Exploring the factors that contribute to high failure rate among final year students in public higher education institutions in the kingdom of eSwatini.
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Date
2022
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University of Zululand
Abstract
In Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in the Kingdom of Eswatini there are students who fail their final year of study. The focus of this study is on students who failed their final year of study in HEI in Eswatini. The rationale is that a number of studies focus on failure and retention of first year students, yet students fail even in successive years, including their final year. The aim of this research is to develop a strategy to mitigate failure of students in their final year of study in Higher Education Institutions in Eswatini. There is lack of information in the country on students who fail their final year in HEI, yet failure in final year is a reality. There is limited research based literature on failure of final year students. Failure in final year send students back to their communities with a stigma attached to them. Communities are concerned about students who fail in their final year of study. They are a population that is hard to identify because they do not want to be seen and judged as failures. The study, therefore aim to address the gap by exploring the factors contributing to failure and developing a substantive theory to mitigate failure in final year of study in Eswatini. The study employed qualitative research methodology using Constructivist Ground Theory. It used snowballing and theoretical sampling. The participant were students who failed their final year of study. Data was collected through in-depth semi structured interviews conducted face to face and through telephone calls. Consent forms were sent through emails for student who were interviewed through telephone call due to COVID 19 restriction. Data analysis was directed by CGT, which involves memoing, data generation and analysis concurrently. The findings revealed that institutions contributed a lot to the failure of final year students. The Substantive theory developed to mitigate failure is a holistic strategy that will make an innovative and worthwhile contribution by offering a new insight into how to mitigate failure in final year in HEI in Eswatini. The substantive theory will address challenges from both the institution and the students. The theory consists of three components, namely the pre-entry courses, professional development and students support services.
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Recommendations of the study were preparatory courses for students and refresher courses for the staff in HEI. The study explored failure in the final year of study through the lens of students. It advocates that the voice of the students deserves to be heard in order to mitigate failure in the final year of study.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in the Department of philosophy of Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2022.