Abstract:
Improving academic performance of secondary school students in Tanzania has been a focus of the government, parents and other key education stakeholders. Efforts have been done to improve school facilities, supply of teachers and development of curriculars. Despite the focus on the mentioned factors, the performance of students especially in community schools is still a problem due to narrow focus of all of the possible factors likely to affect the academic performance of secondary school students. This study using explanatory sequential mixed design, examines the socio-economic factors affecting the performance of secondary school students. The study was conducted in Dodoma involving two secondary schools namely Ipala and Hombolo. A total of 214 participants were used. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews and documentary review and analysed using multiple linear regression analysis and thematic approaches. It was revealed that, parents' level of education, parents' occupation, presence of studying relatives at home, students' motivation, life hardship, lack of advice and gender impact secondary school student's academic performance. It is recommended that, revealed factors should be addressed by all education stakeholders to attain expected performance.
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