Mathematics and Computer Science: Research Updates Vol. 11

Aims: The primary objective of the study was to cluster the secondary schools of the Simiyu Region of Tanzania according to their performance.

Study Design: The study analyzed data from 44 secondary schools in the Simiyu Region, including 34 government and 10 private schools, with 18/28 urban schools and 26/133 rural schools represented.

Methodology: The performance of schools was analyzed by applying multivariate tools, descriptive statistics, discriminant function, and Mahalanobis distance. The performance of schools considered five variables: Number of students who sat for the examination (Sat), number of students who passed the examination (Pass), Grade Point Average (GPA), regional ranking (RR), and national ranking (NR) of schools.

Results: Linear discriminant function 1 was the most appropriate for classifying schools by performance. Stacked histogram 1 effectively distinguished three groups of schools without duplication or omission. GPA and RR were the most influencing factors leading to the performance of schools. Most private schools were classified as high-performing, while two-thirds of government schools were lacking in moderate performance. The mean GPA for government schools was 3.6342, compared to 2.3178 for private schools, indicating lower performance in government schools. The RR for government schools averaged 48%, whereas private schools averaged 95.36%, showing that private schools generally held higher regional positions. The number of students enrolled and sitting for examinations also affected performance rates.

Conclusion: The GPA contributes a higher part to the assessment of performance. Among the 44 schools under consideration, 14 were classified as high-performing. The authorities and education institutes can adopt strategies to improve GPA and RR to secure high rankings in performance.