| dc.description.abstract | The 8-4-4 curriculum system is not strict on the age of a learner at any stage. A good number
of over-age learners have transitioned to public secondary schools in Butula Sub County as
a result of 100% transition and the basic education Act. Sub County joint examinations
conducted annually among form four students give evidence of low academic achievement
as indicated by low mean scores of 3.6489, 3.934, and 3.8818 in the years 2019, 2020, and
2021 correspondingly. This is in relation to the overall mean score of 12.0. Over-age learners
do contribute to the academic achievement in these schools since they are part of this
population. The purpose of this study was to find out the relationship between psychological
determinants and academic achievement among over-age learners in public secondary
schools in Butula Sub County. Objectives were to: examine the relationship between self
efficacy and academic achievement of over-age learners, establish the differences in levels
of self-esteem on academic achievement of over-age learners, determine the relationship
between interpersonal relationships on academic achievement of over-age learners and
finally to establish the relationship between guidance and counseling on academic
achievement of over-age learners. The study was anchored on Walberg’s theory of academic
achievement. The study employed descriptive survey and correlation research design
establish the relationship of psychological determinants on academic achievement of over
age learners. The target population consisted of 2306 form four students and 54 teachers
from 27 public secondary schools. Stratified random sampling was used to sample schools,
simple random sampling to sample students while purposive sampling was used to sample
teachers. The sample size for the study was 331 (321 over-age learners and 10 teachers).
Instruments of data collection were questionnaire, interview schedules and document
analysis check lists. Quantitative data was analyzed using Kendall’s(r), One way Analysis
of variance and Spearman’s(r), percentages, means and standard deviations, using Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21. Findings indicated a significant relationship
between psychological determinants and academic achievement of over-age learners as
follows: Academic achievement and psychological determinants: SE; r=.088, Self-esteem;
F=1.1771, p=0.028 with most learners experiencing low self-esteem. Interpersonal
relationship; r=-.112. Further findings from interview schedules indicated a positive
relationship between academic achievement and guidance and counseling of over-age
learners. It is recommended that: teachers help cultivate high SE of over-age learners,
classmates to over-age learners be encouraged to view them in their environment with high
self-esteem and not look down upon them and also that teachers in-charge of guidance and
counseling particularly offer guidance and counseling that helps improve academic
achievement of over-age learners. The findings of this study will be beneficial to Education
stakeholders in helping improve academic achievement of learners and more so, over-age
learners whose population has significantly increased in public secondary schools. | en_US |
