Factors Affecting Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students in Mauritius

Abstract

This paper analyses the contextualised determinants affecting the academic achievement of secondary school students in Mauritius. A mixed methodology was used to understand the effect of the determinants on students’ achievement considering the academic progression of learners from one point (CPE: Examination marking the end of primary schooling) to another (NG9A: Checkpoint assessment after three years of secondary schooling). The first phase had a non-positivist epistemological stand using the qualitative method of ‘focus group discussion’ to identify the determinants and then validate the TIMSS questionnaire. The second phase had a post-positivist epistemological stand where an amended version of the standardised international questionnaire TIMSS was administered to collect data from a sample of 600 students. The primary data were analysed to produce a Linear Multiple Regression Model. The findings reveal that 90.1% achievement can be explained by the variables of school leadership, student, socio-economic factor, and teacher (R square = 0.9.1; p < 0.05). The model shows that school leadership has a higher positive correlation on (β=0.419) students’ achievement followed by student factor (β= 0.227), tuition teacher (β= 0.154), school teacher (β= 0.117) and socioeconomic status (β= 0.048).

Factors Influencing the Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students: A Structural Equation Model

“…Analysis of the literature revealed several factors affecting the performance and achievement of students, such as age, gender, social status, economic status, teacher factor, geographical location, ethnicity, marital status, student factor, extra-tutoring, parents' education level, parental profession, language, religious affiliations, selfmotivation and learning, absenteeism, leadership and class attendance (Muller, 2018;Najmi, Ali Raza & Qazi, 2018;Osmanbegovic, Sulji'c & Agi, 2015;Seebaluck & Seegum, 2013). Atchia & Chinapah (2019a& 2019b classified these factors into manageable clusters namely demographic, socioeconomic, teacher, leadership, and student factors.…”

“…For instance, Vizeshfar &Torabizadeh (2018), andAdnot, Dee, Katz &Wyckoff (2017) showed than an effective teacher can alter students' educational and thus economic outcomes. Analysis of literature revealed that the impact of educators on students' life and achievement vary widely from being a guide, a facilitator, a model, a pedagogical leader, a source of knowledge, a friend and a confider (Khasanah & Anggoro, 2022;Atchia and Chinapah, 2019b).…”

“…The decision of using only English and Mathematics to calculate the Average Point Score (APS) was based on the literature, the policies on numeracy and literacy, and on the fact that VAS requires considering examinable subjects common at both PSAC and NCE for fair comparison, as both are national examinations, where all students in the country sat for the common papers (Atchia & Chinapah, 2019b).…”

Factors Contributing to Low Academic Achievement of Public Primary School Children: An Untold Story

“…The significant value of Bartlett's test (P < 0.001) indicates that the original R-matrix is significantly different from an identity matrix. However, seven items (8,10,12,14,15,18,20) were excluded from the further analysis as they did not meet the psychometric requirements. After removing seven items with loadings less than 0.50 and those with complex structures, the commonalities after extraction ranged from 0.527 to 0.770, which are all above the cut-off point of 0.50.…”

Is Pandemic Affecting Students ? : A Study on Learning Interest and Academic Achievement on Medical Students

“…e. Private tuition is another component that operates in conjunction with education. Tutoring provides beneficial out-of-school activities for young people, and children who receive private tuition are more likely to do well in school and achieve their goals (Atchia & Chinapah, 2019).…”