Relationship between Learners Residence Distance and Attendance in Community Senior High Schools’ in the Hohoe Municipality of Ghana
Daniel Attakumah PhD, Anthony Assafuah-Drokow PhD, Julius Jerry Agortey PhD and Ambrose Ayikue PhD
Abstract
School attendance is one important measure of students’ success and is of much concern to stakeholders in education in many countries including Ghana. Few studies have examined the relationship between learners’ residence distance and their school attendance. This paper investigated the relationship between learners’ residence distance and attendance in community senior high schools in the Hohoe municipality of Ghana. A stratified random sample of 354 grades 11 and 12 students from three community senior high schools responded to a questionnaire. Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient and t-test were used to test the null hypotheses. The study found a weak positive correlation between students’ residence distance and school attendance but that residence distance was a statistically significant predictor of school attendance. There was no statistically significant difference in the academic performance of students with short-distance residence and students with far-distance residence to the school. Students' inability to follow lessons was one reason for their non-attendance at school, but not the distance. The research team recommended that much focus should be placed on formative assessment to motivate students’ school attendance.