries that quality of education requires strong support from the home of the learner. The

home background characteristics and conditions, to a large extent determine the learners’

performance. The capacity of the learner to concentrate and obtain maximum value from the

school expedience is severely reduced if the learner does not receive adequate food intake

UNESCO (2020). Carron and Chan (2019) carried out similar studies in China, Mexico and

Guinea and their finding, concurred with those of MLA in that children from poor rural zones

were found to be unable to take full advantage of the education offered to them. Amount other

problems they had little or no food most of the time. Lockheed and Verspoor( 2019) reporting on

similar finding of a survey carried out by World Bank in India state that students who were well

nourished got scores in tests that the undernourished.

This implies that the quality of diet and how regularly or irregularly a student feeds has effect on

the mental development and ability of a student. This translates to poor or good performance in

tests. The home environment should be secure and supportive for learner's school work. It should

provide essential furniture, study room services like water and lighting, an atmosphere of

encouragement and guidance. Parents' involvement in the school affairs of their children is a

major factor influencing learners' performance in examinations. Parents should not only provide

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study facilities but also ensure that children are disciplined and their performance in tests,

assignments and homework is followed up, UNESC0 (2020). Katherine Namadu for UNESCO

(2019) cites the overall illiteracy of the Sub-Saharan population as major hindrance to quality

education for many children. She cites examples from Mozambique where peasants were not

only unable to provide material resources for study at home but also did not intervene even when

their children were mistreated in schools because they did not feel competent enough to take

action. UNESCO (2020) supports the view that education level of the parents has great

influences in the education of their children. UNESCO observes that parents with higher levels

of education are predisposed to support the learning development of their children and have

greater confidence in their capacity to support their children at psychological level. In most cases

their children in household chores and working in the fields to supplement the family income

such children were disadvantaged and achieved low in school.

The same case applies in many primary schools within Tigania East West district whereby, the

schools are situated in a low income area, parents involve their children in working in coffee

estatesduring the coffee-picking season to supplement the family income. Children also lack

parental encouragement to go to school. Lockheed and Verspoor (2019), state that parental

encouragement is one of the main factors that account for improvement of children's test scores.

2.2 Teaching relationships and academic performance

lnclongole(20l7), showed that there was a weak relationship between socio-economic

background and achievement in 67 schools with a total of 23,624 candidates. He gathered

information on education level of parents' occupation and number of household possessions, and

developed a socio-economic scale which correlated with examining board. The results showed a

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weak relationship between socio economic background and academic achievement. He

concluded that performance by students in public examination was influenced by the type of

schools they attended rather than the socio class of the parents. Other factors noted were

absenteeism clue to lack of school fees and parents' non-involvement in school affairs. Also

noted was laziness on the part of learners. Poor masterly of English language and poor teacher-

student relationship. Some of the factors that influence a student within the school environment

are the type of school attended. Availability and quality of teachers and availability of

teaching/learning resources.

Different schools have their unique characteristics that exert positive or negative influence on the

academic achievement of the learners. Some schools are high cost as opposed to low cost ones, a

factor which determines the type of facilities they have. Others are mixed while some are single

sex schools. Some schools are day while others have boarding facilities Somerst (2017) carried

out a study based on Uganda elementary schools and observed that variations m performance

among schools are due to differences in quality of the school. Despite the articulated education

objectives and set curriculum he noted that the school attended could affect performance in

examination. In Kenya examination results of many high cost and well-established schools are

always better that those of low cost schools. Most low cost schools are poorly equipped with

learning resources and facilities and in most cases they do not attract the best teachers. Studies

conducted by the Wamahiu (2015) quoted in Ayoo(2016) supp01i this view in that their findings

established that poor learning environments in the former schools in which the curriculum was

restricted. Laboratories hardly existed and most members of the teaching staff were unqualified,

had markedly poor examination results.

2.3 Teacher-Pupil ratio

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The quality of the learning environment at school depends to a large extent on the quality of the

human resource capacity available. Teachers are the most important human resource and remain

the backbone of any educational system UNESCO (2020). One of the key factors in determining

examination results is the availability and quality of teachers. Trained teachers represent a

significant social investment and their levels of motivation and career commitment is of concern

to policy makers UNESCO (2020).

Teacher quality depends on their qualification, experience and level of discipline which in turn

determines the level of commitment. The head teacher is the most imp01tant teacher in the

school. The quality of the head teacher is very crucial in determining examination outcomes in

the school. A good quality head teacher would be qualified and experienced in management and

administration of school time and other resources. He/she is self-disciplined and committed to

his/her work and ensures proper management of school time and other resources. This kind of a

leader ensures that a curriculum implementation is geared towards fulfilling the goals of the

school; the main one being academic achievement.

The head teacher ought to ensure that the school activities are well-co-coordinated among

members of the school community. According to Helinger (2015) the school head is the most

influential individual in a learning institution and his/her managerial skill set the benchmark,

direction, tone and tempo and the learning climate. Namadu( 2019) in her paper for UNESCO/

Educational Research Priorities m Sub-Saharan Africa cited on the leading problems in Africa as

a persisting shortage of both qualified and properly trained teachers. This has negative impact on

the academic achievement of the children. Kathuri(20l9) quoted by Nyaga(20l7) had similar

finding on the effect that teacher quality has on the education achievement of children. In his

study on the factors that influence performance of pupils in the Zimbabwe Certificate of Primary

23
Education he established that the quality of teachers contributed to the nature of pupils'

performance in examination. He also cites the efficient use of methods and reflection of teacher

quality as important factors in examination performance by pupils.

On the quality of teachers, Eshiwan (2019) established that 40% of teachers in the Primary

Schools in Western Province were untrained and this had a negative effect on the final

examinations. Ndiritu (2019) has a similar view that it is important to train teachers either

through the formal training or through in-service training and their desire to stay in the same

work station influences performance in examinations. Lockheed and Verspoor(2019), observe

that the status of teachers in developing countries is low and continues to decline. This is

manifested in low salary, poor working conditions and uncertain career path. They continue to

note that the profession is unattractive and many practicing teachers after leave the job, causing

teacher shortages.

Abagi and Odipo (2019) noted the same and in their report on findings of their survey carried out

to establish the efficiency of primary education in . They state that stipulated teaching/learning

time in schools is not utilized efficiently, leading to need for extra tuition in order to pupils to

attain better examination results. They cite various non-teaching activities that pupils are

engaged in including long morning assemblies, daily cleaning which take up some of the

teaching time, over and above the loss of time during the first week of the term, at the beginning

of every lesson in the morning, after break and after lunch. All these are a reflection of the

quality and level of commitment of the teachers in a particular school.

In recent years, the impact of HIV I AIDS has negatively affected the education system

particularly as it leads to chronic teacher absenteeism. According to UNESC0 (2013) between

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twenty and thirty teachers die each month in Nyanza Province. This is not a unique phenomenon

in that province. UNESCO reports that for every ten deaths in hospitals in the country two are

teachers. Every year a large number of teachers reach their retirement age and when they leave

majority of them are not replaced.

2.4 Choice of school attended

UNESC0(2010) notes that the availability of a range of teaching and related equipment, supplies

furniture and various forms of printed media for teachers and learners is critical in facilitating the

process of teaching and learning worldwide. The report goes on to note that access to a range of

resources and services enables teachers to enrich the teaching environment. Neuman (2018)

quoted by Wamai (2019) states that textbooks and allied materials are the most important

consistent factor upgrading academic achievement especially in schools with less qualified

teachers. This view is supported by MOEST (2013) which points out that textbooks, whether

designed for use in activities led by the teachers or independently by pupils, offer the most

explicit instructed design formats. However some textbooks as Wamai argues are not detailed

enough since they are written by authors whose motive is to make profits. Such books have

inadequate content that implies that schools ought to have well stocked libraries if students have

to reap full benefits of education. Said (2018) conducted a study in Mombasa on factors that

influence performance in K.C.P.E. And established that some of the worst performing schools

lacked essential facilities such as proper staff room chairs and tables for teachers to use as they

prepare for lessons. He noted that pupils did not enjoy learning due to lack of comfort, and

teachers were not able to give attention to individual pupils.

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This study is based on the classical liberal theory of Equal opportunity and Social Darwinism

which asserts that each person is born with a given amount of capacity, which, to a large extent,

is inherited and cannot be substantially changed. Thus, educational systems should be designed

so as to remove barriers of any nature (economic. gender, geographic) that prevent bright

students from lower economic backgrounds from taking advantages of in born talents which

accelerate them to social promotion. The theorist termed education as "the great Equalizer"

which would enhance life chances of those born into humble circumstances. The theory demands

for further going through education at primary and secondary level to which access would be

determined on the basis of individual merit and not on social backgrounds. The researcher

having been involved in the teaching process for a number of years concurs with this. By making

the Primary Education free (by the NARC Government). Kenyan children who would have

otherwise never seen the door of a classroom have managed to access school and quite a number

have proceeded to secondary level of education and some even further. Social Darwinism

emphasizes that every citizen should be given, through education, the social status to which

he/she entitles to aptitude Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2015).

This theory observes that the provision of formal equity of access to education, by putting

everybody on the "scratch" guarantees that the ensuring run is just one.

According to this theory there is a belief that social institutions such as education should in some

sense attempt to treat people equally. American education Horace Mann (2018) could call

education the great equalizer due to case studies carried out. There are innumerable examples of

people from poor families who have taken advantage of education opportunities and proceeded

to obtain better jobs and higher incomes than would have taken advantage of education

26
opportunities and proceeded to obtain better jobs and higher incomes than would have otherwise

done.

There is a widespread belief that by removing economic barriers and making more places

available in primary and secondary education, ideal conditions could be created to implement the

vision of the kind and amount of education that suits one's inherited capacity. Increased

dropouts, absenteeism and repetition occasioned by the financial inability of poor families to

sustain their children in public schools has ceased in Zimbabwe since the introduction of

Universal Free Education Programme in public primary schools. This gesture has raised the total

primary school enrolment from 5.8 million children of school-going age out of primary school.

This theory was found relevant by the researcher for this study because cost-sharing

discriminates poor families who cannot afford to keep their children in school hence

withdrawing them prematurely especially at primary school level.

2.5 Summary

The literature review has been trying to address the theoretical framework as well as the reasons

for the poor performance of Grade 7 Results in learners in selected five primary schools. The

chapter also examined the factors that are related to the home background and environment. The

factors that are related to a pupil's home background include provision of food and participation

of parent/guardian in the affairs related to the pupils' education. The school-based factors include

the type of the school, availability of teaching/learning resources.

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CHAPTER IIIRESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter discusses the methods the researcher will use in carrying out the research. The

researcher will collect data using a descriptive research design.

3.1 Research Design

The study adopted a descriptive research design. This enhanced the researcher to obtain a better

understanding of the causes of poor academic performance of grade 7pupils. The method chosen

allowed a collection of comprehensive, intensive data and provided an in-depth study on why

past initiatives have not produced the desired results

3.2 Population

The population of the study were teachers and pupils within the schools targeted. The

respondents were drawn from the pupils from grade 6 six (g6) up to grade 7 eight (g7) and their

respective teachers. The classroom teachers involved were suitable because they are constantly

in touch with the learners in their class. They are therefore the best placed to give reliable

information about the reasons for the poor performance of Grade 7 Results in learners.

The convenience sampling technique became ideal because the research occurred at the time

when schools were operational and lessons were running, hence teachers and School Heads were

busy attending to their daily duties in their classes as the research was being conducted. In this

28
study the data gathering tools that were found to be ideal were questionnaires and face to face

interviews.

3.3 Sample and Sampling Procedures

The study used two types of sampling procedures which are purposive and simple random

sampling methods. Purposive sampling means that respondents are chosen on the basis of their

knowledge of the information desired (Calderon, 2013). Moreover random sampling was used in

choosing sample unit from the entire population of teachers and students. Purposive sampling

was also used in choosing education officials and head of schools as they were concern with

monitoring of educational service in schools. In random sampling procedure, each member of the

population in the group had an equal chance of being selected (Cohen et al. 2019) which was

applied for teachers and students except for head of schools who was be purposively involved.

3.4 Research Instruments

The researcher applied both primary and secondary data collection instruments for this study.

Primary data was collected through interview, observation, focus group discussion and

questionnaire while secondary data was through documentary review. Most of the secondary

data was obtained from relevant documents such as school academic files, school performance

results. More than one instrument was used for this study because total dependence on one

instrument may distort or may lead to biasness on a particular piece of information, (Kothari

2020)

3.4.1The Questionnaires

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Questionnaire was chosen as one of the tool to be used in this study which was answered by

teachers and administrators. It was chosen because of the nature of this study so as to get opinion

and views of the respondents. Respondents replied them on their own free will without any

influence from another person; they were easy to be administered within a short time and from

the relatively larger groups of people who were scattered geographically. Moreover its results

could easily be tabulated and interpreted (Calderon & Gonzales, 2013). The questionnaires used

are found in the appendices in this study.

3.4.2The Interview

This study employed both semi- structured and structured interview.

(a) Structured Interview

Structured interviews are used in quantitative research and can be conducted face to face, online

or over the telephone, sometimes with the aid of lap-top computers (Dawson, 2012). But in this

study, face-to-face was applied. The researcher provided the respondents with pre-set questions

and let them respond on the asked questions by the researcher.

30
(b) Semi - Structured Interview

This type of interview helped the researcher to know specific information, which was compared
and contrasted with information gained in other interviews. To do this, the same questions
needed to be asked in each interview (Dawson, 2012). However, the researcher also wanted the
interview to remain flexible which helped much to explore other important information that
arose on the interview session though not pre-set. The interview questions are in the appendices
of this study.

3.4.3 Document Analysis

Documentary research is the use of outside sources, documents, to support the viewpoint or
argument of an academic work (Omari, 2018). The researcher made review on the following
documents: ZIMSEC files, continuous assessments, external and internal examination files,
performance analysis file, text books and students’ owned learning materials.

3.5 Data Collection Procedures

The researcher had an introductory letter from the University and presented it to the area
authority to obtain permission for study. This gave directive to the local administrators at grass
root level for acceptance. After acceptance by the authorities the major task of collecting data
begun immediately.

3.6 Data Presentation and Analysis Procedures

According to Kothari (2014), data analysis is a process of editing, coding, classification and

tabulation of collected data. The process involves operations which are performed with the

purpose of summarizing and organizing the collected data from the field. Since the study

involved both qualitative and quantitative data, the data analysis process was done by the two

ways.

First the researcher applied Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) for quantitative data.

This is the software which is used to analyse information that is quantitative in nature. In this

study, data collected using questionnaire was analysed using SPPS software. The process

involved coding of data, sorting and conclusion was drawn.

31
Secondly, the qualitative data obtained using interview, observation, focus group discussion and

documentary reviews was analysed by considering major themes to extract relevant information.

This helped the researcher to make description of the data collected from the field basing on

research objectives and derived conclusion on what to take regarding its usefulness.

3.7Summary

The aim of this chapter was to introduce research methods focusing on teaching and learning of

mathematics and its influences on student’s performance in mathematics subject. The chapter has

sequentially outlined the areas of study, research design, and population of study, sample size,

instrumentation, data analysis procedures and consideration on ethical issues. Population of

study was made up of students, teachers, and heads of schools. The research tools such as

questionnaire, interviews, were used to collect information from the field.

CHAPTER 4

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRATATION

4.1 Introduction

This chapter is a presentation, analysis and discussion of the findings. The results are presented

inform of tables, frequency counts and percentages. This chapter focuses on Bio-data of the

respondents and the causes for the poor performance of Grade 7 learners in five schools in

Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe.

32
The following is the response rate in percentage of the sample and the actual responses.

Table 1: 4.1.1 Response rate

Respondents Sample selected Actual response Response rate

Teachers 60 56 93%

pupils 250 200 80%

Total 310 256 82%

After compiling the interview data and the questionnaire the interpretations of the implications

were analyzed in tables and graphs, most of questionnaires and quantitative analysis were based

on the questionnaire answers.

4.2. Teachers bio-data

Table 4.2.2.2.1 respondents’ work experience

Years No. of respondents Frequency (%)

l-5 8 14%

5-10 24 43%

33
10-above 24 43%

Total 56 100%

Total 56 100%

The results of the field study on years of work-experience show that 14% of the respondents

ranged between 1-5 years and 43% of the respondents having 5-10 while 43% had 10 and above

years of work experience. This signifies that information was collected from teachers with long

term experience who are represented by 86% of the sample.

4.3. Pupils bio-data

Out of the 250 pupils, only 200 responded. The researcher deemed this as adequate and sufficient

for the purpose of data analysis since it represented 80%.

4.3 Distribution by gender

Table 4.3 Distribution of respondents by gender

Gender Frequency Percentage (%)

Male 110 55

Female 90 45

Total 200 100

34
The research was done amongst the sexes as seen from table 5. More boys were interviewed than

girls. As 55% of the pupil respondents were boys while 45% of the pupil respondents were girls.

4.3.2 Age of respondents

Table 5: 4.3.2.1 Age of respondents

Age bracket Frequency %Age Cumulative% age

7-9 60 30 30

10-12 70 35 35

13-above 70 35 35

Total 200 100 100

The results of the field study on age of respondents, from the selected schools where 200 pupils

responded revealed that 35% of the respondents were 13 years and above, while 35% of

respondents were between 7-9 years, while 30% were between 10-12yrs. This is an indication

that the sample comprised of all the target sample of pupils as shown above.

4.4 Teachers analysis

4.4.1 Summary of responses on whether there exists a relationship between schools

Table 6: 4.4.1 Relationship between school attended and pupil's performance

Respondents Frequency Percentage

35
Agreed 40 71

Not Agreed 26 28

Total 56 100

Figure 1: 4.4.1 Summary of responses on whether there exists a relationship between school

attended and pupils’ performance

72%
Agreed

Not Agreed

28%

Most of the respondents said that there was a strong relationship between the schools attended

and learners’ academic performance, and these were the majority represented by 71% of the

respondents. 28% of the respondents were of view that there did not exist any relationship

between school attended and academic performance. They argued than no matter the school

attended the brighter of the pupils will always excel while the dull will fail.

4.4.2 Summary of responses on the factors that influence academic performance

Table 7: 4.4.2.1 Summary of responses on the factors that influence academic performance

36
Respondents Frequency Percentage %

Personal effort 20 7

Available learning resources 25 44

Teachers experience 7 13

Teachers/learners motivation 4 35

Total 56 100

According to table 7, it clearly shows that the available learning resources are the major

contributing factor that influence academic performance as it represents 44% of the respondents.

35% were of the view that teachers-learner motivation was also another major factor influencing

academic performance. 13% represent respondents who are of the view that teachers’ experience

was also a factor that influences academic performance. 7% of the respondents were of view that

personal effort was also a factor contributing to academic performance.

4.4.3 Summary measuring the effects of teacher- pupil ratio on academic performance

Table 8: 4.4.3.1 Summary measuring the effects of teacher-pupil ratio on academic performance

Response Frequency Percentage %

Very high 40 72

Moderate 10 18

37
Low 5 8

Very low 1 1

Total 56 100

Figure 2: 4.4.3.1 Summary measuring the effects of teacher-pupil ratio on academic performance

18%
8% 1%

According to pie- chart 2 the majority of respondents (72%) that there exists a very strong

relationship between teacher-pupil ratio and academic performance. (18%) said the effect of

teacher-pupil ratio on academic performance was moderate while (8%) and (1%) responded that

the effect was low and very low.

Majority of the respondents were of the view that the schools should maintain the qualified and

adequate number of teachers who in turn will serve the students effectively hence recording

improved performance.

4.4.4 Factors influencing performance

Table 9: 4.4.4.1 Summary on factors influencing performance

38
Category Mean Interpretation Bank

Teaching/learning 1.5 Fair 2

resource

Teachers' availability 2.0 Fair 1

School attended 1.0 Poor 3

Total 1.5 Fair 0

Table 9 shows that teaching/learning resources were rated fairly. Since the introduction of Free

Primary Education, the government has tried a lot to provide schools with books for pupils and

also for references. Teachers’ availability was rated fair and the school attended was rated poor.

The tabulated results show that the availability of teachers was rated fair followed by the

teaching/learning resources and lastly the school.

We could assume that the school attended is poor may be because of its location. The parents are

not well-off economically and academically to be able to support their children as required by

supplementing what is lacking. The teachers are qualified and avail themselves to help the pupils

perform although not a hundred percent. Their availability was rated fair. This implies that there

are scanty cases of absenteeism and failure to recover time lost. The next chapter focuses on

summary, conclusions and recommendations.

4.5 Summary

39
This chapter looked at the presentation, analysis and discussion of the findings. The results were

presented inform of tables, frequency counts and percentages. This chapter also focused on Bio-

data of the respondents and the causes for the poor performance of Grade 7 learners in five

schools in Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Introduction

In this chapter an attempt is made to discuss the findings and come up with conclusions and the

recommendations there to.

5.1 Summary

One of the main outcomes of the study is the confirmation it has provided that there are

challenges in the education sector. Academic economists and international development agencies

claim that an educated population is essential for economic growth and more generally for a

higher quality of life World Bank (2016).

One of the eight Millennium Development Goals is that, all children in developing countries

should finish primary school. Yet developing country pupils who finish primary school often

perform poorly on academic tests and the value of a "low quality" education may be low. This

raises the question: What can developing countries do to promote learning in their schools?

40
Another finding of this study is that free primary education was impacting on the quality of

education. This finding is contrary to what Mingat, A., Jee-Peng T. and Ramahatra R. (2012)

found out that in the study three quarters of the pupils said the BEAM (Basic Education

Assistance Module) strategy had been successful and that they had achieved an improvement in

their work. Staff confirmed that they had seen improvement in 62% of the pupils. In my findings

62% of the pupil sample attributed the causes of failure to attend school to matters outside their

control; that is they blamed the government policies and other socio-economic factors.

Further 75% of the pupil sample estimated their academic potential as being much greater than

their exam results or the teachers' assessments would suggest to themselves, e.g. "because you

can help yourself', whereas the less able boys tended to blame external factors, over which they

had no control, for example, "the paper was more difficult than usual". The degree to which

pupils felt external factors were important obviously influenced the extent to which they felt they

had control over their own academic performance. This was particularly significant in the

context of two other factors which is consistent with results.

The pupils in this research all had a positive approach to school attendance, in terms of gender

stereotypes. All the pupils stated that it was ok to attend school, not necessarily because one had

no hindrances. However, this referred mostly to a strongly held view that it was important to

perform well in school even when attendance was hindered. Once a pupil had an understanding

of the factors to which he attributed success and failure it was possible to help him change to

more positive ways of thinking. 62% of the pupil sample attributed lack of success to external

socio-economic factors. This suggested that the pupils in this sample felt they lacked control

over their own learning process and reflected the complex unit of issues that impact on teaching

41
and learning. The mentoring process was used to encourage the boys to take responsibility for

their own contribution to their teaming and in so doing improve their academic performance

5.2 Conclusions

Despite the performance constraint described above primary education is experiencing a number

of challenges such as overstretched facilities, overcrowding in schools especially those in urban

areas, high pupil-teacher ratios (PTRs) in densely populated areas and high pupil to textbook

ratios.

Others challenges include high cost of special equipment for children with special needs,

diminished support by communities following the misconstrued understanding of their role vis-a-

vis that of the government under free basic education for all initiative, gender and regional

disparities increased number of orphans in and out of school as a result of HIV & AIDS or

COVID 19, and poor management and internal inefficiency that negatively impacts on access,

equity and quality.

The introduction of basic primary education has put pressure on teachers as some class sizes

have increased to over 100 pupils and sometimes 120 in schools in rural and urban areas. The

national Primary Teacher-Pupil Ratio is indicating that there are also some very small class sizes.

Teachers need to be properly deployed to redress the imbalances because large class size and

lack of space and teaching facilities impact negatively on quality of education. Teachers are key

to improving learning in schools and, therefore, it is important to implement a more rigorous

system of pre- and in-service teacher development in order to strengthen teacher quality.

42
The role of parents and communities in primary education is central and needs to be clarified.

Prior to the introduction of basic primary education, it was the responsibility of parents to

contribute to school building and maintenance, but most parents are currently under the

impression that it is the government's exclusive responsibility to provide all the necessary

resources to support the primary education sub-sector.

Almost all existing studies are "retrospective," that is based on data collected from schools as

they currently exist (in contrast to data collected from a randomized trial). Yet even the best

retrospective studies offer only limited guidance due to their estimation problems, the most

serious being omitted variable bias (unobserved school, household and child characteristics that

are correlated with observed school variables), and measurement error in school data. This has

led to wide variation in the estimated impacts of key variables.

One of the eight Millennium Development Goals is that all children in developing countries

should complete primary education. Much progress has been made toward this goal, but

completing primary school does not ensure that students have attained basic literacy and

numeracy skills. Indeed, there is ample evidence that many children in developing countries are

not learning these skills despite years of school attendance. This raises the question: What can

schools and communities do to increase the learning that takes place in schools? Zimbabwe

exemplifies these issues. It has achieved universal primary completion but many Zimbabwean

primary school students perform poorly on academic examinations.

5.3 Recommendations

The researcher would like to make the following recommendations as per objective of the study.

To solve the problem of lack of enough teaching learning resources the home environment

43
should be secure and supportive for the learner's school work. Parents need to be more involved

in the school affairs of their children in order to improve the learner's performance in

examinations. This is to say that parents should supplement what the government is doing as far

as teaching/learning resources are concerned.

These stakeholders should deliberately solicit for funds through the Ministry of Primary and

Secondary Education to purchase textbooks, teaching learning aids which are relevant and

geared to better performance. The ministry should also ensure that Funds channeled for

teaching/learning resources are well-utilized.

The Public Service Commission should think of better terms of remunerating the teachers. This

would be able to cater for their needs in a bid to curb absenteeism among teachers and also to

motivate them to help the learners more. For social- economic background which influences the

school, parents need to be encouraged to let their children remain in school at all times and not to

involve them in child-labour.

For better performance in ZIMSEC Grade 7 examinations, the learners should be encouraged to

work hard and strive to excel in learning attending lessons regularly, do all class activities and

assignments, display good behaviour and be focused in academic achievement.

5.4 Areas of further research

Further research can be conducted to investigate the impact of Free Primary Education on pupil's

enrollment in primary schools in Zimbabwe.

44
REFERENCES

Abagi, 0. and Odipo (2017). Efficiency of Primary Education in Kenya~ Situational Analysis

and Implication for Educational Reform: Nairobi; Institute of Policy Analysis and Research

Carron, G. and Chau, N. (2016). The Quality of' Primary Schools in Ditferent Development

Contex( Paris: International Institute for Educational Planning

Eshiwani.G.S. (2018). Factors Influencing Pe1jormance Among Primmy and Secondw~v Pupils

in Wesrern Province~ A policy study. Nairobi: Bureau of Educational Research. KenTigania

East University

Lockheed. M.E. and Verspoor, A.M. (2019). (Improving Prime) Education in Developing

Cozmlries. Washington DC: Oxford University Press.

MOEST/UNESCO (2011 ). The Quality ofEduc((tion: Some Policy Suggestions Based on a

Survey ()jSchools. Nairobi: UNESCO

lndongole. C.J.P. (2019). ~The New 8..f..4. Education System and its Implications for Education

Policy and Practice in Kenya·~ Unpublished MA (Education) Disertation.

45
Ndiritu. W.A. (2019). ~A Study (){ Factors which influence Secondary Schools in Nairobi'.

Unplished Med Project, University of Nairobi.

NEWSPAPERS AND JOURNALS Siringi, Samuel. Teachers to Receive Free HIVIAIDS

Lessons. DAILY NATION 10111 December 2011, pg 7.

UNESCO (2016) HIVIA!DS and Education Nairobi: UNESCO

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS

My name is Ruth Fungisai Jonga. I am a Zimbabwe Open University student undertaking a
research study entitled, “An assessment on the reasons for the poor performance of Grade 7
results in five selected primary schools in Pfungwe, Uzumba –Maramba Pfungwe (UMP)
District in Mashonaland Central Province.” This questionnaire is aimed at soliciting
information on causes of poor academic performance of pupils in Grade 7 ZIMSEC Exams in
selected primary schools in UMP. You are therefore, kindly requested to complete the questions
46
below. All information provided will be treated with confidentiality and will be used for
purposes of this study only.

Please do not to write your name or that of your school on the questionnaire. Your co-operation
will be greatly appreciated.

TICK (√) WHERE APPROPRIATE

PART ONE; BIO-DATA FOR RESPONDENTS
A) SEX
Male

Female

B) AGE
Age Range Tick where appropriate
12-16 years
18-25 years
26-30 years
31-35 years
36-40 years
41 -45 years
46 years

C) Educational Qualifications
Please indicate your educational level
Educational/professional level Tick where appropriate
Primary education
Secondary education
Tertiary/college level
University level

SECTION A
I. Indicate the subjects you are trained to teach
2. For how long have you been a teacher?
Over twenty years [ ]

47
16-20 years [ ]
11-1 5 years [ ]
6-10 years [ ]
1-5 years [ ]
SECTION B
For each of the questions in this section read the resources carefully and put a tick [ ]
against the appropriate response
a) Please indicate whether you prepare the following documents by ticking as many as
appropriate.
Schemes of work [ ]
Lesson plans [ ]
Records of week [ ]
Pupils' progress records []
b) How often does the head teacher make a follow up to ensure that these documents are
prepared as required?
Once a month [ ]
Once a term [ ]
Twice a term [ ]
Any other (specify)
4 a) What is your current work load per week:
More than 30 lessons [ ]
25-30 lessons []
20-24 lessons [ ]
b) How do you rate this load')
Heavy [ ]
Moderate [ ]
Light [ ]
a) Have you ever assigned to teach subjects that you were not trained for?
Yes []

48
No []
b) If your answer in (a) above is ‘Yes,’ give reasons
6. How would you rate the parents/guardian participation in their children's academic work?
Good [ ]
Satisfactory [ ]
Poor []
a) How often do you give students assignment/homework?
Daily []
Once a week [ ]
Once a fortnight [ ]
Others specify............................................... .
b) Do pupils complete assignments/homework as required?
Yes []
No []
c) If your answer in (b) is ‘No’ put a tick (√) against the reasons that pupils give for not
completing the work?
Lack of adequate [ ]
Too much homework/assignment []
Lack of textbooks [ ]
Work is too difficult [ ]
Any other (specify)............................................ .
a) Do parents in your school participate in the following activities? Tick (√) as many appropriate
statement.
Discussing pupils academic performance [ ]
Contributing towards school development funds [ ]
Attending guidance & counseling forums [ ]
b) In your opinion does the participation of the parents in the activities in (a) above inf1uence
pupils’ performance?
Yes [ ]

49
No [ ]
c) Give reasons for your answer in (b) above............................................... .
9. Please indicate with a tick (√) your opinion on the following factors that may inf1uence
students' performance in examinations.
The alternative choices are as follows;
Strongly agree SA [ ]
Agree A Undecided U [ ]
Disagree D [ ]
Strongly disagree SD [ ]
a) Teacher training positively influences pupils’ performance in examinations
b) In -servicing teachers boost pupils' performance
Yes []
No []
c) Motivating teachers boosts teachers' performance in exams
d) The school type boosts pupils' performance.
10. Please indicate with a tick (√) the adequacy of the following facilities and resources in your
school in the tables provided below
The alternative choices are as follows
Adequate =A [ ]
Satisfactory =S [ ]
Inadequate =I [ ]
A
SCHOOL A S I
FALICITY
STAFFROOM
CLASSROOM
LIBRARY
PLAYING FIELDS

B
TEACHING/LEARNING A S I
RESSOURCE

50
Teachers' reference &
guides
Pupils’ textbooks
Chalkboard & chalk
Library books
Time allocated for
syllabus coverage

11.a) How do you rate the school's academic performance

Above average [ ]
Average [ ]
Below average [ ]
b) What in your opinion can be done to maintain or improve this performance?
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………….
12. In your opinion what are the factors that influence performance in Grade7 ZIMSEC exams in
your school?
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................................
END OF QUESTIONNAIRE
THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION
PLAN FOR DATA PRESENTATION

Profile of Respondents
CATEGORY FREQUENCY PERCENTAGE %
AGE

45 and above

35-44
25-34

51
25 below
Total
Gender
Male

Female
Total
Qualification
Degree

Diploma
Approved teacher

Status
Total

Factors influencing performance

category Mean Interpretation Rank
Teaching/learning
resources

Teachers availability
School attended
Total

52
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