Location as a Factor in the Prediction of Performance in Botswana Junior School Certificate Agriculture Examinations by Continuous Assessment Scores

Tapela Bulala, Mogomotsi Ramatlala, H. Johnson Nenty

Department of Agricultural Economics, Education & Extension, Botswana College of Agriculture, Gaborone, Botswana..
Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China.
Department of Educational Foundations, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.

DOI: 10.4236/ce.2014.51004                

Abstract

The study looked at the location of schools as it relates to the academic performance of students in Botswana. The study population was the results of Junior Certificate (JC) Agriculture Examinations conducted in 2009 among 206 secondary schools in rural, peri-urban and urban areas of Botswana. One hypothesis was formulated and tested. Data were analysed using regression. When comparing three pairs (urban and peri-urban), (urban and rural) and (peri-urban and rural), the results show that the beta weights when transformed into z-values are not significantly different and are less than the critical values (1.96) given alpha level of 0.05. The results showed no significant difference between students’ academic performance in rural, peri-urban and urban secondary schools in agriculture junior school certificate examinations. The study has proven that school location has no bearing on student academic performance in agriculture junior school certificate examinations in Botswana.

Keywords

School Location; Academic Performance; Junior Secondary School; Continuous Assessment; JC Agricultural Examinations

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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