The Effect of Long Commuting on Students’ Academic Performance in Day Community Secondary Schools in Tanzania: A Case of Songea Municipal Council

This study was conducted in Songea Municipality involving five day community secondary schools. This study investigated the effect of long commuting on students’ academic performance in day community secondary schools in Tanzania.The study specifically investigated the influence of long commuting on student’s tardiness, truancy,school transfer and drop outs and its effects on teaching and learning processes and its relationship to poor academic performance.A total of 163 long commuting students, class teachers and school heads participated in this study. A descriptive survey research design was used to obtain data through questionnaires, interviews, and documentary review. The study findings showed that long commuting students faced alot of challenges that affected their academic performance. Factors like lateness, tiredness, tardiness, truancy, and unfair treatment, incompletion of class work, frequent school transfers and drop outs were reported to affect them a lot academically. The study recommends that the government through MoEVT and the PMORALG should introduce the boarding system in day community secondary schools especially to long commuting students, prepare policy that will guide the location of day secondary schools, students’ catchment area, MoEVT and PMORALG in collaboration with communities should build other new day secondary. Furthermore, the government through the MoEVT and PMORALG in collaboration with Non Government Organisations to initiate cycling to day community secondary schools campaign with the aim to encourage parents to buy bikes to their children and the government through the PMORALG especially at the councils and wards level to improve roads that go to day community secondary schools.

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

masters

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

The Open University Of Tanzania

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Mchelu, Abdalah

• 370 Education

Language dc:language

en