Abstract:
Despite more than 20 years of democracy, universities continue to experience high attrition rates because of poor academic performance, particularly among Performance of First-Time Entering Students (FTEs). This continues to happen even though numbers of students enrolling at universities keep on increasing annually. The study investigated the bearing of the home environment on how FTEs perceive the university environment with reference to their interactions with the Central University of Technology (CUT) staff, their choice of programmes of study as well as the effectiveness of the CUT’s student academic development and support initiatives. The theoretical rationale explored the research problem will be by referring to the research conducted before on attrition, thus also providing guidance on the areas to be studied.
The study reports on a sample drawn from a population of FTEs in Somatology and Human Resources Management (HRM) programmes. Quantitative data were collected by means of a questionnaire made up of both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Document analysis was also done was so that data from various sources can be scrutinised and construed to triangulate and corroborate the knowledge that was presented by previous studies, thus eliminating the potential for bias. The results of the study revealed that the home environment not conducive to learning as well as students not meeting admission requirements have a bearing on academic performance. Also, the nature of student’s interaction with some CUT staff members may have a negative impact on their academic performance. Based on these findings some recommendations were made. The study proposes the development of the System for the Monitoring of Student Progress (SMSP) through a mobile app at a UoT, which will help to identify at risk students with the aim of implementing interventions that will assist them to be successful in their studies. It is hoped that the SMSP will put the university in a better position to assist FTEs to adjust to university life and improve their academic performance.
