School Environment and Psychological Absenteeism of Secondary School Students in Makete District, Tanzania

ABSTRACT This study explored school environment and psychological absenteeism of secondary school students in Makete District, Tanzania. The purpose of the study was to test the null hypothesis, validate the theory, identify gapes and generate new knowledge. The objectives of the study were to determine the profile of students, to determine the level of school environment, to determine the level of psychological absenteeism of students, to determine the significant difference in the level of the two variables according to the profile of students and to determine the significant relationship between the two variables. The study was descriptive survey research design and correlational. In this study, 298 respondents were involved. The findings of the study indicated that 93.6% of the students were in the age of under 20 years and 6.4% were in the age of 20-39 years. 50.3% of students were male and 49.7% were female students. About 61.45% of the students were in the low family income level, while 23.2% were in the middle family income level and only 15.4°k were in the high income level category. The level of secondary school environment is poor with average mean of 1.78. The level of psychological absenteeism of students is high with average mean of 1.80. The teenagers had a higher psychological absenteeism than the students with the age of above 20 years. The correlation between school environment and psychological absenteeism of students in Makete district, Tanzania is strong (0.67).The researcher recommended that teachers, Non-Governmental Organizations and the Ministry of education should work hand in hand with the community in order to improve school environment and reduce psychological absenteeism of students.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PreNm~nar~es Page

Declaration A

Declaration B ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgement iv

Abstract v

List of Tables Viii

List of Figures IX

Chapter Page

One THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE 1

Back ground of the study 1

Statement of the problem 4

Purpose of the Study 5

Research Objectives 6

Research Questions 7

Hypothess 7

Scope of the Study 8

Significance of the Study 9

Operational Definitions of Key Terms 10

Two REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 11

Concepts, Ideas and Opinion from Authors or Experts 11

Theoretical perspective 18

Related Studies 19

Three METHODOLOGY 28

Research Design 28

Research population 28

vi

Sample size 28

Sampling procedures 29

Research instruments 30

Validity and reliability of instrument 31

Data gathering procedures 31

Data analysis 32

Ethical Consideration 33

Limitation of the Study 33

Four DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 35

Five FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 48

Findings 48

Conclusion 50

Recommendation 51

References 53

Appendices 59

Appendix I Trransmital letter 59

Appendix II Clearance from ethics commitee 60

Appendix III Acceptance letter 61

Appendix IV Questionnaier 62

Appendix V Sloven’s formula for sample determination 65

Appendix VI Validity of instrument 66

Researcher’s curriculum vitae 67