Browsing by Author "Makiya, Rosemary"

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    The relationship between school discipline and academic performance: a study of selected Christian Seminaries vis-à-vis Ordinary Secondary Schools in Tanzania
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2009) Makiya, Rosemary
    This study aimed at examining the relationship between school discipline and academic performance in Christian seminaries vis-à-vis ordinary secondary schools. Specifically, the study attempted to examine the extent to which school discipline influenced academic performance, to investigate how school rules and regulations were formulated and enforced, and to examine the extent to which the management of the school played a role in maintaining school discipline. The study was conducted in six seminaries and four ordinary secondary schools, with 160 respondents including 100 students, 40 teachers, 10 heads of schools and 10 discipline teachers obtained through purposive, stratified random and simple random sampling procedures. Documentary review, observation, questionnaire and graphs and qualitative data were subjected to content analysis. The findings indicated that discipline-related problems were more market in public schools as were the factors behind violating of school rules that included poor teacher motivation and ignorance of school rules. The formulation of seminary rules integrated government educational policy with the Christian-based faith. School barazas and publicizing punishment criteria were used to communicate and enforce rules in both categories of schools, with use of handbooks of school rules and frequent meetings characterizing Christian seminary life. Management mechanisms that included transparent assessment criteria and rigorous recruitment and selection procedures for teachers and students differentiated seminaries from ordinary schools, while physical visitations and offering of spiritual services strengthened relationships between seminaries and nearby communities. The findings unveiled that the differences recounted above seem to exert differential impact on the level of discipline and learning environment in the two categories of schools. The study thus recommends frequent meetings between religious-run schools and ordinary secondary school community members on discipline-related matters vis-à-vis academic progress. The study finally recommends further studies to explore school discipline and academic performance in Christian seminaries vis-à-vis Muslim seminaries and wider country coverage of various categories of schools for the purpose of firmer generalizations and policy implications.