The Impact of Students’ Indiscipline on their Academic Performance in Secondary Schools of Kaffa Zone

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess students’ indiscipline and their causes as well as to investigate how they impacted on academic performance of students in secondary schools. The participants of the study were selected from six secondary schools out of a population of thirteen (13) by using purposive sampling which are found in Kaffa zone. The study adopted descriptive survey and correlation research design. During the study, two hundred and thirty egiht (238) participants made up students, teachers, principals and supervisors were sampled. The students and teachers were sampled using stratified random sampling technique while the principals and supervisors were sampled purposively. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (t-test) while the qualitative data (open ended questions, documents analysis and interview) were analyzed using narrative techniques. The finding of the study revealed commonly observed types of students’ indiscipline; the serious ones were late coming, high rate of absenteeism and cheating on examinations. With regard to the causes students’ indiscipline due to home related which includes parental neglect, poor income, uncontrolled media and broken homes are the major ones .The other cause is attributed school related causes, which includes peer pressure, lack of offering sustainable guiding and counseling service, lack of collaborative work are the main ones. It was also found that the effects of indiscipline on academic performance include: students’ inability to concentrate in class, study, loss of material which leads poor performance. From analysis of ESLCE result and recorded students indiscipline cases shows that Schools that reported fewer indiscipline cases had relatively better educational performance as compared to those that had more indiscipline cases. In order to minimize indiscipline behaviors, the study recommends that; discipline in the society should begin at the home. The home and the school must therefore interact and co-operate in enhancing discipline.