Abstract:
Education is significant in the lives of human beings. Secondary education level is a
bridge to accessing tertiary education, and is a key determinant of national development
and individual liberation. Therefore, academic performance at secondary level is of great
interest to the nation. However, Phokeng High School (PHS) persistently produces poor
academic performance of learners. Therefore, the current study investigated the school-
based contributory factors to poor academic performance of learners at PHS, and
explored the mitigating strategies that the Senior Management Team (SMT) could employ
to alleviate this poor academic performance. The current research used a qualitative
approach, as it allows participants to express their experiences, and case study design
to explore the views of different categories of role-players within PHS. Five members of
the SMT, six teachers, three parents and four learners were purposively selected to
participate in the study. The information was gathered through semi-structured interviews
and analysed by thematic analysis technique. The study revealed contributory factors to
poor learners’ academic performance and the possible remedies to the problem. The
study revealed the following as the contributory factors to the poor academic performance
of PHS learners: breaching school policies, lack of learners’ commitment to their studies,
lack of teachers’ commitment, limited learners’ academic guidance, unfavourable working
conditions, ineffective school board, bullying and banning of the use ocell phones or anygadgets on the school premises. Adherence to the school goals and policies, increased
role-players’ collaboration and increased support to the teaching and learning were
revealed to be possible mitigation strategies. The study recommends that the SMT should
at all times engage all the relevant role-players, particularly teachers and parents, while
developing and implementing the school master plan. The study further recommends that
the SMT, as the instructional leaders, should provide support to teachers as important
role-players in the provision of quality education at PHS. This suggested support could
be in the form of classroom observations and the provision of timely and constructive
feedback, prioritising the teaching and learning materials and staff development
programmes that will not only empower teachers with the recommended teaching
approaches but further motivate them
