Analysis of Factors Influencing Academic Achievement of Students in Some Selected Schools in Addis Ababa

Education is considered as the backbone for children’s future life. In doing so, it shapes the future development of a country. Therefore, it is imperative to adjust children’s way of life in a more social and economic order through establishing better-targeted education systems. In this regard, focusing on improving the academic performance of children is one of the most crucial and important investments. In fact, there are bottlenecks that constrain students from performing well at school. The purpose of this study is to assess factors that influence the academic achievement of students in some selected schools in Addis Ababa. The necessary data for the study were generated from both primary and secondary sources. In-depth interviews and questionnaires were the principal means of generating data from primary sources. Secondary data were obtained from student profiles and mark lists. Four private and four public schools randomly selected from yeka sub city in Addis Ababa. A total of 255 grade eight students who enrolled in 2014/15 were randomly selected from the selected eight schools and used as sample for this study. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. STATA was used to analyze the data. Finally, mothers’ literacy, fathers’ literacy, average class test score, parents’ income, domestic working hours positive and participating in school clubs negative and statistically significant relationship were observed with primary school leaving examination score. It is recommended that the government should take some serious initiatives in uplifting the socio-economic status of parents, especially focusing on increasing their income through targeted income-generating activities and providing better opportunities to upgrade parental educational level to increase their children’s academic performance. Keywords : Parent literacy, determinants, academic achievement, Addis Ababa