Effect of Broken Families on School Attendance among Private Secondary School Students in Iringa Municipality, Tanzania

Abstract

This study sought to establish the effect of broken families on school attendance among private secondary school students in Iringa Municipality, Tanzania. The study adopted the case study design which helped the researcher to study a smaller unit in terms of two schools with students from broken families. The methods of data collection involved a questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, a focus group discussion and documentary review. Quantitative data was analyzed through descriptive statistics while the qualitative data was analyzed through the thematic approach. The study concluded that students form broken families faced unique challenges that affected their school attendance. They did not commence to school on resume days and they regularly missed classes because some were required to take parental responsibilities like taking care of their younger ones and others engaged in such activities like farming and casual works to enable their families to get necessities and school fees. Some students had missed school with reasons like financial problems including lack of school fees, inability to obtain school requirements and poor parental care. Furthermore, family structures in terms of broken families led to school dropout since students from those families were involved in illegal businesses like theft, robbery and prostitution as the means to meet their daily needs. Based on the conclusions, it is recommended that broken family parents should try as much as possible to provide basic needs that support school attendance and encourage their children to attend school regularly in order to avoid absenteeism which may hinder the intended academic achievement.