The purpose of the study was to explore factors that impact on learning in orphanhood and to identify relationships between these factors. In this chapter the data obtained through document analysis, questionnaires, observations and interviews are discussed.
4.2 General factors impacting on learning
4.2.1 Distribution of students by Area
There were 516 Students from 18 different schools in the Harare Province who participated in the study. The distribution of the students by area of school was as follows.
Table 4.1 Distribution of students by area
As can be observed, the majority of the students were from the high-density suburbs. In Harare, there are only two schools in the peri-urban area.
Area Number of schools
Low-density suburb High-density suburb Peri-urban Total 7 9 2 18 Number of students 179 274 63 516 Percentage of students (%) 34.7 53.1 12.2 100
12.20% n = 63 34.70% n = 179 53.10% n =274 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%
Peri-urban Low density suburb High density suburb
Location
Area of School Location
Fig 4.1: Area of School Location 1
The area of location (peri-urban, low-density suburb, high-density suburb) impacted significantly on both average coursework marks and average examination marks in all categories of orphans and non-orphaned students.
Table 4.2: Performance of Students according to Area of Location Subject Low- density suburb Average High- density suburb Average Peri- urban Average ANOVA significanc e level Decision ARTS
History 45.51 55.97 37.56 0.000 Means are different Shona 49.64 54.47 44.80 0.000 Means are different English 50.12 51.12 38.41 0.000 Means are different English Literature 65.75 52.30 43.86 0.000 Means are different Religious Education 46.44 40.82 32.00 0.207 Means are not different
SCIENCE
Geography 44.53 53.64 41.27 0.000 Means are different Maths 50.33 60.58 48.03 0.001 Means are different Integrated Sc. 45.48 59.65 47.51 0.000 Means are different Biology 57.88 63.28 45.75 0.104 Means are not different Agriculture 49.11 52.00 58.14 0.433 Means are not different
COMMERCIALS
Commerce 46.04 53.43 52.74 0.181 Means are not different Accounts 46.55 60.14 43.64 0.004 Means are different
PRACTICAL
Fashion & Fabrics 47.62 43.57 45.85 0.769 Means are not different
The performance of students according to area of school location revealed a difference in performance in the various subject categories: arts, science, commercials and practical subjects by students from the low-density, high-density and peri-urban suburbs. In the arts category, the students from the high-density suburbs performed better in History, Shona and English. However, in English Literature and Religious Education, the students from the low-density suburbs performed better. In all art subjects the peri-urban students were the worst performers. In the science category there was a significant difference in performance in Geography, Maths and Integrated Science. In Agriculture and Biology the difference was not significant. The peri-urban students performed better than the others in Agriculture. In the commercial subjects, the means were significantly different in Accounts. The only practical subject done by all categories was Fashion and Fabrics in which the means were not significantly different, but the students from the low-density suburbs had the highest average marks. Post hoc analysis showed that in History, Geography, Accounts and Integrated Science, performance of the students from the high-density suburbs was different from that of others. In Shona and Mathematics the major difference was
between the schools in peri-urban and high-density suburbs. In English language the performance of students from the peri-urban areas was significantly different from that of students in the other locations. In English literature the performance of the students from the low-density suburbs was different from that of other students.
Table 4.3 Area of Location: Non – Orphaned Students
ANOVA
Non-orphans Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
Average coursework mark
Between Groups 2829.073 2 1414.537 10.180 .000
Within Groups 35572.025 256 138.953
Total 38401.098 258
Average exam mark
Between Groups 2813.367 2 1406.684 6.894 .001
Within Groups 49994.302 245 204.058
Total 52807.669 247
The ANOVA regarding area of location and the performance of non-orphaned students revealed that there was a significant difference in both average coursework marks (p<.000) and average examination marks (p<.001).
Post Hoc Tests Homogeneous Subsets
Average coursework mark
Tukey B
Non-orphans
N
Subset for alpha = .05
Area of location: 1
2 3
Peri-urban 39 35.060
Low-density suburb 98 39.537
High-density suburb 122 44.194
Means for groups in homogeneous subsets are displayed. a Uses Harmonic Mean Sample Size = 68.117.
b The group sizes are unequal. The harmonic mean of the group sizes is used. Type I error levels are not guaranteed.
Post hoc tests for non-orphaned students in the average coursework marks showed that all non- orphaned students’ average marks were below 50 in all categories of area of location. The students performed differently, with those in the high-density suburb having the highest marks,
followed by those from the low-density area; while the lowest average marks were obtained by those from the peri-urban area.
Average examination mark
Tukey B
Non-orphans
N
Subset for alpha = .05
Area of location: 1 2
Peri-urban 36 40.8359
Low-density suburb 95 48.1645
High-density suburb 117 50.9291 Means for groups in homogeneous subsets are displayed.
a Uses Harmonic Mean Sample Size = 64.033.
b The group sizes are unequal. The harmonic mean of the group sizes is used. Type I error levels are not guaranteed.
Post hoc tests for the non-orphaned students in average examination marks showed a difference in performance between the non-orphaned students in the peri-urban area and those in the low- and high-density suburbs. There was no difference in performance between those in the high- and low-density suburbs. As shown in the table above, only those students from the high-density suburbs had average examination marks above 50. The students from the peri-urban area had the lowest average examination marks.
Table 4.4 Area of Location: Orphaned for one year or less
ANOVA