School based factors influencing provision of Education for returnee Students in Secondary Schools in Bor County of Jonglei State, South Sudan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors influencing provision of education for returnee students in secondary schools in Bor County of Jonglei state in South Sudan. The study was guided by the following objectives: Determine the school based influence of South Sudan curriculum on returnee students in secondary schools; determine the teachers’ motivation and training as well as establishing the influence of English and Arabic language on returnee students in secondary schools in Bor County of Jonglei State. This was because there was a lot of perception that there was tremendous influence by English and Arabic languages in the school learning system. The study also sought to bring out the influence of teaching and learning resources on returnee students on secondary schools in Bor County of Jonglei State. The theory of social integration was employed here as the study sought to find out the integration of these languages in the system. In its broadest conception, social integration theory shows lack of positive social interaction and acceptance has negative consequences from an individual, family, community and societal perspective. The study used descriptive survey research design to collect data from a large population in order to determine the correlation between variables. This was used because it allowed the collection of deeper insights into the issues under investigation. It also reduced time wastage and ensured that the representation of the respondents was according to those who were found in secondary schools; thus, both qualitative and quantitative data was collected using a self administered questionnaire. The population consisted of principals and teachers in secondary schools in Bor County. The total number of principals was 8, 128 teachers and 2000 students. The researcher used census sampling technique to select 8 secondary schools. Simple random sampling technique was used to obtain a sample size of 200 students and 60 teachers. The analysis was done with the aid of SPSS software and presented in form of tables, frequencies and percentages upon which data findings were easily interpreted. According to the study, curriculum, motivation, language of instruction and teaching and learning resources had high influence on provision of education for returnee students in secondary schools in Bor County. The study concentrated on examining the formal factors affecting returnee children in a classroom setup. This was the problem whose factors were being sought. These returnee students who come from other countries where language of instruction was not English found it difficult to fit in an English instructed classroom when they came to South Sudan. This has had an effect on the provision and delivery of quality secondary education to returnee students in Bor County of Jonglei State in South Sudan. The study findings indicated that most of the schools offered South Sudanese and foreign curricula to their students which greatly affected the quality of education offered. Most schools lacked proper motivation for their students and this led to many of them dropping out of school. The research established that the language of instruction offered in most schools was not the language spoken by students at home. It also established that most schools lacked adequate teaching and learning resources. The researcher, therefore, suggests that other studies on the same should be carried out in other counties in South Sudan.