The Effects of School Distance on Students’ Academic Performance: A Case of Community Secondary Schools in Makambako Town Council

The study set to determine the extent to which distance affected the academic achievement of students in community secondary schools in Makambako Town Council. The study was guided by four specific objectives, which were carried out through descriptive cross-sectional study design. Data were collected using semi-structured interview guide, questionnaires and documentary review, by involving 12 teachers, two educational officers, and 200 (80 boys and 120 girls) students. These study respondents were sampled through simple random and purposive sampling technique in which SPSS and inductive analysis procedures were employed to analyze their responses. The study determined that longer distance travelled by students to school made them reach schools late and with empty stomachs. Location of school has lead to mass failure to most of students, due to long walk among students have cause dropout from school and most of girls‘ student get pregnancy thus fails to attain their educational goals. Community secondary schools will continue performing poorly academically if there is no effort done to improve the provision of education to community secondary schools in Makambako Town Council