1. Title: Factors affecting low performance of Junior Secondary School students in Kiribati
2. Aim:

To understand the causes for the declining performances of students at the JSS level in
Kiribati.
3. Introduction:
This study is initiated as a result of a continually declining of students performances in most of the
Junior Secondary Schools across Kiribati. The declining performance of Junior Secondary School (JSS)
students in Kiribati is a worrisome factor to the whole Ministry of Education and the government of
Kiribati. Students are considered to be the leaders of tomorrow. In this regard, there is a need for the
government to implement effective strategies aimed at enhancing academic performance thereby
improving the declining performance of JSS students. Reasonable measures should be implemented to
ensure that students’ academic careers are improved.
The findings of this study will guide and provide the Ministry of Education with ideas toward improving
the inability of the schools to cater for the students’ needs at the JSS levels. It is also expected that this
study will offer the possibility to identify and to realize shortcomings that may existed in the education
system which may contributes to the decline in students’ performances at the JSS levels.
4. Background/Rationale:
The education system in Kiribati has been undergoing reform processes for the past few years to
compensate the declining of students’ performances at all school levels.
Firstly, a reform to the primary school curriculum and then the Junior Secondary School curriculum. A
new program which is known as the Leading Learning and instructional Leadership (LLL) together with
employing Assistant Lecturers (ALs) to assist all teachers with this LLL program. These initiatives were
aiming to enhance students’ performances in both primary and junior secondary schools. However,
most of the Junior Secondary Schools across Kiribati are still underperformed as specified in the JSC
examination results for years 2016 – 2018 with unclear reasons.
Research Problem and Focus area
The curriculum blueprint says that the major aim of the junior secondary education program is to
develop students, encourage competence and academic excellence. The National Curriculum and
Assessment Framework (NCAF) highlights all the necessary factors needed to ensure success in the
education sector. Despite these struggles to enhance quality education, the country thrives in universal
and quality education. According to the report obtained from the Examinations unit (2019), the
academic report of junior Secondary School students in 2016, 2017 and 2018 indicated that there was a
remarkable decline in performance. With regards to this deteriorating performance, there is a need to
determine the causes of the declining performance of junior secondary school students in Kiribati and
the measures to improve students’ average performance.
5. Literature Review
A study by Enwereji, et al (2017), conveys some of the factors that contributes to students under
performance at the Junior Secondary School in Botswana. The study reveals that Junior Secondary
School students’ performances in Botswana were affected by the effect of educators’ negative attitude
on students during the knowledge transfer process. Educators feel that the government should provide
them more with basic motivational factors, such as an equitable work environment, well-earned
incentives, fringe benefits, promotion and salary upgrade. The government should also employ more
educators to reduce the educator-learner ratio, which will help in reducing the available workload. The
government’s ability to put these factors in place will enable educators to give their best to their
students which will enhance their performance.
According to similar research studies that were carried out in Kiribati, one study states that students
learning at the Junior Secondary School (JSS) levels on South Tarawa were inhibited by school factors (eg
ability grouping), teacher factors (eg. Attitudes), and student factors (eg. Peer pressure) (Timee, 2018).
The academic performance of Junior Secondary School boys was often lower than their female
counterparts, because boys were perceived as having negative classroom behaviors (Iaoniman, 2018).
This is also similar with what Enwereji, et al (2017) says, that students’ engagement in misconducts has a
direct effect on their performance. Students’ gross misconducts and their parents’ inability to counsel
them contributed to their decline in performance. Similarly, Moswela (2014) states that students’
negative behaviors in the learning environment contribute to the decline in their academic
performance. Hence, the learner has a big responsibility for his/her own academic success.
Another factor contributing to students’ underperformance at the Junior Secondary School level is
relates to corporal punishment. Enwereji, et al (2017) states that corporal punishment is another factor
affecting students’ performances at the school. Educators have been using abusive words towards
students which are not acceptable with students. Students require encouragement and maximum
support and guidance from the educators and the parents in order for them to perform well in school.
Moswela (2014) mentioned that parents involvements in students education is considered necessary to
guide and to cultivate the spirit of reading amongst students because schools alone cannot do the job of
educating children without parents’ consistent supports. Scholarly research has proved that students’
cognitive academic development starts with their parents, who assist them in acquiring fundamental
knowledge and some special skills at an early age (Isaiah & Nenty, 2012). Possibly, there is a link
between educators and parents to establish co-operation to enhance change of attitudes and to
encourage success in learning and better developmental outcomes (Moswela, 2014).
6. Research Questions
1. Do parental guidance and attitude contribute to the declining performance of Junior Secondary
School students?
2. Does the exhibition/demonstration of misconduct by students contribute to their declining
performance of students at the JSS levels?
3. Do policy formulation and implementation by the Ministry of Education contribute to the
declining performance of Junior Secondary School students?
4. Does job dissatisfaction demotivate teachers in giving students the desired direction and
academic guidance?
5. What are best strategies teachers could consider necessary to stop and improve the declining
performance in Junior Secondary Schools?
6. Research Design
a. Approach
The presented study adopts a qualitative approach in research design. A qualitative research design will
enable the researcher to collect data from respondents using focused group interviews. This qualitative
approach will also help the researcher to gain an in-depth knowledge through interactions with
participants.
A review of recent MoE documents will also be used in this study for the purpose of gathering other
useful and related data and information.
b. Assessment Tool
This study rely only on a qualitative research approach (focus group discussions) for data collection. A
Focus Group Discussions with students and teachers is to be used, to seek participants’ views and
perceptions toward the declining of students’ performances at the JSS levels. A review of recent MoE
documents will also be used.
c. Research Method
The sampling model incorporated both convenience sampling (teachers who were available and willing
to participate at the time of the study) and purposeful sampling (groups of teachers identified based on
their experience with the new curriculum). Data will be collected from the educators and students
through focus group interviews with the aid of open-ended questions.
The focus group discussion will be carried out with 2 different groups at each of the schools. There will
be a focus group with students and another focus group with teachers.
The focus group interviews conducted together with results from document reviews will all be
transcribed, sorted and arranged in themes. Central ideas will be identified and the researcher will
analyze them with regards to the respective research questions.
d. Participant in the study
Table 1: Sampling size of Teachers
Name of School
Boutoka te Baretaiti Abemama
JSS
BTC JSS, South Tarawa
No of Teachers
10
Selected Participants
4
57
4
Table 2: Sample size of Students (students)
Name of School
Boutoka te Baretaiti Abemama
JSS
BTC JSS, South Tarawa
No of Students
190
Selected Participants
6
905
6
7. Research Outputs
1. Identification and discussion of potential factors affecting the learning of students at the JSS
levels
8. Limitations
The study is grounded in the local context and is specific to that setting. Therefore, findings cannot
be generalized to cover all islands in the country. The snapshot study will, however, intend to
provide insights into the key reasons of why the performance of the two JSS schools in Kiribati is
declining. This information aims to provide evidence to the Ministry to consider for future options.
9. Ethical Considerations
Potential risks and benefits
Participants do not belong to at-risk groups. However, they may fear that their comments on the official
policy and/or curriculum will have professional or personal consequences for them. It will be made clear
to participants through participant information statements and consent forms that the data will be deidentified and their comments will remain anonymous to everyone apart from the researchers.
Recordings of students and teachers will be used for research purposes only and will have no effect on
teachers’ professional status or evaluation / assessment.
Researchers will visit schools for students, teachers and parents’ focus group interviews. Recordings will
not be shared with anyone other than the researchers. If at any point there is a need to share
recordings, consent will first be sought from parents via the school improvement committee. It is
believed that the benefits of the research for education administrators, teachers and children in Kiribati
– improved policy, curriculum and teacher education – outweigh the potential risks above.
Privacy and confidentiality
Focus group interview recordings will not be shared during or after the research with anyone beyond
the researchers without prior consent. Transcripts will not include participants’ names and identifying
information on written or audiovisual data will not be shared or made public during or after the
research. Only de-identified data will be used in any publications resulting from this research.
Dissemination and data management
Reports and publications resulting from this research will be disseminated to key stakeholders in the
Ministry of Education. Published articles will be available subject to the relevant distribution and
copyright conditions. Original data will remain the property of the Ministry of Education.
10. Timeline
Date
15/11/19 – 17/11/19
Activity
Focus group discussions with
students, teachers, and parents
Focus group discussions with
students, teachers, and parents
19/11/19
Place
Boutoka te Baretaiti JSS
BTC JSS
11. Budget
South Tarawa Study
Item
Rental car hire
Rental car Fuel
Quantity
1
1
Unit cost
$70
$20
Total cost
$70
$20
$90
Unit cost
$91.30
$20
$70
$20
$2.50
Total cost
$182.60
$40
$140
$40
$5
$407.60
Total
Abemama island study
Item
Air ticket
Airport tax
Per diem
Motor bike hire
Motorbike fuel
Quantity
2
2
2 nights
2 nights
2 nights
Total
Total Research Expense = $497.60