HOW DOES SCHOOL CULTURE INFLUENCE ACADEMIC PERFROMANCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN BOTSWANA

Botswana is middle class economy and its education system is still having a lot of expansion to undergo. However, Botswana schools have been faced with this transformation and their performance has been affected by the ever-changing situations. Schools that have been constantly performing better academically were so lucky to have leaders who were transformational and kept their schools abiding to the school culture. Schools that are regarded “good schools” are always occupying the top spots in the academic list. The Botswana Examination Commission (BEC) publishes the schools in order of performance for the whole country based on quality percentage performance. The performance would convey the message to the reader whether the school has a culture of better academic performance or not. This study is a qualitative method approach which is based on secondary data to help come up with answers to what makes a school a good academic school. School culture has been recognized in the literature based on its debated roles in determining educational outcomes especially at the primary and secondary levels of education. Hence, carrying out a desktop research or literature review on this topic would provide an exposition to the roles of school culture in academic outcomes at the secondary school levels in the Southern African region. Botswana being part of Southern Africa would not be in isolation as the country shares borders with some of these countries. This can be compared with the outcomes from other regions and hence, provide a solid background on which to rate the influence of school culture on the overall students’ academic performance.