An analysis of the high performance of community school pupils in the Grade seven national examinations in Zambia

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the high performance of community school pupils in the Grade 7 national examinations on the Copperbelt province of Zambia. The study employed a descriptive survey design and employed purposive sampling technique and a simple random sampling procedure. Data were collected through questionnaires, interview guides, focused group discussions, observations, and document analysis of literature and institution records. The sample consisted of 195 respondents comprising 100 volunteer teachers; 45 head teachers/deputy head teachers, 45 parents/guardians who were members of the Parents Community School Committees, three officials from the umbrella organisations, namely ZOCS, USAID (TIME to LEARN) and VVOB plus two District Education Board Secretaries, one each for Mufulira and Kitwe districts. The findings of the study showed that the performance of pupils between those in the studied schools and the government schools were similar. Reasons for the good performance of community schools included the decentralized administration of the schools that helped to achieve the objectives of the schools; holding teachers accountable, for example by ensuring teacher and learner attendance; high levels of commitment by community schoolteachers; flexible teaching-learning conditions which among other things, allowed learners who cannot afford shoes and uniforms to learn; as well as infrastructure development. The study concluded that the performance of community schools varied from school to school. Some pupils in community schools performed better than pupils in government schools and some had similar while others had lower performance than government schools. The performance varied from year to year. Lastly, the authors recommended that to enhance good performance and quality education in community schools, teaching and learning aids should be made available by the PCSC to community schools in the country. The authors also recommended that the MoE should increase the number of teachers being assigned to community schools.