Factors Leading to Poor Performance in Mathematics Subject in Kibaha Secondary Schools

This study was about the factors leading to poor performance in mathematics subject in Kibaha secondary schools. The study was lead by four research objectives which were to examine the influence of cultural backgrounds on students’ performance in mathematics, to identify influence of teacher - students’ relationship on student’s performances in mathematics, determining the nature of school environment where teaching is practiced and to examine influence of school management system on teaching and learning process in mathematics. Relevant literatures were reviewed on theories and findings that emerged from different authors. The study involved 4 secondary schools, 8 mathematics teachers and 60 students. These were obtained through simple random sampling. Four academic masters and four head of school from four schools were purposely selected. Data collection was done by using questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions, observations and documentary review. The findings indicated teaching and learning of mathematics was facing challenges such as poor teaching environment, mathematics departments were not well-managed, inadequate self-practice and students’ poor background in mathematics. Therefore the researcher recommends teachers to make assessment on the background of their students in to decide teaching methods that can help students perform better in mathematics. Moreover, students should put self-efforts and practice in learning mathematics. Lastly, the researcher recommends future research on individual factors that affects students’ learning of mathematics