Access to Education

Adolescence, a critical phase of rapid physical, social, and psychological growth, encompasses individuals aged 10 to 19 years, Evaluating nutritional status for decades has involved standard methods like dietary, anthropometric, biochemical tests, and clinical signs, often incorporating socioeconomic status (SES) as a key determinant. The study aimed to assess the nutritional status of students (10-12 years old) attending three types of basic schools whose families’ SES was categorized according to school fees paid as high, medium and low. Methodology: This cross-sectional community-based study investigated the influence of family socioeconomic status (SES) on the nutritional status, school performance, and self-esteem of children aged 10-12 years attending basic schools 2014. 210 participants were chosen. Data were collected through anthropometric measurements and a questionnaire covering demography, dietary patterns, self-esteem assessments, and school performance obtained from schools. Statistical package for social sciences version 26 used for analysis. Result: Data from 210 students (45.2% boys, 54.8% girls) The findings revealed a significant impact of family SES (P=000) on nutritional status, energy and protein intake, school performance, and self-esteem. Low SES families had a higher prevalence of underweight children (66.7%), while high SES families had more overweight and obese children. Those from high SES consumed more animal foods, fast foods, fresh fruits, and vegetables compared to medium and low SES groups. High school grades were predominantly achieved by high and medium SES students, with low SES students obtaining lower grades. Normal-weight students exhibited better school performance and self-esteem than overweight, obese, and underweight students. In conclusion, family SES significantly influenced the nutritional status, school performance, and self-esteem of children attending basic schools. Recommendations, to ensure students' well-being, ..

This sequential exploratory mixed methods research aimed to describe which among the demographics, school profile, teacher factor, student factor, learning resources and classroom management, management and governance, family background and parental involvement significantly influenced and predicted the performance of the secondary schools in Science, Mathematics and English in Davao del Sur Division and thereafter to develop empirical models. The instrument used was developed through the responses of the KII informants, concepts of Creswell, and factor analyses. Using complete enumeration, the researcher selected 68 teachers and principals as respondents. Findings revealed that educational attainment, school based management, field of specialization significantly predicted competition; school type, teachers’ attitude and motivation, class size were linked with NAT results in Science; school type, length of service, teachers’ attitude and motivation, principal’s projects and programs, and school size were associated with NAT results in Mathematics; school type, teachers’ attitude and motivation, and classroom management positively correlated with NAT results in English; and school type, teacher’s attitude and motivation, family background and parental involvement, and length of service significantly linked with NAT results in Science, Mathematics and English. The empirical models adopted were: (1) YCompetition = -5.028 + 2.472*Educational Attainment + 1.514*School Based Management – 1.531*Field of Specialization, (2) YNATScience = 7.814 – 32.872*School Type + 13.007*Teacher’s Attitude and Motivation + 14.318*Class Size, (3) YNATMathematics = 74.026 – 28.828*School Type + 5.381* Length of Service + 9.523* Teacher’s Attitude and Motivation – 6.782* Principal’s Projects and Programs – 4.935* School Size, (4) YNATEnglish = 52.674 – 18.505* School Type + 11.362* Teacher’s Attitude and Motivation – 6.518* Classroom Management, and (5) YNATAverage = 60.645 – 26.052*School Type + 8.362* Teacher’s Attitude and Motivation – 4.902* Family Background and Parental Involvement + 4.158* Length of Service.

The presence of a teacher in the classroom is central to the provision of schooling, with accumulating evidence showing that teacher absence compromises student learning (e.g., Duflo and Hanna 2005; Das et al. 2006; Das et al. 2007). Teacher absence is common in schools in low‐ and middle‐income countries. In six low‐ and middle‐income countries, 11–27 percent of primary school teachers were absent on the day of the school visit (Chaudhury et al. 2006). Only 3 percent of teachers were absent due to “sanctioned” causes such as illness or participation in election or public health campaigns. In four states in India, one‐third of head teachers were absent at the time of the primary school visit, and teaching‐related activity (supervising written work, writing on the blackboard, teaching by rote, or teaching via any other method) was found in only about one‐half of schools (PROBE Team 1999). Teachers were instead found to be minding the class, outside the classroom, talking to their peers, or engaged in other nonteaching activities. With much of the developing world making rapid progress in achieving universal primary school enrollment and gender equality in enrollment, Pakistan lags substantially behind other nations at its income level on both measures (Easterly 2003). This is due to a large extent to the exclusion of girls from education, particularly in rural areas. In Pakistan, government schools for boys and girls are separate; in addition, only women are employed as teachers in government girls’ schools and only men teach in government boys’ schools. The lack of a nearby government school for girls in rural communities is a significant barrier to girls’ access to schooling, with a third of rural communities lacking a government girls’ primary school (Lloyd et al. 2005; World Bank 2005). “Access” to schooling depends not only on the physical availability of schools by type (i.e., government girls’, government boys’, or private schools) but also on other supply‐side barriers to use, such as the presence of the teacher and whether or not the teacher is actually teaching. As we confirm in our study, teacher absence is high in government schools and particularly among women who teach in girls’ schools. Little empirical attention has been paid to the factors correlated with teacher absence among female compared to male teachers in government schools or how the higher absence rate among female teachers differentially affects opportunities to learn among girls as compared to boys attending public primary schools. Specifically, in a government school system where schools for boys and girls are separate and where only women teach girls and men teach boys, the higher absence rate among female teachers may limit access to schooling for girls more so than for boys, further exacerbating existing gender inequalities in primary school access. In this article we focus on teacher absence among female teachers in government girls’ schools, male teachers in government boys’ schools, and, by way of comparison, among teachers in private coeducational schools in rural Pakistan. First, we analyze the school and teacher‐level characteristics that are correlated with absence in teachers in each of these three types of schools. Second, we examine how teacher absence differentially affects access to schooling among girls enrolled in government girls’ schools as compared to pupils enrolled in boys’ school or in coeducational private schools. We conducted our analysis using data collected on teachers and pupils in 1997 and 2004 from primary schools serving 12 villages in rural Punjab and Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP).

Non-state, private schools in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq are considered new educational institutions, only introduced to the Kurdish society after the establishment of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 1992. Since then, private schools have contributed to providing education, from kindergarten to higher education (Vernez, et al., 2014). This development is continuing despite the wars, political conflicts, and economic problems that have affected the region in the last three decades. This study aims to describe the development of private schools in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and to clarify their functions in the educational system. Accordingly, the research questions, which provide the structure of this study cover two main parts. The first part deals with describing the profiles of private education providers, the types of schools they offer, and the development of the non-state educational sector. The second part investigates the factors affecting the choice of private schools. In both aspects, the functions of private schools for the Kurdish society are discussed. Quantitative and qualitative methods have been adapted to tackle the research questions, and a mixed methods has also been applied. A quantitative method is used to give descriptive data about the increase in the number of private schools, the types of private schools and the factors influencing parents’ choice of private schools. Data have been collected from 103 private schools to describe the increase and types of private schools in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. A questionnaire for parents (n=223) provides insights into the most important factors influencing the choice of private schools over public schools in the KRI. Qualitative methods are used to describe the profiles of private education providers. Data from 10 private education providers’ websites are collected and analysed using document analysis. The results of this study show that private schools are diverse and different from the public schools, especially concerning the language of academic instruction. Some private education providers share common goals, such as providing high-quality education, while some others have specific goals, such as serving a minority group. There are both local and international private education providers. Most private schools are profit-oriented, with only a few schools considered religiously oriented or private public partnership schools. The number of private schools in the region is constantly increasing, reaching 144 schools, enrolling 33,613 students, in 2018. Different factors affect parental choices of private schools. English as a language for instruction has been found to be the most important factor for parents when choosing private schools. This could be explained by considering English as a more global language comparing to Kurdish, as English is used as a tool to be connected with the international world. This study shows that private schools in regions with different conflicts do not necessarily act as an elitist movement for social distinction, as it is often described in the discourse, but rather covering further functions as qualification objectives of the population or compensating language policies. In general, private schools have the qualification function to provide individuals with the knowledge, skills and capacities that are necessary for themselves as well as for developing the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Private schools appear to connect the Kurdish society to the rest of the world by creating global citizens through English as the medium of instruction. In addition, for minorities, private schools sustain an educational system that responds to their religious and cultural needs and expectations.

This study uses social justice and spatial inequity framework to assess the difference of access to educational facilities experienced by suburban neighborhoods in Buffalo Metropolitan Area (BMA). This paper aims at highlighting a spatial inequity of access to quality school in suburban neighborhoods due to spatial variability of elementary school performance in inner and outer suburban neighborhoods of BMA in 2016. The context of this study is suburban neighborhood stratification in Buffalo, New York. Suburban once considered as a monolith with good quality neighborhoods and schools currently undergoes neighborhood change, which leads to stratification and bifurcates into striving outer suburbs and declining inner suburbs. This has manifested in school performance due to the tie between housing location and school attendance. Literature shows school performance is related to neighborhoods characteristics and schools’ sociodemographic. The research questions are: 1) Is there any difference in neighborhood hardship index (NHI) between inner and outer suburban neighborhoods? 2) Is there any difference in elementary school (ES) performance between inner and outer suburban neighborhoods? 3) What is the relationship between school performance with neighborhood and school factors? t-Test measures the difference of means of neighborhood hardship index and school performance between inner and outer suburban neighborhoods. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression models the relationship between school performance with neighborhood characteristics and students sociodemographic. The findings depict a variation of school performance across neighborhoods in conjunction with stratification of suburban neighborhoods. The percentage of students from multi race is a significant neighborhood factor that positively related to school performance. The percentage of students receiving free-lunch (FRL) is a significant school factor that negatively correlated with school performance. Suburban dummy of whether a neighborhood belongs to inner suburban or outer suburban neighborhood significantly affects the school performance. Neighborhoods with lower school performance are located in inner suburban. Policy implications call concerted efforts from education and urban planners to promote spatial equity to access quality schools across neighborhoods.

Investigations assessing how oral health status affects school performance and attendance considering individual and community variables are lacking. To analyze the association of school contextual factors and oral conditions with school performance and absenteeism in early adolescence. This cross-sectional study was carried out with 593 12-year-old students from 20 schools in Passo Fundo, a southern city in Brazil. The caregivers provided sociodemographic information by means of a questionnaire. Oral health status was clinically examined for dental caries and gingival bleeding. Students answered the CPQ11-14 questionnaire to assess the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL). Information on contextual factors was obtained from the schools' administrators. "School performance" was measured by Portuguese and Mathematic tests' scores, and "school absenteeism" by the number of school days missed. Descriptive statistics was conducted, followed by unadjusted and adjusted multilevel linear regression. At the individual level, low OHRQoL was associated with lower school performance and higher absenteeism. At the contextual level, students from private schools had higher school performance and lower mean of school days missed. The type of school and OHRQoL were associated with school performance and attendance of adolescents.

There has been a lot of attention paid to the issue of inequalities in access to education in the post-Soviet period, but less to how the school influences the intellectual and social lives of students. Interpersonal relations in the school affect students in many ways, and with the growth of such new types of school as gymnasiums and lyceums, and of private schools in general, we would expect the patterns of experience to become more varied. Some insight into this aspect of education is provided by Alasheev's and Tsvetkova's "Interpersonal Relations in School," in which they compare the results of studies done in St. Petersburg and in Tol'iatti. Among their findings is support for the notion that a great many of the students in the new types of schools have positive experiences, but in all types of schools how well students are doing academically has a strong influence on how they view relations with others.

BackgroundPrevious studies have already reported associations of media consumption and/or physical activity with school achievement. However, longitudinal studies investigating independent effects of physical activity and media consumption on school performance are sparse. The present study fills this research gap and, furthermore, assesses relationships of the type of secondary school with media consumption and physical activity.MethodsThe consumption of screen-based media (TV/video, game console, PC/internet, and mobile phone) and leisure physical activity (organized and non-organized) of 10 – to 17-year old adolescents participating in the LIFE Child study in Germany were related to their school grades in two major school subjects (Mathematics and German) and in Physical Education. In addition to a cross-sectional analysis at baseline (N = 850), a longitudinal analysis (N = 512) investigated the independent effects of these activities on the school grades achieved 12 months later. All associations were adjusted for age, gender, socio-economic status, year of data assessment, body-mass-index, and school grades at baseline. A further analysis investigated differences in the consumption of screen-based media and physical activity as a function of the type of secondary school (highest vs. lower secondary school).ResultsAdolescents of lower secondary schools reported a significantly higher consumption of TV/video and game consoles than adolescents attending the highest secondary school. Independently of the type of school, a better school performance in Mathematics was predicted by a lower consumption of computers/internet, and a better performance in Physical Education was predicted by a lower consumption of TV/video and a higher frequency of non-organized physical activity. However, the association between non-organized physical activity and subsequent grades in Physical Education was significant in girls only.ConclusionThe present results suggest that media consumption has a negative effect on school achievement, whereas physical activity has a positive effect, which, however, is restricted to the subject Physical Education. Future studies might explore the relationship between media consumption and school career, for example, the choice or change of the secondary school type, in more detail.Trial registrationLIFE Child study: ClinicalTrials.gov, clinical trial number NCT02550236

The paper examined the influence of school type, sex and location on students’ academic performance in Ekiti state secondary schools. The sample of the study consisted of forty (40) secondary schools. Four (4) Government colleges (State Unity colleges) were purposively selected for the study while thirty-six (36) public secondary schools were randomly selected for the study. The school sampled had presented candidates for both West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) and National Examination Council (NECO) respectively. An instrument, school type, sex, location and students’ academic performance inventory was used to collect data for the study. Data collected were analyzed using percentage scores and t-test statistics. Three null hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Findings from the study showed that the level of students’ academic performance was low. It was also revealed that school type, sex and location had no significant influence on students’ academic performance. Based on the finding it was recommended that educational planners, administrators and evaluators should appreciate the fact that the Parent Teacher Association; Guidance and Counselors, philanthropists, students and society at large have crucial role to play in improving students’ academic performance and solicit their supports in this regard.

The aim of this study was to verify which components of the working memory (WM) model (phonological, visuospatial and central executive) predict the performance in fluid intelligence (FI), considering age, schooling and school type. The participants were 419 children aged between six and 12 years old, from the first year to the sixth grade of Primary School from public and private schools of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The WM subtests of the NEUPSILIN-Inf – Brazilian Brief Neuropsychological Assessment Battery – for children – were administered, and Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices Test served as FI measure. In the linear regression analysis, the executive component primarily explained the relationship between WM and FI in children, rather than phonological component. When sociodemographic variables were included, age, school type and the executive component explained 47% of FI variance, but the predictive power of the executive component was reduced. The results reinforce the primary relationship between executive processing of WM and FI, as well as the importance of taking into account sociodemographic variables, so the relationship between these constructs are not overestimated.

As in other countries, Brazil has used standardized tests as a tool to measure the quality of education. The Ministry of Education, incorporated large-scale assessments into its educational policy in the early 1990s through the System for Basic Education Assessment. In addition to the exam used to assess elementary school, students are also assessed through the National High School Exam, created in 1998 to assess school performance at the end of Basic Education. This study investigates student performance of Brazilian state public schools in the 2017 National High School Exam [ENEM] area of Natural Sciences. We compared student performance between different types of public schools localized in urban and rural areas. In addition, the factors that may cause these differences were assessed. The influence of school infrastructure, proportion of teachers with training in the area of Natural Sciences, and teacher qualification was evaluated upon student performance. Student performance varied by the type of school and between both rural and urban schools with the higher scores founded in civic-military schools and urban areas. Among the factors evaluated, school infrastructure was the most important factor in student performance, followed by the proportion of teachers with a background in Natural Sciences, and finally, teacher qualification. The heterogeneity of performance between school type and location shows how much we still need to improve resource management, school infrastructure, teacher training and qualification.

It is Government policy that schools in Zimbabwe, embrace Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in line with the country’s Vision 2030 and global technological inclination. Several studies found that financial impediments undermined use of ICTs as media of instruction. Drawing from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) the present researchers sought to find out how ICTs facilitate teaching and learning for Early Childhood Development (ECD) classes, were funded. The study was conducted in Harare at different types of primary schools that included: government, council, mission and trust. The researchers employed a mixed method approach which adopted both qualitative and quantitative research strategies, processes and procedures. Quantitative data collection through individual face-to-face interviews with school heads preceded data from focus group discussions with ECD teachers and TICs which provided rich narratives to affirm and expand on school heads’ responses. Concurrently, school documents were reviewed. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods and subsequently triangulated to enhance the credibility of the findings. This study exposed limitations in funding of ICT resources for ECD learners at government, council and mission (GCM) schools whilst trust schools were a model in this regard. However, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) has continued to encourage schools to equip themselves with appropriate ICTs according to their means and capacities. This has created a digital divide among schools as well as contradiction with government policy of promoting equity in ICT access and use. A government dedicated ICT budget as well as inter- and multi-sectoral support systems were therefore critical to realise the ECD level ICT requirements. This would go a long way to bridge the digital divide among different types of schools and lay a strong foundation of practical application of ICTs in daily life and future education.

Work Environment, School Type and Job Performance of Secondary School Teachers: Evidence from Ijebu-North, Ogun State, Nigeria UWANNAH, Ngozi Caroline (PhD); AMANZE, Samuel Uche (PhD); ADEOYE Ayodele O.(PhD); ALABA, Adesokan Oluwaseun Abstract This study examined the influence of work environment and school type on job performance of secondary school teachers in Ijebu-North Local Government Area of Ogun State. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study and one hundred teachers were drawn from five secondary schools in Ijebu North Local Government through multi-stage stratified random sampling technique. A self-developed scale tagged “Influence of Work Environment and School Type on Job Performance Questionnaire” with a reliability coefficient of 0.71was used in collecting data to test the three hypothesis postulated which was analyzed using percentage counts and multiple regression analysis. Findings revealed a significant combined influence of work environment and school type on job performance of secondary school teachers, significant relative influence of work environment and school type on job performance of secondary school teachersand a significant gender difference in the influence of work environment and school type on job performance of secondary school teachers Based on the findings, it was concluded that conducive work environment is of necessity and that school type is a determinant of quality job performance. It was recommended among others that government should support and approve budgets for renovating old buildings. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jehd.v8n3a11

Peruvian higher education faces the urgent need to improve educational quality through effective teaching practices that enhance student performance. This study determined the relationship between blended learning strategies and academic performance in students at a private university in Piura. Therefore, a quantitative descriptive-correlational methodology with a non-experimental cross-sectional design was implemented with a population of 1,200 students. A probabilistic sample of 292 participants was selected through simple random sampling, and data was collected using a survey methodology with an expert-validated instrument that classified the results into upper, intermediate, and lower levels. Based on the findings, a highly robust Spearman coefficient (? = 0.954) was obtained, corroborating an extraordinary correlation between hybrid learning and school performance. This gave rise to an enlightening contradiction: 54.5% of participants demonstrated limited skills in mixed strategies, while 75.7% showed suboptimal academic performance, suggesting a statistically significant connection between the variables studied and highlighting the importance of including pedagogically innovative methods. However, the inconsistency between large correlation numbers and the preponderance of deficient levels highlights the need to strengthen institutional skills, including the development of expert teachers, the optimization of the technological platform, and ensuring equity in access to digital training.Peruvian higher education faces the urgent need to improve educational quality through effective teaching practices that enhance student performance. This study determined the relationship between blended learning strategies and academic performance in students at a private university in Piura. Therefore, a quantitative descriptive-correlational methodology with a non-experimental cross-sectional design was implemented with a population of 1,200 students. A probabilistic sample of 292 participants was selected through simple random sampling, and data was collected using a survey methodology with an expert-validated instrument that classified the results into upper, intermediate, and lower levels. Based on the findings, a highly robust Spearman coefficient (? = 0.954) was obtained, corroborating an extraordinary correlation between hybrid learning and school performance. This gave rise to an enlightening contradiction: 54.5% of participants demonstrated limited skills in mixed strategies, while 75.7% showed suboptimal academic performance, suggesting a statistically significant connection between the variables studied and highlighting the importance of including pedagogically innovative methods. However, the inconsistency between large correlation numbers and the preponderance of deficient levels highlights the need to strengthen institutional skills, including the development of expert teachers, the optimization of the technological platform, and ensuring equity in access to digital training. Received: 26 August 2025 / Accepted: 17 October 2025 / Published: 05 November 2025

Improvement of quality of education is a challenging task; however, it is not impossible. Measuring the performance of schools is not straightforward. In general, number of students passed in the examination in terms of percentage is considered as performance of the schools. Knowing the factors to determine the performance of schools provides some ideas on how to improve the quality of education. The paper, therefore, seeks to show factors that affect performance of the institutional school. The data were collected using structured questionnaires and interview from 90 respondents of Chitwan district, Nepal. The performance of the schools is measured in terms of per cent of students passed in school leaving certificate examination. Improvement in library and laboratory facilities, parents-teacher interactions, drinking water and toilet facilities compared to previous level, and academic quality perceived by teachers determine the performance of the school. Some levels of improvement in playground and sports materials have power to improve the performance of the schools.