Abstract:
Despite efforts by the government to foster peace among communities, the ethnic conflicts have been on the rise with catastrophic result on schools. Yet, no specific study has investigated the ethnic conflict on students’ academic achievement in the study area. Therefore, this study aimed at investigating the ethnic conflict on students’ academic achievement in secondary schools of Goro Gutu District. The study was conducted in two secondary schools (Karamile and Yaka), were purposively selected based on prevalent ethnic conflict in the area. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. A total of 52 respondents, representing 33% of the target population comprising of 1 supervisor, 2 principals, 4 vice principals, 14 teachers and 31 students were selected. Purposive sampling was used to select supervisor, principals, vice principals and teachers. Stratified random sampling was used to select the students. Data were respectively collected through questionnaire and interview with the selected respondents and key informants. The data were organized and coded using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, using percentages and frequencies to enable meaningful description of the distribution. Majority of the respondents agreed that ethnic conflicts occur frequently thus affecting school attendance, resources, learning environment and affects both the teachers and students psychologically. It was concluded that academic achievement of students suffered due to shortage of teachers as many had fled, high absenteeism by both students and teachers, inadequate infrastructure and learning resources as many had been vandalized and destroyed while many of the students and teachers suffered from trauma and stress associated with the ethnic conflicts. Thus, government and other stakeholders should give emphasis to sustain peace and improve students’ academic achievement in conflict affected areas.
