Extracurricular Activities In The Broader Personal Development: Reflections From Youth In Public Secondary Schools

Abstract

This study examined extracurricular activities in the broader personal development: Reflections from Youth in Public Secondary Schools. Specifically, the study examined the contribution of extracurricular in the areas of leadership, sexual reproductive health, and good academic performance in public secondary schools in Muheza and Korogwe districts in the Tanga region, Tanzania. The study was qualitative which adopted the interpretive paradigm. Data were collected through focused group discussions from 160 secondary school students who experienced extracurricular activities in their school environment. Grounded theory methodology was used to analyze the data collected. The study findings revealed that extracurricular contribute to leadership as it builds youth with leadership skills, teach youth to volunteer, and inform youth that leadership is about having agenda. Additionally,  the study exposed that extra-curricular activities are important in educating the youth on sexual reproductive health as they learn about their bodies,  hygiene at puberty age, being unastonished by the biological changes but also extracurricular help youth to manage risk sexual behavior. With regards to good academic performance, the study revealed that extracurricular are for academic benefits, as it aspires to academic discussion and has minimized students' truancy. The study concludes that Extracurricular influences secondary school youth's development as it exposes them to environments translating into real situations affecting their wellbeing. Through extracurricular students can explore their environment, encouraging innovations and building creativity with very minimal resources.  Additionally, extracurricular activities have proved to have a positive behavior outcomes such as academic performance in the school-age stage and occupational status and income in adulthood. The study suggests that the government should translate extracurricular activities from documents to actions and give equal weight to both classroom and non-classroom activities. The extracurricular activities balance the existing gap between soft and hard skills. That extracurricular helps youth to address challenges they face in their daily life. Extracurricular found to be of interest to students because it all connected to people’s character and it is widely applicable to most areas. While hard skills help an individual to enter a job market, soft skills guarantee job opportunities and further career growth.